Traditional fine-art handicraft

Traditional Vietnamese handicraft has a long history and a diverse range of products, which have become well-known at home and abroad. Vietnamese products of ceramics, lacquer, silk, rattan and bamboo… have made their popular presence in many countries. Today, some handicraft industries are still preserved and developed, offering jobs and incomes to many laborers and contributing to exports, like ceramics, silk weaving, lacquer making, rattan & bamboo weaving, conical hat making, bronzecasting and woodworking etc. Amongst traditional crafts, the most salient is ceramics which provides a variety of products to meet both civil and industrial demands. Ceramic products are made in many localities across Viet Nam, for example in Bac Giang, Bac Ninh, Quang Binh, Dong Nai, Dong Thap provinces and Bat Trang village in Hanoi, and there is also Cham ceramics. Silk weaving came into beings very early throughout Viet Nam, yet today the most well-known silk-weaving villages are Van Phuc (in Ha Dong, Ha Tay) and Phuong Tanh – Truc Ninh (in Nam Dinh). As early as the 15th century, Vietnamese silk made its appearance to the world through merchants. Rattan and bamboo weaving has a thousand-year-long tradition. This craft closely links to the availability of these natural materials in all regions across Viet Nam. Vietnamese craftsmen have skillfully produced a lot of furniture of charming and beautiful designs, like tables, chairs, beds, cabinets, fruit trays and flower baskets etc. Among the localities renowned for such products are Ha Tay and Thanh Hoa provinces.