Co Tu brocade, which is made by clever Co Tu women, was recognised as a national intangible heritage in August 2014.
Co Tu women weaving brocade. Photo: baophutho.vn
A Vien Thi Rum (36 years old, from A Tieng commune, Tay Giang district, Quang Nam province), a Co Tu artisan, started weaving brocade when she was 10. At the age of 20, she finished the first aduong (a piece of cloth).
Since then, she has worked with the loom after farming. At the same time, she kept on learning to make other brocade products to preserve the Co Tu traditional profession.
Rum is very clever; her brocade products are very beautiful and decorated with different patterns. They are popular with the locals and visitors. So, weaving brocade also helps her earn more income.
Co Tu brocade products are rather diversified, including aduong, adooh (shirts), aday (coats), chro gul and chro peng (X-shaped shirts), h’gial or g’hul (loincloths), hdooh (skirts), aduong kon (head scarves), cho dhung (bags), and xo ran (bibs). Their designs are simple, with images of mountains and forests.
The patterns of the brocade are formed from three types of shapes: triangles, diamonds, and straight lines. They are of the flora and fauna, objects, human beings, and the surrounding world, expressing the Co Tu spiritual culture and their desire for human and universe harmony.
It takes a lot of time and effort to weave a piece of brocade, but the income from weaving brocade is not much. So, it used to be in danger of oblivion.
In recent years, Tay Giang authorities and brocade weaving artisans have been making every effort to recover this traditional craft.
A Vien Thi Rum is nurturing the idea of gathering highly skilled Co Tu people who will transfer the profession of weaving brocade to others.
Moreover, Co Tu brocade has become a tourism product and has been displayed at several fashion shows in Vietnam, which helps raise its value and the weavers’ income.
Accordingly, brocade weaving is also now providing jobs for the locals, contributing to local poverty alleviation. Besides brocade weaving, wicker, with its original products, is considered a typical craft in Quang Nam.