Amazed by the art of bird cage making

MIRACULOUS HANDS

Last September, appearing at a festival showcasing the skills of artisans and skilled workers and an exhibition introducing typical craft products of Hanoi, the bird cage named Van Dieu Phi Thien by artisan Doan Minh Can (58 years old, residing in Duong No Dong village, Phu Duong, Phu Vang district, Thua Thien-Hue) made connoisseurs admire. It is a round cage designed with a unique model when the 3 "main columns" are made of 3 small bamboo trunks with intact branches. The bamboo branches are meticulously drilled with holes to pass through the bamboo slats. Some of the remaining branches are bent inside the cage so that a bamboo starling can spread its wings and perch on it.

Although made of bamboo, some bird cages by artisan Doan Minh Can cost hundreds of millions of dong.

True to the theme of "thousands of birds", the entire cage is meticulously carved with images of various birds by Mr. Can, from the main body, the rim, the hook, the food tray... Especially, when hanging the cage high up, viewers will have to admire Mr. Can's talent when they see the cage plate on the bottom is an extremely sophisticated relief carving with precious birds playing with flowers, leaves, clouds and water...

"The cage is not the most expensive, but up to now, it is the cage I put the most effort into, as a milestone of the career peak that I want to reach," said Mr. Can.

Although many people have given him beautiful names such as "king", "the number one bird cage" in Hue, Mr. Can admits that he is only a successful person with the "too passionate" bamboo carving profession. He can sit for hours at a rotating round table with sharp chisels, grinders... meticulously carving each line as thin as a hair. He even forgets to eat and drink when he is in the flow of inspiration. Like the cage "Thousand birds flying in the sky" , Mr. Can spent nearly 3 months just to make the plate and nearly a year to complete the entire cage. As for the cage that brought him fame, called "Ten Nhi Hoa Giap Quan Tien" (won first prize at the 6th Vietnam Handicraft Product Competition - 2009), Mr. Can also spent several months carving the images of the 12 zodiac animals combined with the 12 fairies.

After more than 40 years in the profession, artisan Doan Minh Can cannot remember how many bird cages he has made in round, square, hexagonal shapes... He also cannot count how many countries in the world his products have been exported to. However, he is certain that each cage he makes is a unique item, because it is completely handmade. Moreover, Mr. Can loves creativity. For example, the Twelve Flower-Armed Immortals cage version 2 that he made to send to Thailand is completely different from version 1.

"I carved many beautiful scenes of Hue such as: Huong River, Ngu Mountain, Truong Tien Bridge, temples, mausoleums...; but each cage is an image with a different perspective," said Mr. Can.

The talented hands of artisan Doan Minh Can have created masterpieces of bird cages.

Artisan Doan Minh Can carefully carves on bamboo

REACHING ARTISTIC LEVELS

While carefully trimming each carving, Meritorious Artisan Doan Minh Can said that making bird cages without perseverance and setting himself the goal of perfection for each product would be very difficult, let alone succeed. Therefore, in each stage from the idea, creation to the refinement, Mr. Can puts his heart and soul into it.

"There is a saying that 'precious birds must be in lacquer cages', so the craftsman must make them truly 'lacquer'. In addition to having high aesthetic value, the 'lacquer' cage must also have a luxurious theme," said Mr. Can, adding: "Depending on the customer's requirements, each cage costs from 5 million to 35 million VND. For orders worth over 100 million VND, the story told on the cage must be even more meaningful."

Showing me the cage with the theme of Dream of the Red Chamber , Mr. Can said that to make the cage with 3 legs made of 3 large pieces of bamboo and the bottom surface engraved with many ancient characters, he had many sleepless nights thinking about how to describe the stories. When the scene appeared in his mind, he immediately sketched it on paper and then drew it on bamboo to carve. Like that, from one piece of bamboo to another, stories such as Eighteen Arhats, Eight Beasts and Immortals, Hundred Birds Worshiping the King ... were vividly depicted by him. Indeed, admiring each cage made by Mr. Can is not only pleasing to the eye because of the lines but also imbued with poetry. The carvings are as delicate as the strokes of a pen...

"To have a beautiful product or bird cage, first you have to choose very old bamboo bought from highland areas, such as Nam Dong, A Luoi... Everyone knows that bamboo is a difficult material, brittle, hard but easy to break. If chiseled incorrectly, the bamboo will be torn apart. Therefore, to conquer it, more than anyone else, the craftsman needs to be skillful, meticulous, and persistent...", Mr. Can shared.

Holding the secret to conquering bamboo, since his first award (the Excellent Mark award at the UNESCO - SEAL competition with the participation of 29 Asian countries in 2006), for the past 20 years, whenever he brought bamboo handicraft products to competitions from district to central level, artisan Doan Minh Can has won prizes, the lowest being third prize. Awarded the title of Meritorious Artisan in 2020, up to now, Mr. Can has been notified by the Department of Industry and Trade of Da Nang City that he meets the criteria to be recognized as a People's Artisan, but because he is busy, he has not yet completed the application.

The good news spread far and wide, so even though it was just a small family sculpture establishment, hundreds of young people came to Mr. Can's house to learn the craft. From there, many talented hands spread throughout the country. The rest were local, Mr. Can assigned them to carry out orders to process bird cage details with an average salary of about 15 million VND/person.

"I am lucky to have two sons who both follow in their father's footsteps and are now quite skilled. The profession is difficult to learn, but once you master the secret of making birdcages, bamboo can be transformed into any product the craftsman desires. If you are good at your craft, you will live a good life," artisan Doan Minh Can confided.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/nhat-nghe-tinh-kinh-ngac-voi-nghe-thuat-che-tac-long-chim-185241226220051457.htm