Gao village in Thanh Loi commune, Nam Dinh province, has preserved the age-old tradition of making unicorn heads for the annual full-moon festival which falls in the middle of the eighth lunar month.
During the subsidized economy several decades ago, the villagers decided to establish a cooperative that only made unicorn heads for the festival.
The cooperative created intricately designed unicorn heads from materials such as used papers, inks, and bamboo supplied by the State, and delivered them to State companies to sell.
Having experienced many upheavals over the years, only three households in the village now earn a living from making unicorn heads. They still maintain the traditional manual work, from building and painting the bamboo frames to arranging and gluing decorative papers to create the final product.
The village is most well-known for making large-sized unicorn heads. Hung, a local villager, says he inherited the craft from his father who specialised in large unicorn heads. He used his own initiative to develop lighter, more durable unicorn heads using cloth instead of paper.
He says he is happy because the trade continues to grow and flourish, and his new products are selling well.
At another house in the village, the entire family is working hard around the clock to deliver products to their dealers on schedule. A small unicorn head costs just VND8,000 (38 cents).
Although the full-moon festival is celebrated only once a year, Gao villagers hope to preserve their traditional craft and make enough money to cover some of their daily expenses.
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| Making large-size unicorn heads |
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| Cloth pieces are used instead of old papers |
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| The unicorn head is made of rattan and bamboo splints |
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| Gluing the head |
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| The inner framed layer of the head |
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| Unfinished products |
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| Painting the head |
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| Drying the products in the sun |
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| Putting the finishing touch to the product |
