When not doing farm works, H’Lep Nie from Buor village, Hoa Xuan commune, Buon Ma Thuot city, would usually sit at her loom and diligently work on her eye-catching, diamond-patterned blanket. It’s a vintage and rare design that she recently learned from a weaving class, she said: “The Ede have a variety of patterns, from alternate designs, double lines to tree branch and bow-shaped patterns. I have done them all and want to try something new. Even though I’m old now, I signed up for the class.”
The class Mrs. H’Lep Nie signed up for was taught by H’Bion Buon Krong from Cu Dlue village. Now in her 60s, H’Bion has been weaving for nearly 50 years. She wishes to pass the traditional craft on to other women so it can continue to be preserved and developed.
H'Bion said, “I hope I will stay fit to continue teaching other women and the younger generations how to weave, prepare the threads, and sew. I taught them how to select and arrange the threads, adjust their loom, and make patterns from small to big, simple to complicated. I hope I can inspire the younger generation to learn and preserve the craft.”
The class was started by the Traditional Brocade Weaving Club, which was founded in September 2023 by Ede people in Drai Hling village. The club currently has 30 members, who get to learn step-by-step from master artisans how to set their looms, weave, and design their own products.
The club also supplies its members with looms, overlock machines, and sewing machines. Its chairwoman H Nga Bya said, “We make traditional brocade products like skirts, dresses, bags, loincloths, and blankets together, so that our traditional craft is not fading.”
 Ede women are inspired to hold onto and promote their traditional craft. (Photo: H'Xiu/VOV) |
The club has returned the vibrant hues of brocades to the Ede traditional longhouses in Buon Ma Thuot city and inspired Ede women to take pride in their craft and cultural heritage.
Its activities align with the goals of Dak Lak province’s project to combine the preservation and promotion ethnic minorities’ cultural values with tourism development. This is also part of the National Target Program for socioeconomic development in ethnic minority and mountainous areas for the 2021-2030 period, said chairman of Hoa Xuan commune people's committee, Tu Van Hoi.
The locality’s development strategy is to integrate ethnic culture, which includes the Ede’s brocade weaving, with community-based tourism, he said. "The Brocade Weaving Club will contribute to promoting our cultural values, and in the long run, together with community-based tourism, promoting the traditional crafts and cultural beauty of the Ede ethnic minority in Hoa Xuan commune. It will also help ethnic minorities in the province and city safeguard and pass down their cultural heritage."
As spring comes along, the sounds of the looms and dexterous hands of Ede craftswomen weave hope onto the their traditional brocades.