See the "super giant" animals made from bamboo by artisans from Quang Nam

(NLDO) – A young artisan in Quang Nam province has transformed bamboo into unique handicraft products that captivate everyone who sees them.

Mr. Vo Tan Tan in Cam Thanh commune, Hoi An city, Quang Nam province has long been famous for his unique bamboo products.

In 2012, after graduating from university with a degree in Electronics and Telecommunications and having worked in many jobs, Mr. Tan returned to his hometown to continue his family's handicraft business. In the early years, Mr. Tan researched and manufactured bamboo bicycles, exporting them to many European countries.

CLIP: Ngắm những con vật — Mr. Vo Tan Tan and the shape of a grasshopper's claw, taking souvenir photos with tourists

After a while, Mr. Tan's bamboo bicycle products became famous, with many customers ordering, Mr. Tan was faced with the choice of whether to invest in a technological chain, producing many products in an industrial direction to have good prices and high profits. However, after careful consideration, Mr. Tan decided to continue the path of producing bamboo products in a manual direction.

To maintain this direction, instead of just making bicycles, Mr. Tan diversified his products, whatever customers ordered, he had to find a way to make. When making many products, Mr. Tan realized that he could take advantage of raw materials, almost using everything, not wasting any part of the bamboo.

Mr. Tan started to create products shaped like familiar animals and was highly appreciated by customers. These are animals such as fish, shrimp, crab, mantis, grasshopper, birds, fireflies, bees, phoenix, dragon, snake...

Since 2019, based on customer requests, Mr. Tan has started making giant animals. There are customers who have made requests beyond Mr. Tan's imagination, with animals measuring up to 4-5 meters in length.

"Many customers with financial resources require the product to be beautiful, truly sophisticated, with clear functionality, high quality, and long-lasting. I require bamboo processing, finding raw materials, and processing it in such a way that it can last over time. That is one of the points that requires me to invest in thinking and finding a way for it. Up to now, I have conquered all the difficult technical requirements" - Mr. Tan shared.

According to him, making crustaceans like shrimp and crabs is the most difficult. Crab is very difficult to make because its structure is not uniform, some are curved, some are pointed, some require large pieces, making bamboo requires delicate assembly, to create its shape is very difficult, takes a lot of time.

When customers order large products, the way of making must also be changed so that they can be packaged and sent, making them easy to transport. The requirement is that the joints can be easily disassembled, flexible in assembly, with just instructions, the buyer can assemble them themselves, because animals with a size of 4-5 m are very difficult to transport.

"That forced me to create Modules for customers to assemble themselves, which was another new challenge because it is very difficult to create Modules from bamboo, the workshop had to find a way to overcome its weaknesses, meeting the needs of customers. After a while, I had many different animal and insect products, large and giant in size, that is how I want to conquer bamboo" - Mr. Tan said.

Clip: Mr. Vo Tan Tan shares about the journey of creating unique animals from bamboo

After 12 years of working in the bamboo sculpture profession, at the end of 2023, Mr. Tan was recognized as an artisan by the Chairman of the People's Committee of Quang Nam province.

Having succeeded with "super giant" products from bamboo, Mr. Tan said he wanted to create a message for young people that we can make many things from ordinary materials around us.

He wants young people to have a new perspective, more people to follow this path, creating many products of natural origin, which can completely replace raw materials from plastic, oil, metal, helping to protect the environment.

"The plants and trees around us can create useful products, even of high value if we know how to combine them, shape them, and create shapes. If we are passionate, we can elevate seemingly simple, everyday products" - Mr. Tan concluded.

Let's look at the giant animals made from bamboo by artisan Vo Tan Tan: