VietNamNet Bridge – At the age of 73, artisan Vo Van Tang is well known for his unique paintings created from the leaves of thot not (sugar palm trees).

Staff make paintings from husk

Tang has been recognized by the Vietnam Record Book Center (Vietkings) as “The artisan with the most paintings made from sugar palm leaves in Vietnam”.

Residing in Nui Sap Town, Thoai Son District in the Mekong Delta province of An Giang, Tang has made good use of sugar palm tree leaves. An Giang is home to a lot of those trees. He has created thousands of paintings from sugar palm tree leaves.

Leaves that are good for making paintings must come from trees aged more than 20 years while other crops have gradually encroached on land for sugar palm trees, forcing Tang to switch to using husk as a new material, which is cheap and abundant in the delta.

Since May, he has tried making paintings from husk. “Although husk requires more time and effort, paintings are more beautiful and durable,” he says.

Artisan Vo Van Tang – Photo: Truong Thanh Lien

Currently, he spends VND1,000 (around 4 U.S. cents) on each kilo of husk. After being dried and ground, husk is sprinkled on the drawing paper for artisans to create paintings.

To draw husk paintings, the artisan must be patient and creative, said Tang.

His workshop now has 15 artisans. Each of them earns VND3.5-4.5 million per month. He also has some physically impaired staff and charges no fee on those learning the trade.

A painting made from husk at Tang’s workshop costs VND200,000 to several million dong.