In the lead-up to the mid-Autumn festival, an old couple in Hanoi’s Old Quarter has made themselves busy creating traditional paper masks.

Making paper masks for over 30 years

Nguyen Van Hoa and his wife live in a small house on Hang Thang Street, Hoan Kiem District. They have been practicing this traditional craft for more than 30 years. The two started in the 1980s, when paper masks were very popular.

Busy for the mid-Autumn festival

Hoa’s wife sharing the workload

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Business in the 1980s

These days, the clients are reducing in number and the craft itself seems to be fading. Still, they keep up their business in order to save the trade for posterity.

The folding, gluing and meticulous construction of the masks makes it a time-consuming process. Only after paint is applied they are ready for buyers.

Drying process

Meticulously-made masks

Diverse designs

Time-consuming work

The couple makes thousands of paper masks of all kinds for the festival. Their products are diverse in design, many resembling famous characters from Vietnamese literature, such as Chi Pheo and Thi No. Others look like the heads of animals. Sunny days are much more productive for them, when they can make around 20 masks. If it rains, however, their output is much lower.

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