Mai Handicrafts
Mai Vietnamese Handcrafts, in Ho Chi Minh City, started as a program by a small group of social workers, aimed at poor and neglected children who could not go to school due to the lack of legal papers and the inability to pay tuition.
Mai gave them work and encouraged them to attend informal classes. Now that all Vietnamese children are admitted to school free, Mai provides work to their mothers and older sisters to improve family income and well-being. Today they assist a wide range of artisans to develop and market a variety of traditional and contemporary handcrafts.
Lacquerware dates from the 8th century in North Vietnam. Originally the basic colours were red, black, yellow and brown, but with developments in techniques, today a whole range of colours is used. The technique uses a natural vegetable lacquer, from a tree called the "lacquer tree" which is common in Asian countries, but only the "lacquer tree" from Vinh Phu province in Vietnam gives the real beauty and durability of Vietnamese lacquerware.
The traditional lacquerware process takes at least 2 months, with 12 production stages. Initially the wood is treated to prevent fissures, and covered with cotton gauze and some layers of lacquer mixed with sawdust, loam and crushed stones. Then three layers of lacquer mixed with clay and wood powder, three layers of lacquer mixed with clay and chalk powder, and two more layers of lacquer mixed with stone powder are applied. The images are applied after this stage, followed by more layers of transparent lacquer. Newer techniques incorporate modern designs over metal shim undercoats.
