Giant tuna made from coconut shells

Artisan Pham Hong Bao (47 years old, owner of Binh SVC handicraft establishment) is the "father" of the tuna artwork and many other coconut shell handicraft products such as souvenirs, lamps, vases...

Works celebrating provincial merger

While diligently gluing the last pieces of coconut shell onto the fin of the almost finished tuna sculpture, Mr. Bao said the sculpture is 2.8m high and 3.8m long.

Mr. Bao and 5 artisans have been working on this work for the past 3 months, to celebrate the event of Phu Yen and Dak Lak provinces "coming together as one".

"On the base shaped like a wave holding a fish, there is a motif of Nghinh Phong tower representing Eastern Dak Lak and a communal house representing Western Dak Lak, in addition to gongs, cymbals, and wine jars. I want to create a unique local handicraft to commemorate the merger of the two provinces," Mr. Bao confided.

"This profession requires a lot of effort"

Artisan Pham Hong Bao said that to make this tuna work, he had to go through 15 stages.

As soon as he had an idea, he sketched out the image of the work. Next, he selected and classified coconut shells by color, using a machine to cut them into small pieces to inlay onto the composite frame of the work.

Once tens of thousands of coconut shell pieces have been assembled and glued to form the shape of the tuna, the artisans cover them with a layer of powdered coconut shell powder and then smooth them out. The next step is to apply composite and varnish to make the product waterproof and keep its color lasting.

"The small coconut shell pieces come in different sizes and are inlaid with many different shades, so when the sunlight shines on them, the tuna sculpture has very eye-catching light and dark areas," Mr. Bao excitedly said.

Currently, this giant coconut shell tuna sculpture is almost finished. Artist Pham Hong Bao said that the work is expected to be displayed at Thap Nghinh Phong Square (Tuy Hoa Ward, eastern Dak Lak Province) for people and tourists to check in and admire. After that, he will also ask for permission to display this work in western Dak Lak.

Artisan Pham Hong Bao said that he has been making handicrafts from coconut shells for nearly 25 years and has been awarded many awards and Vietnamese records for handicrafts made from this "special" material.

When he was young, he and his father returned to Tuy An district, Phu Yen province, and noticed that people there were wasting coconut shells.

"Back then, I picked up half of a dry coconut shell and tried to grind it, and found many beautiful colors. Depending on the coconut variety and age, coconut shells have many colors such as white, yellowish white, brown, dark brown... From there, I researched and developed the product. In particular, the products made from coconut shells are completely handmade, so they have created uniqueness," Mr. Bao recalled.