“Following Traces of Silk”
Participating in a series of activities at the event entitled “Following Traces of Silk”, heads of international delegations and wives of foreign ambassadors in Vietnam, and female officials of the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs not only had great experiences in growing mulberry, raising silkworms, unwinding the cocoons and weaving silk, but also learned about the Vietnamese silk culture which has existed for thousands of years.
During the event, the delegates had a chance to listen to Le Hong Van, Director of VIETSERI (the Central Centre for Silworm Research) as she introduced Vietnam’s Sericulture. According to Van, raising silkworms and weaving cloth has existed and been developed in Vietnam for thousands of years. Vietnam is now on the list of the top four countries in the world having a strongly developing mulberry industry that provides jobs for more than 100,000 Vietnamese farmers, mostly women.
The delegates not only learned about the history and development of Vietnam’s sericulture, but also directly participated in some stages of making silk - an extremely elaborate process that combines human ingenuity with the magic of mother nature. They were interested in visiting greenish mulberry fields, picking ripe berries, and seeing with their own eyes the silkworms eating, releasing silk and packing cocoons in the fields.
On the silk weaving looms, the delegates were taught how to use weaving machines and spin by hand as Vietnamese women did in the past.
At the event, Van Thi Hang, Founder of DeSilk shared with the delegates about the silk culture of the Vietnamese people through stories, full of humanity, which are related to the silk industry.
Silk is associated with women's movements, such as the gender equality movement that began to develop in Vietnam in the early 20th century and silk production has become a symbol of women's empowerment. Therefore, silk also played a special role when the country started the implementation of industrialization and modernization. Van Thi Hang said: “We want the world to know that Vietnamese silk is not only good, but also very beautiful and delicate thanks to a special design and rigorous management process".
For this reason, every silk product by Desilk, from ao dai to scarves or beautiful little bows for decorating bags, is made by the skilled hands of Vietnamese. Since the 17th and 18th centuries, the skillfulness and ingenuity of Vietnamese craftspeople have been highly appreciated by Western countries and it is an advantage of Vietnamese handicrafts that few places have.
Attending the event in traditional ao dai, Elisa Fernandez, the UN Women's Representative in Vietnam said: "When I came to Vietnam five years ago, I knew about the beauty of Vietnam’s traditional ao dai. Traditionally, the ao dai is made from silk, and silk has played an important role in the cultural and economic life of Vietnam”. She also hoped that Vietnam's silk industry would continue to pave the way for gender equality and prosperity.
"Following Traces of Silk” not only helps spread the love for Vietnamese silk, but also promotes Vietnam’s mulberry farming and silk industry to the world through these international female guests.
Story: Thao Vy/VNP Photos: Viet Cuong Translated by Hong Hanh