Currently in the province, there are dozens of handicraft stone making establishments. Most of these establishments are owned by artisans outside the province, of which artisans from Quang Nam and Da Nang are the majority.
The worker at Son Ha stone base is working on the work. Photo: Phung Hieu
Demand increased
We met Mr. Nguyen Thanh Khiem, owner of Ba Khiem Fine Arts Stone Factory, in An Binh Ward, Di An Town, on a weekend. His premises are modest. Khiem has nearly 10 years of building this profession in Binh Duong. Initially, his facility only specialized in carving beer, carving letters on stone. Gradually, due to the large market demand, he returned to Binh Dinh to recruit more stone workers to work here. Currently his facility has turned to stone carving statues. Each month, he has a turnover of more than 100 million dong, except for his expenses of several tens of million dongs.
Khiem shared, thanks to the development of Binh Duong economy, the demand for fine stone art is increasing. Handicraft stone here has dozens of establishments, located in localities of Di An, Thuan An, Ben Cat ... The backgrounds of artisans are also very diverse, from Ninh Binh, Nghe An, Yen Bai, Quang Nam, Da Nang ...
With an increasing number of stone art facilities, the demand for raw materials and stone billets in Binh Duong also increases rapidly. Huynh Van Giang, in Nghe An who specializes in selling billet, said that he has four shipments of rock billets every month to distribute to big and small establishments in Binh Duong. This source of stone embryos mainly comes from Northern and Central provinces.
According to the artisans, in the past, big constructions like hotels and parks wanted to order large sized stone art statues such as lions, unicorns, Buddha statues ... they had to go to Da Nang to order goods. Nearly 10 years ago, the stone art facilities here have developed rapidly to meet the local needs for large works. In Binh Duong, although stone carving is still a single activity, there is no focus to form a formal trade village but it also contributes to a variety of traditional handicrafts in the province.
Lack of workers
From Vinh Binh Bridge (Vinh Phu Ward) along Highway 13 to Aeon Supermarket there are many handicraft stone facilities operating relatively bustling. Fine art stone products of these facilities are very diverse, from garden and hotel decoration statues to statues serving the needs of spiritual worship in all sizes and sizes.
Artisan Nguyen Ngoc Son, owner of Son Ha stone factory, said that more than 20 years ago he came here to settle down. At that time, the province was implementing a project to expand Highway 13, he brought stone craft from Non Nuoc (Da Nang) here. At that time, the traffic was still sparse. In the early years of operation, thanks to the profit, Son Ha facility has just overcome the difficult period - when the demand for fine art stone use here is very small.
Son Ha is the second largest fine art stone base in Binh Duong that is operating effectively with monthly revenue of hundreds of millions of dong. The establishment currently has 3 main workers and 4 auxiliary workers. In addition to consuming products on the spot, sometimes the establishment also exports fine stone art. The works in the province that the stone carving establishment can be mentioned are The Mira Hotel, Dai Nam Resort ...
Mr. Son shared, whether it is an art or religious statue, each statue has the appearance of a sculptor. Stone craft requires meticulous, aesthetic is very high, by accidentally missing a few centimeters deviation of the nose is considered to be thrown away. Each sculpted stone product is treasured by artisans as a work of art. That is why stone craft is very picky people; In fact, human resources for stone making are seriously in shortage.
Currently, Mr. Son pays the main worker 700,000 VND / day, the auxiliary worker 200,000 - 300,000 VND / day. He is struggling because there are not enough workers to do it. This is also the current general situation of fine stone art facilities in Binh Duong. Therefore, every time the peak season, the owners must invite the workers from home to support.
Reported by Phung Hieu – Translated by Vi Bao
