The continuous creaking sound, skillful hands, nimble feet... are what appear when the artisan weaves traditional brocade in Cham village, Chau Phong. Located in Phum Soai hamlet, Chau Phong, Tan Chau, An Giang, Mr. Mohamad's family has been involved in brocade weaving for 50 years, bringing traditional products to domestic and foreign tourists.
Although not as numerous as in previous years, the brocade weaving profession of the Cham people in Chau Phong commune (Tan Chau, An Giang province) is still preserved by people who are devoted to traditional values.
Chau Giang brocade weaving village, An Giang is a traditional craft village, carrying the unique culture of the villagers in particular and the Southwest region in general.
Weaving brocade is a long-standing traditional craft of the Cham people in Tan Chau, An Giang. In Chau Phong, most people make a living by weaving, the products here often include sarongs, brocade shirts, embroidered scarves, checkered scarves, patterned handbags... The Cham people here also use this type of brocade to sew their traditional costumes.
Ha Sa Nah, a female brocade weaver who has been involved in the profession for more than 20 years, shared with Travellive: "The brocade production process includes: preparing raw materials, dyeing, drying, winding, stringing, weaving and finally producing the product. All stages require the craftsman's skill and take a lot of time and effort to produce good products. Among the stages, the most difficult is still stringing. On average, I can weave about 3 or 4 pieces of fabric every day in about 4 hours."
Ha Sa Nah, a brocade weaver, has been involved in the craft for over 20 years. Cham brocade weaving is a long-standing traditional craft that plays an important role in preserving the unique cultural beauty of the nation.
The important weaving tool of the Cham people is the loom and is divided into two types: Weaving sarongs and weaving brocade. The loom consists of main parts such as: loom, go (cho co), thread winding shaft (ruc), stamping table, shuttle, crossbar, fabric winding shaft (the last part used to wrap the fabric after weaving). All the above parts are connected and form a loom.
To make beautiful brocade, it is necessary to go through meticulous, detailed, and careful manual steps. 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 as a way to preserve cultural values, even though the product costs more than using machines.
Cham textile products are also very diverse, including clothing for men and women, in daily activities as well as religious ceremonies. In addition, Cham people also weave products for family use such as: towels, wallets, bags, curtains, sheets, pillows...
The raw materials 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 colorful, such as green created from bark and leaves of indigo trees, red dyed with klék tree color (a tree species growing in forests along the Cambodian border)... Cham woven products have their own characteristics according to each locality of residence, creating a unique feature of the traditional culture of the Cham people in An Giang.
Mr. Mohamad has been involved in brocade weaving for 50 years. In the photo, he is showing visitors how to wrap a sarong.
Mr. Mohamad (Cham, 1958) said: "We have been involved in the traditional brocade weaving profession for three generations. When visiting the craft village, in addition to directly learning about the production process of traditional hand-woven products, tourists can also freely choose to buy eye-catching souvenirs. These are items that are popular with many tourists, especially foreign visitors. In the coming time, we hope to promote traditional products more widely to enhance local economic development combined with tourism, introducing the unique features of Cham brocade to domestic and foreign tourists."
With skillful handcraft techniques, high aesthetics, easy to use, affordable prices, suitable for tastes, Cham brocade products are favored by domestic and foreign markets, especially scarves made of 100% cotton fabric, sarongs with 60% cotton and 40% silk are very soft.
In order to create a unique impression and enhance the cultural experience, Mr. Mohamad also restored the wedding room in the traditional style of the Cham people for tourists to take souvenir photos. When visiting, Mr. Mohamad also introduced the history of the craft village, the unique cultural values and life of the Cham community in An Giang. While preserving traditional culture and promoting creative tourism, it contributes to attracting more and more tourists from all over the world to Chau Phong Cham village.
Brocade weaving plays a very important role in the daily life of the Cham people in Chau Phong commune, An Giang province. This is one of the craft villages that has created many extremely rich and diverse products and has become an economic source that plays a key role in the life of the community, such as creating jobs for local people. Brocade weaving both contains traditional cultural elements that absorb the quintessence of our ancestors and meets the consumption needs of modern society.
Brocade weaving profession carries traditional cultural beauty, preserving national identity.
