Nearly 30 years of conquering bamboo villages
Along the Pho Loi riverside road, across Duong No village (Phu Duong commune, Phu Vang district, Thua Thien Hue), the "clack, clack" sound of the mallet hitting the bamboo tree echoes everywhere.
Artisan Doan Minh Can is known as "The number one bird cage maker in Hue" with his exquisite bird cages (Photo: Hoai Son).
Inside, a man is straining his eyes to carve out every detail as small as a toothpick. That is artisan Doan Minh Can (57 years old), who is known as "The number one bird cage maker in Hue" for his exquisite bird cages.
Born and raised in a village with a tradition of carpentry and carving, he was drawn to the profession from a young age. After finishing high school, he began studying sculpture with artisan Le Dang Duan.
For a while, he worked for a fine art carpentry enterprise. In 1985, he returned home and opened a workshop making household carpentry products. Determined to improve his skills, he went to the carving workshop of artisan Phan The Hue.
The birdcage legs are carved with fairies by artisans (Photo: Hoai Son).
In 1989, he returned to his home workshop, working and training workers. During this time, dozens of civil carpenters, fabricators, and sculptors became skilled under his guidance.
As the wood resources became scarcer, his sculpture work was also affected. He was always thinking about a separate direction for his career. At that time, looking around the house, he saw bamboo everywhere, so he suddenly thought: "Bamboo!".
The bottom of the bird cage is impressive with a bas-relief meticulously carved by artisans (Photo: Hoai Son).
Starting to experiment, he realized that the characteristics of bamboo are very different from wood. Wood can be carved both horizontally and vertically, while bamboo can only be carved vertically. "Bamboo only needs to be slightly off-handed or with a little force to split," Mr. Can confided.
Woodworking tools cannot be used on bamboo, so he has to make his own with hundreds of specialized chisels, clamps, drills, and saws.
Gradually, he discovered many other "personalities" of bamboo and learned how to control his hand to carve out the softest and smallest lines. He "conquered" the bamboo and the first birdcage was born.
Catching bamboo from the village to "transform" into dragons and phoenixes
At its peak in 2009, at the Vietnam Craft Village Exhibition Fair organized by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in Hue, many people were amazed by a birdcage named "Twelve Flowery Immortals" which was very elaborately crafted.
The birdcage also won him first prize at the Vietnam Handicraft Competition. The cage was unique and later sold for several thousand dollars.
Even the bird feeder is meticulously carved with dragons and phoenixes by artisans (Photo: Hoai Son).
Showing us the bird cage he had just completed, Mr. Can shared that each work is unique because it is completely hand-carved and cannot be the same.
On the bird cage, the sophistication of each carving is evident. The hook hanging the cage is shaped like a soft dragon and phoenix. The base of the cage is carved with gods and fairies, and the bottom of the cage is a bas-relief. Even the bird feeder is meticulously carved with dragons and phoenixes.
To have a beautiful, elaborate and sophisticated bird cage down to every detail, it takes the artisan 3-4 months (Photo: Hoai Son).
To have a beautiful, elaborate and sophisticated bird cage down to every detail, the artisan must spend a lot of time. Some cages take 3-4 months to complete.
Artisan Can does not remember exactly how many bird cages he has made, but he knows that his products are everywhere both domestically and internationally.
What is special is that in the cages he brings to international friends, he incorporates images of the countryside with the desire to promote Vietnamese culture.
Mr. Doan Minh Can was recognized as a Meritorious Artisan in 2020 (Photo: Hoai Son).
Each of Mr. Can's bird cages costs several tens of millions of dong, and those on display cost several hundred million dong. His workshop also creates jobs for many workers in the village with a stable income.
He confided that the reason he has taught nearly a hundred students up to now without hiding his profession to make a living is because he hopes that after his generation, there will be a craft village passed down in the ancient capital of Hue.
Throughout his career, he has achieved many different major and minor titles and was recognized as a Meritorious Artisan in 2020.
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