In Kgiang village, To Tung commune, a weaving group of nearly 50 members brings experienced artisans and newcomers together to share techniques, develop products and earn income from their craft.
The opening of the Kgiang Community Cultural Tourism Village in 2020 gave weavers more opportunities to introduce their work to visitors.
Tourists can meet artisans, learn about weaving and Bahnar Kon K’Đĕh culture, rent traditional clothing for photographs and buy brocade souvenirs.
Dinh Thi Hien, a recognised Meritorious Artisan who heads the village weaving group, said visitors were interested in handmade textiles, often asking about their patterns and production methods or trying the loom themselves.
Brocade pieces and garments sell for several hundred thousand to several million dong (roughly tens to hundreds of US dollars), depending on the item, she said. Sales and wider recognition have encouraged women to continue weaving.
The group makes traditional loincloths, blankets and dresses while experimenting with designs suited to changing customer preferences. Members help one another prepare threads, combine colours and complete their work, with experienced weavers guiding those learning the craft.
Ngo Thi Kieu Thao, director of A Ngui Tourism Services Co., Ltd., said the company planned to work with the group to develop tours centred on traditional weaving and help artisans create scarves, bags and other brocade souvenirs.
The collaboration will also support the transfer of skills to younger generations. Designs may evolve to meet market demand, but the textiles’ distinctive patterns and colours will be retained.
For village artisans, those details carry knowledge acquired over a lifetime. Dinh Thi Lam, 57, learned as a child, accompanying adults to plant and harvest cotton before being taught to prepare the fibres and weave cloth for clothing, blankets and household use.
She said producing cloth from locally grown cotton involved drying it, removing the seeds, carding, spinning and twisting the fibres before dyeing the threads and placing them on the loom. A cotton blanket made entirely by hand takes about three to five days to complete.
Although purchased materials now make weaving faster and less demanding, Lam said handmade cotton threads produced softer, more durable fabric that customers valued.
During the agricultural off-season, women gather in spacious stilt houses to prepare yarn and weave together. The gatherings also sustain a tradition in which girls were taught from an early age and weaving proficiency was considered a mark of dexterity.
Dinh Thi Lep, 59, said careful colour choices gave the textiles their distinctive appearance. Diamond shapes and eight-pointed sun motifs stand out against a predominantly black background.
Red represents fire, blood, vitality and resilience; yellow evokes sunlight; and blue represents the sky and foliage. These combinations have been passed down through generations of women.
Artisan Dinh Thi Ponh, 62, introduces visitors to the stories behind the motifs, linking them to fields, forests and everyday village life. Her conversations at the loom help tourists and younger people understand the memories woven into each piece of fabric.