offwego

Calling all experts:

I have this thing for woven textiles from SEA. Hill tribe embroideries, etc. Aversion to anything machine made.

Last year I went to the area around Sapa and Bac Ha; once I got far enough away from the tourists, I found some nice things. I also went to Mai Chau on a three day trek and found some great weavings but trading was hard; the people ran from us (they don't get many tourists around there). Been to the villages around Luang Prabang and found some nice things too. Maybe further afield in northern Lao?

I'm thinking northern Thailand or Mondulkiri/Ratanakiri province in Cambodia? Is there somewhere else I should be exploring? Has anyone been to any particularly good weaving centers? I'm interested in fair trade; don't mind trekking out to find the craftspeople and trade with them directly.

Any tips appreciated.

Kathie

I too love hand woven textiles. In Hanoi, there is a store called CraftLink, a fair trade crafts store. When I was there a few years back, they had some textiles the likes of which I've never seen before. There were bone beads woven into the cloth... amazing. They also had Khmer double ikat with human figures. The people who own the place buy directly from the weavers, and they often get unique things. (There is also a textiles place on Church street in Hanoi, but they are not fair trade and they didn't have as interesting a selection.)

There is a great fair trade textiles place in KL in the Central Market.

On Lombok, there is a weaving village we visited and purchased from the weavers. We also went to another place in Mataram that had weavings from Lombok and several nearby islands.

In Sarawak, the weavings from the Iban are really amazing. The women weave images from their dreams. While most people want to buy the "blankets" (the Iban word escapes me now), I purchased "skirts" that are the first big weaving projects of girls and is a rite of passage into womanhood. Some of the weavings are so-called jungle weavings, where the cotton thread is spun in the jungle, others use commercial thread. The pieces I purchased were all in the 50-70 year old range.

rhkkmk

ladies...what does "fair trade" mean??

offwego

Yes I've been to Craftlink and purchased a few things; came home and sold them with ease (wasn't my intention, just happened)....been to Hanoi a few times now; like to go somewhere different.

Sarawak sounds interesting... I will already be in Siem Reap; any suggestions on which airlines to try? Maybe Singapore Air out of SR then onward?

janev

I also really like lovely textiles like this - Kuching has lots for sure. There are also beautiful things in Yunnan province - some similar to Sapa.

Kathie

Bob, from Wikipedia "Fair trade is an organized social movement and market-based approach to alleviating global poverty and promoting sustainability. The movement advocates the payment of a fair price as well as social and environmental standards in areas related to the production of a wide variety of goods. It focuses in particular on exports from developing countries to developed countries, most notably handicrafts, coffee, cocoa, sugar, tea, bananas, honey, cotton, wine, fresh fruit, and so on."

Lori, we flew to Kuching through KL, but I believe there are flights from Singapore to Kuching as well. We loved Kuching! There are shops in a series of shophouses across from the river. I spent hours talking with the shopkeepers about the textiles. If you are interested they will spend time with you explaining the pieces they have.

rhkkmk

may be too far to the left for me....andy will have fun with this

Kathie

Bob, in basic terms it means the craftsperosn gets a fair price for their product rather than the middle people making all the money. Despite your politics, I expect you would be in favor of that! ;-)

Kathie

Lori, I forgot to mention that there are many areas of Indonesia with wonderful textiles. I expect marmot knows a lot more than I do. I purchased a number years ago on my first trip to Jakarta.

rhkkmk

i bow to that

offwego

Good ideas here...looking into flights; kind of a long-ish haul from SR to Kuching, not sure if travel companions will be up for it, but we'll see.....thanks so much for the good tips.

iban blanket: pua

Kathie

Lori, that's so funny, the term "pua" came to me this morning, and I was going to post to you when I saw your post!

There are several excellent books on Iban weaving that are only available in Sarawak. I picked up a couple.

massagediva

I went to Artisans d'Angkor,a lovely spot near Siem Reap where village women learn to weave silk.They make beautiful things.

crellston

We bought some nice pieces directly from the villagers around Luang Namtha and Muang Sing in the far north of Laos. Very much off the beaten track but definitely worth it. also great palce to buy tea and Lao Lao.

marmot

http://www.threadsoflife.com/

Threads of Life is a wonderful organization that researches, preserves, supports and sells traditional Indonesian textiles. They are based in Bali, but are involved with textiles from all over the Indonesian archipelago.

Each island has its own textile tradition -- for example, batik, ikat, jacquard, embroidery, bark cloth and the diversity and artistry is astonishing.

stitchintime

I received this from the Thai textile assoc.

Invitation to “Enliven the City with Exquisite Thai Handicrafts Fair” Opening Ceremony


Time: Thursday, April 24, 2008 at 2 p.m.


Location: Amarin Plaza, Ploenchit Road, Ratchaprasong Intersection

BTS: Chidlom



The Thai Textile Society has just received an invitation from the Thai Handicraft Trade Promotion Association for the opening ceremony of the “Enliven the City with Exquisite Thai Handicrafts Fair” on Thursday, April 24, 2008 at 2 p.m. The ceremony will kick off 11 days of activities that will end on May 5. This fair celebrates the 30th anniversary of the Thai Handicraft Trade Promotion Association.


The fair, which was featured in the Bangkok Post Outlook section on April 22, will bring together outstanding craftspeople and their products from throughout Thailand. Of special interest to members of the Thai Textile Society will be an exhibit from the collection of Life Member Surapee Rojanavongse, honorary chair of the Thai Handicraft Trade Promotion Association, on the third floor of Amarin Plaza. Khun Surapee has been collecting and promoting Thai textiles for over 30 years.


Visitors to the fair will also have an opportunity to see special programs on pottery, ceramics, kites, making flowers from weeds, making paper, carving, and goldsmithing. The fair will host street performances each day at noon and 6 p.m. There will also be a Thai Craft Market on the third floor of Amarin Plaza.


Members interested in attending the opening ceremony should telephone 02-6125900, extension 5811. Members who read Thai can obtain more details about the fair at www.th-ta.com.

rhkkmk

thanks stitch....we will try to go next week

simpsonc510

Yes, thanks stitch. I'll try to run by there this afternoon, since I'm in BKK right now. My German friends would enjoy this, I think.
Carol

holikurry

Hi,
I am sorry - I know you like textiles from SEA - but I wonder if you have ever looked at Indian ones..?

Craftsmen here have learnt the trade from their fathers as did their fathers before them. Today this tradition unfolds itself in overwhelming variety of handicrafts. Each region has an abundance of traditional styles - the colours and weaves are unique in each state.

Gujarat, Kashmir, Karanataka etc are all places where you shall find unique designs - the most famous weaves here are as follows-

Ajrakh
One of the most specialised and finest kinds of block printing, AJRAKH is a popular traditional art form of Kutch with its main centres in Dhamadka, Khavda and Bhuj in Gujarat. The entire process of printing Ajrakh thus involves 13 stages that are inevitably more expensive to produce, but the result is a wonderful depth of colour not achievable with surface printing.

Appliqué
The term Appliqué is derived from the French word appliquer which means to ‘put on’ or ‘lay on’ or ‘to apply’. The earliest known example of this technique dates back to 980 B.C. Egypt. In appliqué, pieces of fabric forming the design are cut out and prepared to eliminate the raw edges. These are then placed on the larger backing fabric and sewn in place using a variety of stitches. Several cultures use appliqué to decorate clothes, quilts, curtains, wall hangings, cushions, bags and accessories.In India, this craft is practiced predominantly in Rajasthan, Gujarat and parts of Orissa. In Gujarat, appliqué is known commonly as katab, probably a distortion of the English phrase—‘cut-up’!
Bagh
The name of this beautiful printing technique comes from its area of production, a small village in central India, in which a few families produce these bold and vibrant compositions. Hand block printing with great precision and imagination, the printers work with a natural bright red and a black dye on cotton fabrics. Working only with this particular colour combination, they take extra care in cloth preparation and finishing, which involves 15 process stages. The result is strong print definition, strong solid colour application and a pleasing suppleness in the cloth. Some special bagh compositions may contain as many as 1300 separate block impressions in a bedspread
Chanderi
Chanderi, a small town situated on the flanks of the Vindhyachal, has been a well known centre for beautiful woven silk saris. Chanderi is located on the ancient trade routes and its cultures and traditions are the result of a mix of external influences, which often find depiction in the fabrics produced here. Chanderi silk is the result of the traditional methods of sizing and hand weaving methods that have been perfected over the centuries, and passed down through generations.
Chikankari
is a fine and intricate embroidery done by white untwisted yarn on muslins. The word Chikan appears to have had its origin in Persia, being derivative of ‘chakin’ or ‘chakeen’, meaning the rendering of delicate patterns on fabric. Folklore attributes the origin of Chikankari to Queen Noor Jehan, Mughal Emperor Jehangir’s wife, who, inspired by Turkish embroidery, introduces this needlework to India. The stitches employed in Chikankari are unique and can be divided into three categories: Flat stitches, which are delicate and subtle; Embossed stitches which are highlighted from the fabric surface, and Jali work where the fabric is broken into holes by ‘teasing’ the warp and weft yarns and holding them in position by small stitches, to give it a delicate net effect.Chikan embroidery is a laborious and time-consuming task. The craftsmen are trained for about 15-20 years and sometimes it takes 10-15 days to complete an entire Chikan ensemble.

Indigo
In India, the art of colouring textiles by tie-dye and printing has been done in natural colours for generations. Indigo (Neel), obtained from the plant Indigofera tinctoria, or Indian Madder, is one of these natural dyes. The dye stuff of legends, Indigo is still used by block printers and dyers in the villages of India. Craftsmen today employ the same dyeing technique used since ancient times for natural indigo dyeing.
The indigo dye bath is made in large vats made of clay and then carefully maintained for about six months until it is exhausted. The cloth is repeatedly immersed in the vat and exposed to air to produce varying intensities of blue. White patterns are retained by the application of a paste made from clay mixed with wheat chaff and tree gum before dipping the fabric into an indigo bath. This resist paste prevents the dye from penetrating the covered areas.
Indigo simply bonds and interlinks with the fibres and through washing and friction some of the indigo molecules break away. This is why indigo rubs off on the skin and then washes away easily. Indigo dyed clothes need thorough washing before use to remove excess dye. This, due to water scarcities in the dyeing villages, is not always possible and therefore, must be done at home before use.

Kalamkari
Kalamkari was adopted by the printing communities on the Coramandel coast of south east India and most of the production is now hand block printed by a number of small families in and around the old fishing port of Masulipatnam, Andhra Pradesh. The intricate designs, elaborate borders and understanding of balanced composition has given Kalamkari its well deserved place as a popular idiom and one of the most widely imitated styles of Indian printing. Real Kalamkari, however, with its delicate floral, geometric motifs and vegetable dyes, is far more subtle.

Tie - Dye
Yarn Tie-Dye (IKAT)
Ikat weaving requires predetermined sections of yarn to be tied prior to being dyed and then woven. Either the warp or weft threads, or both are tied to produce different kinds of ikat. The pattern emerges once the yarn is woven into fabric. A unique and complex resist dye technique, ikat requires highly skilled artisans, as each step needs to be executed with precision to ensure richness of fabric and clarity of design. The technique produces fabric with a unique, ‘feathered’ look to the motifs, due to the use of tie-dyed yarn.

Hand Tie-Dye (Bandhani)

Tie-dye is essentially indicative of a technique of patterning cloth by reserving a part of the surface prior to dyeing. This is done by marking the fabric with patterns and blocking the penetration of the dye by tying the reserved area tightly with thread. The tied fabric is then dipped into vats of dye, to create resist-dyed patterns, which vary in complexity of technique and design. Bandhani, with its characteristic patterns of dots, Leheriya and Mothra are prime examples of tie dyed fabrics.

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Let me know if you need more info.

simpsonc510

stitch
Much appreciate the tip about the Thai Craft center opening. I was able to fit it into the schedule today. There was Thai music and dance and people on a stage talking (in Thai) about the craft center opening. If I understand correctly, this is the "old" Nari Phand people. Nari Phand used to be located behind Gaysorn Plaza and is now at Amarin (by Erewan Shrine). Anyway, I bought some really lovely things!

Thanks again for the tip! I might not have gone into Amarin otherwise.

Carol