Couple makes more than 3,000 papier-mâché masks for the Mid-Autumn Festival every year in Hanoi's Old Quarter

Couple makes more than 3,000 papier-mâché masks for the Mid-Autumn Festival every year in Hanoi's Old Quarter

Tuesday, August 27, 2024 13:03 PM (GMT+7)

After more than four decades of making papier-mâché masks, Mr. Nguyen Van Hoa and his wife, Ms. Dang Huong Lan, are the last artisans in Hanoi's Old Quarter who still maintain the traditional craft of making papier-mâché masks.

Deep in alley 73 Hang Than street (Ba Dinh district, Hanoi) is the home of Mr. Nguyen Van Hoa and Mrs. Dang Huong Lan. In a house of just under 20 square meters, this is where Mr. Hoa and his wife are still diligently making traditional papier-mâché masks every day.

The small house is always filled with stacks of scrap paper, paint brushes, paint cans of various colors, glue cans and papier-mâché masks of many colors and shapes.

Papier-mâché masks used to be a favorite item of Hanoi children during the Mid-Autumn Festival. During the Mid-Autumn Festival a few decades ago, there were many families in Hanoi making papier-mâché masks, but until now, only one artisan family in Hanoi's Old Quarter still persists in the profession.

After 45 years in the profession, Mr. Nguyen Van Hoa and his wife, Ms. Dang Huong Lan, are now artisans, survivors of the golden age of papier-mache masks in Hanoi.

According to Ms. Dang Huong Lan, making a papier-mâché mask is an artistic process that goes through many elaborate stages. This requires the craftsman to be meticulous and careful in every detail to be able to produce beautiful products.

First, you have to tear the paper into small pieces, then line a layer of white paper into a pre-cast cement mold. The next layer is glued onto the previous layer with a type of glue made from tapioca starch. About 5 or 6 layers of shredded paper will produce a complete product. When tearing the paper and applying the glue, you have to be very careful, just a little mistake and the mask will not be smooth.

Ms. Lan said that each mask shape will have its own mold. Currently, she and her husband have more than 30 different mask molds, most of which are family heirlooms, some of which she and her husband created themselves or made at the request of the children.

After completing the rough stage, the mask must be dried naturally in the sun, do not use a dryer to avoid deformation and warping.

To make each mask even and beautiful, the coloring process must also be divided into small steps, each color must be painted separately, and each color must be painted over and over again.

Mr. Nguyen Van Hoa said: “Coloring is one of the most important steps because it will determine the “soul” of the mask. Each time you paint, you can only paint one color, when this color dries, you can paint a new color. Masks with many colors must be painted many times to ensure the colors are always beautiful and not smudged. All stages require meticulousness, skill, and patience to create the shapes you want.”

Ms. Lan shared that papier-mâché masks used to be a favorite toy of Hanoi children. Since Chinese masks flooded the market, traditional products are less known to young people. "The sluggish sales of goods have discouraged everyone, and they have gradually given up their jobs. Only my family still tries to overcome it. Every Mid-Autumn Festival, my family produces about 3,000 papier-mâché masks, priced from 40,000 - 200,000 VND/piece, depending on size and color.

Nowadays, papier-mâché masks are not as popular as they were many years ago, because there are many beautiful and cheap masks on the market that are manufactured industrially. However, with a passion for the profession and a desire to preserve the family's traditional profession, the couple continues to maintain this job.

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Source: https://danviet.vn/doi-vo-chong-lam-hon-3000-mat-na-giay-boi-dip-trung-thu-moi-nam-o-pho-co-ha-noi-20240827011244632.htm