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The continuous creaking sound, skillful hands, and nimble feet... these are the hallmarks of the artisans weaving traditional brocade in the Cham village of Chau Phong. Located in Phum Soai hamlet, Chau Phong commune, Tan Chau district, An Giang province, Mr. Mohamad's family has been involved in brocade weaving for 50 years, bringing traditional products to domestic and international tourists.
Although not as prevalent as in previous years, the traditional brocade weaving craft of the Cham people in Chau Phong commune (Tan Chau district, An Giang province) is still preserved by those who deeply cherish its traditional values.
Chau Giang brocade weaving village in An Giang is a traditional craft village, embodying the unique culture of the villagers in particular and the Southwestern region of Vietnam in general.
Traditional brocade weaving is a long-standing craft of the Cham people in Tan Chau, An Giang. In Chau Phong, most people make a living from weaving, producing items such as sarongs, brocade shirts, embroidered scarves, checkered scarves, and patterned bags. The Cham people here also use this brocade fabric to make their traditional clothing.
Ha Sa Nah, a female artisan who has been involved in brocade weaving for over 20 years, shared with Travellive: "The brocade production process includes: preparing the yarn, dyeing, drying, winding, threading, weaving, and finally, producing the finished product. Each step requires the skill of the weaver and takes a lot of time and effort to produce good products. Among the steps, the most difficult is threading. On average, I weave about 3 or 4 pieces of fabric a day in about 4 hours."
Ha Sa Nah, a traditional Cham weaving artisan, has been involved in the craft for over 20 years. Cham weaving is a long-standing traditional craft, playing an important role in preserving the unique cultural beauty of the ethnic group.
The most important weaving tool of the Cham people is the loom, which is divided into two types: sarong weaving and brocade weaving. The loom consists of main parts such as: the loom frame, the heddle (chơ co), the yarn winding shaft (rúc), the pressing table, the shuttle, the warp bar, and the fabric winding shaft (the final part used to wind the fabric after the weaving process). All of these parts are linked together to form the loom frame.
Creating beautiful brocade fabrics requires meticulous, detailed, and careful handcrafted processes. Nowadays, thanks to modern technology, brocade production is more convenient and faster, but the Cham people of Chau Phong still maintain the traditional brocade weaving craft as a way of preserving cultural values, even though the products are more expensive than those made with machines.
Cham textiles are also very diverse, including clothing for men and women, for everyday life as well as religious ceremonies. In addition, the Cham also weave household items such as scarves, purses, bags, curtains, bedsheets, and pillows.
The materials used for weaving are usually silk threads, dyed with natural colors from tree sap, bark, and fruits, making the colors on the products special and durable. The patterns on the surface of Cham brocade are often multicolored, such as blue created from the bark and leaves of the indigo plant, and red dyed with the klék plant (a species of plant growing in forests along the Cambodian border)... Cham textile products have unique characteristics according to each locality, creating a distinctive feature of the traditional culture of the Cham people in An Giang.
Mr. Mohamad has been involved in the art of weaving brocade for 50 years. In the photo, he is demonstrating to visiting tourists how to wrap a sarong.
Mr. Mohamad (a Cham man, born in 1958) said: "We have been involved in the traditional brocade weaving craft for three generations. When tourists visit the craft village, besides directly learning about the production process of traditional handcrafted textiles, they can also freely choose and buy eye-catching souvenirs. These are items that are popular with many tourists, especially foreign visitors. In the future, we hope to promote our traditional products more widely to enhance local economic development combined with tourism, introducing the unique features of Cham brocade to domestic and international tourists."
With skillful craftsmanship, high aesthetic value, ease of use, and affordable prices, Chăm brocade products are favored by both domestic and international markets, especially checkered scarves made from 100% cotton and sarongs made with 60% cotton and 40% silk, which are very soft.
To create a unique impression and enhance the cultural experience, Mr. Mohamad also had a traditional Cham wedding hall restored for tourists to take souvenir photos. When tourists visit, Mr. Mohamad also introduces them to the history of the village's crafts, the distinctive cultural values, and the life of the Cham community in An Giang. By preserving traditional culture while developing innovative tourism, he contributes to attracting more and more tourists from all over to Chau Phong Cham village.
The craft of brocade weaving plays a very important role in the daily lives of the Cham people in Chau Phong commune, An Giang province. This is one of the traditional craft villages that has created a wide variety of products and has become a major source of income for the community, providing employment for local people. Brocade weaving embodies both traditional cultural elements, absorbing the essence of ancestral traditions, and the consumer needs of modern society.
The craft of brocade weaving embodies the beauty of traditional culture and preserves national identity.
