Travel hiatus seems to have passed as the pent-up wanderlust is being fulfilled this year. You may still have room in your calendar, and funds tucked away for at least one more textile travel adventure, don’t you?  (We have some recommendation below!) For years, ClothRoads has enticed you, and in some cases you’ve even traveled along with us to far-flung places. Your eyes (and pocketbooks) have been opened as you’ve met artisans in their villages, watching them weave, stitch, and/or dye while producing their heritage-based products.

Recently, I met a ClothRoads-inspired traveler, Jeanette Lurier, while attending the rug symposium at the Denver Art Museum held in conjunction with the exhibit Rugged Beauty (closing May 29). Jeanette told me that all her past few years of textile travel first began with a ClothRoads textile tour recommendation. She heartily added how wonderful and engaging textile folks are, having gained many new friends through these trips.

Do you have textile travel recommendations to share? I’ll be updating the ClothRoads’s Textile Travel list in the coming months. Send your recommends and a few snaps to murphy@clothroads.com. If you’re inspired to do so, share this blog to others who have the travel itch or just want to armchair travel along with us. We’re sure to cross paths while traveling the cloth road.

 Andean Textile Arts Andean Textile Arts: Bolivia Tour  August 8 – August 21, 2023

Explore the traditional arts, cultures, and natural wonders of Bolivia. Visit the artisans of ArteCampo in Santa Cruz and the Cochabamba weavers at ASUR in Sucre. Spend time with Jalq’a and Candelaria weavers in their villages and explore the famous Tarabuco Market. Tour a silver mine in Potosi (UNESCO World Heritage site) and visit the Royal Mint House. Travel through the high plateau, see herds of llamas and vicunas, and meet local quinoa growers. Watch the sunset over the magical salt planes of Uyuni and spend the night in a salt hotel. Visit the National Museum of Ethnography and Folklore in La Paz. Explore the shores of Lake Titicaca. Wander through the Witches’ Market in La Paz and view the city from above on telefericos. Contact Pam Art at tours@andeantextilearts.org for details.

Behind the Scenes Adventures Textile and Festival Tour of Thailand, Laos and Cambodia July 21 – August 8, 2023

Come and enjoy the best of all three countries – the most interesting textiles, festivals, architecture, and archeology, including three UNESCO World Heritage sites in this small group tour. Meet indigo dyers and ikat weavers at work and learn about their dyeing methods on silk and cotton. See loads of stunning hand weaving, most of them patterned with the complex ikat or mat-mi technique. Attend the Wax Candle Festival or Khao Phansa in Ubon Ratchathani. This exciting event showcases some of the country’s best artistry with hand-carved wax Buddha figures on floats in a parade with musicians and dancers. Bucket list destinations are included on this 19-night tour, such as the ancient Khmer complex of Angkor Wat, and the royal city of Luang Prabang with its golden temples!

Flora Felts West Hungary Felt Retreat August 23 – Sept 1, 2023

Meet up in Budapest then head to the West to stay in historic downtown Kőszeg. The workshops will take place in the 120-year-old MuliFelt Factory. Internationally recognized, innovative instructors will teach the workshops: Anikó Boros will present a workshop on how to make a jelted jewelry, and Flóra Carlile-Kovács will teach a three-and-a-half-day workshop with the help of the old industrial equipment. Between the workshops, take a day trip to Vienna, and visit the Museum of Art Nouveau, and a half-day trip to visit Liliomkert craft and antique market. This is a limited space retreat with a small group size. Contact Flora@florafelts.com

Tia Stephanie Tours Feria Del Rebozo: Ikat Traditions and Techniques September 2023 (exact dates to come)

This trip is scheduled around the Feria del Rebozo in Tenancingo, the rebozo mecca of Mexico, known for exquisite ikat (jaspe) dye resist rebozos. Enjoy this unique opportunity to see and purchase collection quality rebozos, as well as the lovely and comfortable ones for daily wear.  Meet numerous artisans and begin to see the designs each is most known for.  After Tenancingo, continue to Michoacan to visit special rebozo weaving communities and to learn about the rebozo as an essential element of the ethnographic Purepecha dress.

Andean Textile Arts Textile Tour of the Cusco Highlands, Peru October 15 – 26, 2023

Visit remote weaving communities of the Cusco Highlands accompanied by Nilda Callañaupa, Quechua master weaver and founder of the Center for Traditional Textiles of Cusco. Be welcomed with special ceremonies and demonstrations (and textiles!) by the weavers. Encounter many of the greatest archaeological sites of the Incan Empire: the massive ceremonial center of Sacsayhuaman above Cusco, the fortresses of Pisac and Ollantaytambo in the Sacred Valley, and the crown jewel, Machu Picchu. Explore the ruins as our private guide Raul Jaimes shares his knowledge of Incan architecture and history. Stop for views of the glacier Chicon on your way to Nilda and Raul’s hometown of Chinchero, where a traditional Andean lunch will be served, take part in a natural dye workshop, and tour the traditional House of the Weavers. Cap off the tour in Lima with a viewing of the Amano Museum’s private collection of exquisite pre-Columbian textiles.

Optional Extension to Ecuador: October 26 – 31, 2023. Explore Quito, including the museum of Ecuadorian handcrafts. Then spend three nights at the lovely Hacienda Cusin, discovering the hacienda’s own textile collection and visiting artisan weavers and embroiderers in and near Otavalo.

Interested in joining our next trip? Contact Pam Art at tours@andeantextilearts.org.

A Memorable Textile Tour to India December 28, 2023 – January 10, 2024

Do you dream of travel, meeting artisans and enjoying exquisite handmade textiles?  Judy Frater, who lived in India for 30 years and established the first design school for artisans, is planning a unique experience of intimate exchanges with textile artisans of Kutch and Ahmedabad. Meet weavers, block print, batik and bandhani artists, embroiderers who have graduated from the year-long design course and more, hear their amazing and heartwarming stories, and delight in their fabulous innovations. Learn craft traditions in four hands-on workshops. Savor a visit to the world-famous Calico textile Museum and authentic Gujarati cuisine. Most important, your experiences will encourage you to contemplate traditional lifestyles and the complex issues of traditions adapting to the fast-evolving contemporary world, and to ponder concepts of sustainability. If interested, please contact judyf@textileslive.com

Armchair Travel to Peru

Want to learn more about the culture and history of Peru? From the rainforests of the Amazon, to the Sacred Valley of the Inca, to the Nazca Lines in the south, Peru is a rich environmental and archeological tapestry stretching back over two thousand years.

Andean Textile Arts brings you a limited series of online talks from Raul Jaimes Callañaupa. Named one of the “Best of the Best” tour guides by Overseas Adventure Travel, Raul has been leading tours in Bolivia and Peru for twenty-three years, including those for Andean Textile Arts. A native of Chinchero, Peru, and the son and grandson of weavers, Raul is passionate about sharing Andean culture. The cost of each Zoom talk is $20, to help support Andean weaving communities. All four programs will be recorded, and registrants will receive a link for viewing.

The four lectures will take place Thursdays at 8:00 p.m. EDT, beginning April 20. Descriptions and registration links are here.

Don’t Miss This Exhibit: Closes May 29.

Seattle Art Museum Ikat: A World of Compelling Cloth. March 9 – May 29, 2023. Seattle, Washington.

Pardah hanging, late 19th century, Silk Road (Uzbekistan), silk, warp ikat, cotton weft, 90 x 65 in. Collection of David and Marita Paly.

Enter the woven world of ikat, a complex textile pattern that knows no borders. Presenting over 100 textiles from the museum’s global collection and loans, Ikat: A World of Compelling Cloth is an introduction to the meticulous and time-honored processes of dyeing threads to create complicated hand-weaving. Elegant Japanese kimonos and furnishings, silk robes from Central Asia, symbolic cloths from Indonesia, and more will fill SAM’s galleries. The exhibition also offers the immersive experience of walking into an ikat, with an installation by contemporary artists Rowland and Chinami Ricketts that flows from the floor to the ceiling. A radical departure from today’s factory-made cloth, ikat serves as a reminder of the power of slow fashion and the sacredness of clothing as art.

SIGN UP here to receive our monthly textile calendar loaded with exhibitions, programs, festivals, and more.

The post Ready for Textile Travel Again appeared first on ClothRoads.

It is hard to believe that it was just last May when we were in Morocco on a textile tour with Dr. Susan Shaefer Davis, author of Women Artisans of Morocco: Their Stories, Their Lives, published by Thrums Books. Now we’re faced with the great unknown of when we will be able to travel again–our memories residing in the captivating photos of the women artisans, the vivid surrounds, the cultural richness, and the cheerful rugs. Yes, the rugs we brought home are definitely being enjoyed more as we pad about the house day in and day out.

The few rugs we brought home last May for ClothRoads were scooped up in short order. What follows is the story of our time with the women weavers of the Timnay Association, the group known throughout Morocco as some of the finest weavers in the whole country.

Greetings After traveling a few hours  through the Anti-Atlas Mountains, we came to a halt near some family compounds and a school near the road. We had made it to the village of N’Kob, the home of the famed women weavers of the Timnay Association, and where most families depend on the women’s weaving to make ends meet.

Color bloomed as we approached the compound–not from plants but from the richness of the rugs spread on the ground both outside and inside the walled area. We were quickly greeted by women and children. Our group wasted no time in perusing the rugs and scooping up ones they were potentially interested in. Questioning ensued and our three women translators who accompanied us this day were quickly put to work. (N’kob is a Berber village and our tour guides didn’t speak this language). Each weaver stood by her rugs, some quite shy while others nudged us into committing to their fine work.

A Visit to the Weaver’s House It was now midday and we were motioned into a house owned by Fatima El Mennouny. Here the association women demonstrated dyeing, spinning and weaving. Fatima has four sons and five daughters (two of whom she has taught to weave). Her favored type of rug is a “picture” rug. These are  quite innovative, using a combination of flatweaves, piles, and sometimes twining. The motifs appear as little pictures that come together into a whole story. Fatima is also quite a savvy rug seller—she know quality and uses the best dyes and materials for her rugs. The day of our visit, she sold the most rugs of any other weaver.

Rugs in Process Fatima El Mennouny’s two daughters were weaving side-by-side. With the help of our translator, I asked about the patterns being woven as there was no noticeable drawing, and how could they both be weaving side by side? The answer was that they just made up patterns as they wove, inlaying dots, dashes, zigzags, short-pile patterns, etc. I did notice one of them had started a pattern then glanced at what her sister was weaving. She removed her pattern and laid in a different one!

Across the room, a mother with her two young girls were scouring wool while others sat and spun. My friend joined in the spinning and motioned for me to do likewise. Pointing and laughter ensued not because we couldn’t spin, but because we knew HOW to spin albeit a tad different than they did. I purchased a handspindle and Fatima El Mennouny took it. She started spinning with it, saying if she started the spinning then I would carry blessings from her country. Just spending the day with this group was a blessing, and leaving the women with money for the rugs purchased was a blessing for them.

About the Timnay Association The association was founded in 2010 after an agreement was made between a group of women in the village of N’kob. The village of N’kob is located near Taznakht, a town known for its livestock and agriculture. These two activities contributed to making the town of Taznakht and the surrounding area well known for its quality natural handmade traditional products, thanks to the availability of natural wool and plants and other raw materials. For more information about the association and Morocco rugs, visit Susan Shaefer Davis’s website .

The post A Year Ago in Morocco appeared first on ClothRoads.

You’ve armchair traveled to Peru with ClothRoads for years through our blogs, visiting the remote community of Huacatinco, or coming along on a natural dye day in Chinchero. You’ve learned about scaffold weaving, tubular edging, bobble knitting, and spinning. Through these, you can see that everything about the lives of the weavers in the Peruvian Highland villages centers around community. Potato harvesting season begins soon, the time to dig up and divvy up the spuds that will help sustain them through the approaching winter months. The honoring of mothers, including Pachamama, in early May is a time for family and community festivities. And then there’s the day-to-day activities of the weavers, being together at their weaving shelters singing while spinning or gossiping while weaving. But as of March 15, they’ve been advised to stay home–and remaining six-feet apart doesn’t fit with indigenous cultures. They weave in isolation worrying about selling textiles, their main means of livelihood. The virus has not meant the death knell for them but it has translated into a complete loss of tourism which means no textile sales.

The Center for Traditional Textiles of Cusco For the past month, the Center for Traditional Textiles of Cusco (CTTC) has been closed, as have all but essential businesses. The Center is the primary place where most tourists visit and where most textile sales occur. It has also lost its income to keep its staff employed. They’re managing to meet payroll through the end of April but beyond that is unknown. There are no government payouts, no extra funds to buy materials for the 10 villages of  weavers or their weavings–that’s 650 people plus their families. But there are plans underway to assist CTTC and the weavers during this time.

Andean Textile Arts, a U.S. 501c3 nonprofit, supports the Center through annual giving and grants (full disclosure: I am an ATA board member). Through many emails and calls with Nilda Callañaupa, the founder and director of CTTC, ATA and CTTC boards have been furiously working on short- and long-term strategies. Not knowing when tourism will start up again, the CTTC board has been evaluating programs and making contingency plans. ATA made an $12,000 emergency grant to enable the Center to buy already-made products from the weavers, giving the communities some immediate income. And it just funded a number of development programs within the weaving communities, as well as the partial funding of the education and community-development staff. But ATA too has limited resources so now I’m asking you, the ClothRoads community to help out.

ClothRoads Community Can Help We realize you may be financially struggling right now too, or you may be suffering through the virus. If you are, we wish you a brighter tomorrow. But if you can assist the weavers, here are some ways to help in a small or large way:

Make a Purchase Go to our store and make a purchase of a weaving from the Center for Traditional Textiles of Cusco.

Double Your Impact Andean Textile Arts has a matching grant of $5000 right now so anything you give will be doubled. These funds will go directly to the Center to help keep their staff employed as well as providing weaving community assistance. Donate Here.

More Weavings Available ClothRoads has more CTTC weavings that aren’t online—runners, ponchos, vests, hats, cloths, and more. If you don’t see something online that’s right for you, let’s set up an appointment via zoom, skype, facetime, or google hangouts. Just email me at murphy@clothroads.com.

 The sustainability of the global artisan sector depends on all of us. Share it on. Thank you for your support along with a virtual hug.

Shop CTTC ClothRoads

The post No Tourists = No Textile Sales, Support the Weavers of the Center for Traditional Textiles of Cusco appeared first on ClothRoads.

Many tours offer the “off-the-beaten path” experience but the Andean Textile Arts textile tour to the Peruvian Highlands delivers. Whether you’re a textile enthusiast, an adventure traveler, or along for the journey, this one aligns with the ClothRoads mission like none other: for you to meet the artisans, hear their stories, and learn about their traditions directly from them. It’s certainly the reason I return almost yearly and why I have written so many blogs about the Center for Traditional Textiles of Cusco.

Judy Murray went on this tour a few years back. In fact, she’s gone to Peru four times now so I asked her “why”? Here’s her recommendation:

“While I’m not big on tours, there is so much to recommend this one that the general public would never see. First and foremost, you will meet Nilda Callañuapa, an incredible woman who rescued Andean textiles from the brink of extinction. She is certainly a hero of mine. I was thrilled to meet her.”

You’ll get to visit the high-altitude weaving villages of Chinchero, Chahuaytire, Accha Alta, and Pitumarca while gaining exposure to their spinning, dyeing, weaving and knitting techniques—each particular to their village–and buy treasures directly from the weavers, an experience no shop can replicate.  Regular tourists would never get to these villages, except for Chinchero.

You’ll get a private tour of Machu Picchu and the opportunity to return there the next morning. Plus a stay at the awesome Inka Terra Machu Picchu Hotel with its orchid garden. You’ll visit the private Amano Museum in Lima, with Pre-Columbian textiles and ceramics that left me breathless. The general public does not have access without an appointment.

Plus, you’ll have a free day in Cusco, and if you wanted to extend your trip on your own, it can be done.”

Come along with Andean Textile Arts on its next tour to the Peruvian Highlands  and scratch that textile travel itch to Peru off your bucket list. Then we can travel somewhere else along the cloth road. Email pam.art@icloud.com.

Peruse the Center for Traditional Textiles of Cusco Store at ClothRoads.

The post Textile Tour to the Peruvian Highlands, Register Now appeared first on ClothRoads.

When traveling on the cloth road, chances are high you’ll be traveling with other kindred spirits. But how do you determine the right-fit textile travel tour for you? ClothRoads has always been very selective about who we note in our list, limiting it to those who offer textile-specific trips and are focused specifically on cultural and traditional techniques, meeting with artisans, and off-the-beaten-path locals. But over the years, we’ve added a few travel companies who have textile tours as one of their product offerings. Lately, ClothRoads has been receiving requests from tour companies or tour guides who want to be listed in our textile resource list or highlighted in our monthly textile calendar. So last week, we added an “*” by the companies who we have traveled with or know personally, and who meet the textile standards we would want on a trip. Whether you’re an avid traveler or saving for a very special textile journey, how would you vet our list?

A Few Travel Questions to Consider These topics are in no specific order nor are they complete. They’re just what came to mind.

Do you want a small group experience? A small group can be under 15 people but you may want even less, so ask ahead of time what the group limit is. The smaller the group, the more time you have to dig in and explore, and you won’t come to blows snagging a special textile. But it also means the tour could cost more or the accommodations may not be to your standards. Do your research.

Do you travel alone or with a friend? This is a tough question. It’s always nice sharing experiences as well as lodging costs with someone you know. But if you’re traveling on your own and you don’t want a single supplement, you better know how much personal time/space you need, your sleeping patterns, and your overall tolerance for sharing with a yet-unknown person. I’ve seen roommates become fast friends and others who, well you know. Take into consideration that you’re with people all day long and sometime grueling conditions, so do you need a break from that?

Are you comfortable being uncomfortable? Flexibility is absolutely the key. A road could be washed out due to a rainstorm, or going from one town to another may take many hours, or as is the case with my trip in Uzbekistan last year, travel plans had to change (the Uzbeki president made a last-minute trip to where we were also traveling but he got first dibs for the train, leaving us to take a very long bus ride instead.) When traveling to countries where tourism is developing, you’re there at a perfect time to experience the “undiscovered” riches but it also means the infrastructure may not be in place to accommodate the masses.

Do you want hands-on experiences? If you’re particularly interested in some hands-on learning, whether a short workshop or just a demonstration, see if the tour offers that. Most textile tours offer this but there are varying degrees of hands-on so make sure you ask ahead of time. If a non-textile person accompanies you on the trip, make sure they are aware of this aspect so something else can be planned during this time. (and planned ahead of time). Or, if you want to take an immersive class, you may need to arrange this separately and be expected to pay extra.

Have you researched your guide(s), both your tour operator and in-country experts? You want to travel with a textile expert: one who knows the country, the artisans, the traditions. And you want them to have an enduring relationship with the in-country tour operator because when a problem arises, the operator knows who to call, where to go, how to get a work-around. Plus they know their country, the politics and religion, the terrain, the do’s and don’ts. Never take this lightly.

A Recommended Country for Traditional Textile Lovers Recently I’ve been asked by friends where they should go on their next textile travel. Well Uzbekistan is an absolute highlight (see my blog). In case you missed it, Uzbekistan was included in the New York Times 52 places to go in 2019 which means in the next five years, it will probably have an influx of tourists so as a textile lover, go soon.

I looked at three of our recommended textile tours for the upcoming few years. Cynthia LeCount’s Behind the Scenes Adventures is already full. But there are two other great small-group recommends: Christine Martens is taking reservations for her 2022 tour. Christine is trained as weaver and has an MFA in fiber. She began researching the textile and traditions of Uzbekistan in 2001 and yearly trips continued in the Central Asian republics, Mongolia, and Xinjiang. Her Uzbekistan in-country guide is Raisa Gareeva. Ms. Gareeva was the Central Asian foreign expert for Aid to Artisans in Uzbekistan, guiding artisans in the revival of traditions and honing of skills which had been forgotten during the Soviet era. There are many private visits with artisans inclusive of suzani embroidery, block printing, feltmaking, silk spinning, ikat masters, and so much more. Contact christinelillianmartens@gmail.com for more information.

The International Folk Art Market offers Passport to Folk Art Trips. These are life-changing opportunities to meet master folk artists in their home countries; experience rich histories, cultural heritage, and traditions firsthand; and connect with the artists who are creating a better future for their communities through folk art. You’ll meet many of the artisans who have been to the folk art market over the years.

ClothRoads’s Textile Travel Resource Visit ClothRoads’s Textile Travel for many other possibilities. Send us your recommends and tell us why. Share this blog on to others who have the travel itch or just want to armchair travel along with us. We’re sure to cross paths while traveling the cloth road. And, as with all travel, we are not liable in any way for your own personal experience.

Download our Textile Travel Guide: 10 Tips to Be a Star Textile Ambassador. (You will be asked for your email and the download will become available once that is provided)

The post Choosing the Right Textile Travel Tour appeared first on ClothRoads.

ClothRoads isn’t known for selling handwoven rugs. But we were in Morocco after all on a textile tour, and had spent many days looking at rugs, learning about the various differences in designs and weaves. Dr. Susan Shaefer Davis, our guide and the author of Women Artisans of Morocco, had told us about the Timnay Association, that the women in this group were known throughout Morocco as some of the finest weavers in the whole country. I was worn down by rugs and we were nearing the end of our journey. I had room in my bags to bring home just a few rugs, didn’t I?*

Our group had been waiting for this day. We switched from our large bus to two small vans as the paved road really couldn’t handle a large vehicle. We soon found out why. We turned off the main highway onto one that seemed to disappear into the foothills of the Anti-Atlas Mountains. The landscape was rocky desert; the climate arid with farming and sheep herding the primary source of living. Without any signage or signal, our vans came to a halt near some family compounds and a school across the road. We had arrived in the village of N’kob, the home of the famed women weavers of the Timnay Association.

Greetings As we approached the compound, color bloomed. Not from plants but from the richness of the rugs spread on the ground both outside and inside the walled area. We were quickly greeted by women and children. Our group wasted no time in perusing the rugs and scooping up ones they were potentially interested in. Questioning ensued and our three women translators who accompanied us this day were quickly put to work. (N’kob is a Berber village and our tour guides didn’t speak this language). Each weaver stood by her rugs, some quite shy while others nudged us into committing to their fine work. My goal was to buy a few rugs* for ClothRoads that would visually work together as a small collection. Easier said than done as I was competing with my fellow rug buyers as well as guiding them to make purchases. I finally spotted one rug—a deep blue runner with dark red patterns and striking motifs. I held onto it and motioned to the weaver, Fatima Id Rahou.

The Weavers Fatima Id Rahou is one of the younger weavers who joined the association. She learned to weave by watching her sister and neighbors, learning the designs until she could do them herself.  She particularly likes using lively colors, especially red and blue, and often creates the overall rug design as she goes, without a pattern.

It was now midday and we were motioned into a house owned by Fatima El Mennouny. Here the women would demonstrate dyeing, spinning and weaving. Here I would acquire two more rugs for the ClothRoads collection woven by Fatima El Mennouny, an excellent weaver. Fatima has four sons and five daughters (two of whom she has taught to weave). Her favored type of rug is a “picture” rug. These are  quite innovative, using a combination of flatweaves, piles, and sometimes twining. The motifs appear as little pictures that come together into a whole story. Fatima is also quite a savvy rug seller—she know quality and uses the best dyes and materials for her rugs. The day of our visit, she sold the most rugs of any other weaver.

Rugs in Process  Fatima El Mennouny’s two daughters were weaving side-by-side. With the help of our translator, I asked about the patterns being woven as there was no noticeable drawing, and how could they both be weaving side by side? The answer was that they just made up patterns as they wove, inlaying dots, dashes, zigzags, short-pile patterns, etc. I did notice one of them had started a pattern then glanced at what her sister was weaving. She removed her pattern and laid in a different one!

Further demonstrations were underway and I could feel my hands growing itchy. Not in a negative way—it’s the kind of itch that comes when watching others in the making process. So while two weavers were winding a warp on a vertical stake, I motioned that I would like to learn. The one young woman who was doing the bottom-edge twining was quite pleased for me to takeover, demonstrating that her arm was tired. And I was pleased to learn something new.

Across the room, a mother with her two young girls were scouring wool while others sat and spun. My friend joined in the spinning and motioned for me to do likewise. Pointing and laughter ensued not because we couldn’t spin, but because we knew HOW to spin albeit a tad different than they did. I purchased a handspindle and Fatima El Mennouny took it. She started spinning with it, saying if she started the spinning then I would carry blessings from her country. Just spending the day with this group was a blessing, and leaving the women with money for the rugs purchased was a blessing for them.

*[Note: Shortly after this blog went live, these three exquisite rugs went to new homes to be enjoyed and treasured.]

About the Timnay Association The association was founded in 2010 after an agreement was made between a group of women in the village of N’kob. The village of N’kob is located near Taznakht, a town known for its livestock and agriculture. These two activities contributed to making the town of Taznakht and the surrounding area well known for its quality natural handmade traditional products, thanks to the availability of natural wool and plants and other raw materials. For more information about the association and Morocco rugs, visit Susan Shaefer Davis’s website. http://marrakeshexpress.org/

The post No Escaping Rugs in Morocco appeared first on ClothRoads.

Before the ClothRoads/Thrums Book tour to Morocco fades into memory, there are special moments from the May trip that are highlights. One was visiting the town of Sefrou and meeting Amina Yabis, the founder of the Cherry Button Cooperative. We traveled there to learn the technique of making the jacquard-style button used on the djellaba, a traditional Moroccan caftan. And learning this directly from the women artisans was a rare treat. So much so, one of our tour members said she came on the trip expressly for that purpose. The story of the making of the “cherry” buttons has become synonymous with bettering women’s lives in Morocco.

Meet Amina Yabis I introduced you to Amina Yabis in a blog back in 2012.  Now we were together in her village of Sefrou, a stark contrast from meeting her in a packed booth at the Santa Fe International Folk Art Market. She greeted us at the roadside with a warm welcoming smile and outstretched arms. Upon seeing her longtime friend, Susan Shaefer Davis, she just beamed. I quickly snapped a photo noticing their height difference. Amina’s physical stature is barely five feet; her other stature is far greater.

A wife and mother of four, Amina’s remarkable life is a story of belief and action that has transcended all conventional wisdom and cultural limits. Her work with the Cherry Button Cooperative and beyond has brought literacy, education, and improved economic potential to thousands of girls and women in Morocco. It’s also led to more opportunity for her to have an impact as the treasurer and board member of a center for women’s issues funded by the King of Morocco, a rare honor for a woman.

Making Buttons Making the djellaba button it is a tedious process requiring a steady hand and considerable talent. Women learn this skill while young, usually from their mothers or grandmothers. Using a simple needle, the women knot the rayon into incredibly intricate buttons. One button alone can take four to ten minutes to make depending on the maker’s skill level.

For our workshop, we were paired with a woman artisan, given a sharpened drill bit, some cut lengths of rayon thread, a needle, and a small white bead. Non-verbal communication began—first watching our teacher as she quickly transformed thread into a very small button. Next, she proceeded slowly breaking the rhythmic steps down. And finally, the tools went into our hands as we made feeble attempts at mimicking our teacher’s motions. (There was a lot more back and forth between hands as correction of the steps was indeed necessary.) I can’t say I learned the process in short order, as I didn’t. But I did manage to make two buttons. (You can see buttons being made in this video.)

Read more about the Women Artisans of Morocco Susan Schaefer Davis, the author of Women Artisans of Morocco, tells the stories of twenty-five women who continue their textile traditions and contribute substantially to their family’s income. Joe Coca’s award-winning photography captures the beauty of the women, their work, and Morocco.

The post Button Making on the Textile Tour in Morocco appeared first on ClothRoads.

In our ClothRoads May textile calendar, we noted a special exhibit opening today (May 3) at the Museo Inka in Cusco, Peru – Reclaiming Ancient Paracas: The Struggle to Recover a Textile Technique. It’s not often that I write a blog about an exhibit but this one is a bit close to “home” because it’s the weavers from the Center for Traditional Textiles of Cusco (CTTC), Peru, who are working to recover cross-stitch looping, a complex three-dimensional embroidery technique that both the Paracas and Nazca used in the borders of their textiles.

We feature CTTC often in blogs and we sell the naturally-dyed, handwoven textiles of these talented weavers in the ClothRoads shop. What makes this exhibit even more special is that last November, during a visit to CTTC, I was able to see the results of this intricate and creative work of the artisans as they set about recovering the complex looping of their predecessors.

A Behind-the-Scenes in Reviving the Paracas and Nazca Looping Technique During Tinkuy 2017, twenty CTTC weavers participated in a workshop on the Paracas and Nazca looping technique with two professors from Chile, Soledad Hoces de la Guardia and Ana María Rojas. In a scant five months, two weavers who participated in the Tinkuy class taught workshops to a few members from each of the ten communities, who then returned to their communities to teach what they had learned. A competition was set among the communities with categories for adult weavers and young weavers, and the external judging took place last August.

With this competition, CTTC has achieved the revival of yet another pre-Colombian technique. The weavers have learned more about their heritage and have had a direct hand in reviving the work of their ancestors. But now the practice of this technique must continue so that it is not forgotten once more. Moving forward, CTTC hopes that this type of work to revive pre-Colombian techniques instills yet more pride in the weavers for their traditions, heritage and identity. With the special exhibit at Museo Inka, they will see their work alongside some of their ancestors.

Andean Textiles On Exhibit Around the Globe It’s not apparent why there’s recent interest in museum exhibitions focused on Andean textiles. Of course, we’re particularly taken by them–ClothRoads has noted these and others in its monthly textile calendar. But just in case you have missed those, here’s a quick summary of what’s still showing and one just opening this June:

The Weavers of the Clouds: Textile Arts of Peru exhibit opens at the London Fashion and Textile Museum on June 21. This three-month showing explores the processes and practices of both historic and contemporary Peruvian costume via garments, textiles, photographs, tools, illustrations and paintings dating from pre-Hispanic to present day. Work by contemporary Peruvian fashion designers, photographers, and Peruvian-inspired designs are all included.

Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection in Washington. D.C. is featuring two exhibitions thru August 18: Beyond Knotting: Wari and Inka Tunics and Written in Knots: Undeciphered Accounts of Andean Life. These exhibitions examine the relationship between two components of the Andean woven world, tunics and khipus. Although different in function—tunics were worn as clothing and khipus encoded and transported information—both types of textiles are made of the same materials, produced through many of the same techniques, and tell stories about their owners.

At the University of Manchester, England, you can view Ancient Textiles from the Andes at the Whitworth Gallery until September 15. This exhibit offers a rare opportunity to see ancient Andean textiles (c300BC to c1400AD) from the Whitworth collection alongside textiles from the collector Paul Hughes. As well as celebrating breathtaking achievements in textile technique and design, this exhibit explores the complexities of their transition from local ritual to a wider international stage.

There’s still time to see Super/Natural: Textiles of the Andes at the Art Institute of Chicago on view until June 23. This exhibition features over 60 textiles along with a small selection of ceramics from the museum’s collection that together explore the ways select Andean cultures developed distinct textile technologies and approaches to design. Over the course of millennia, textiles were the primary form of aesthetic expression and communication for the diverse cultures that developed throughout the desert coasts and mountain highlands of the Andean region. Worn as garments, suspended on walls of temples and homes, and used in ritual settings, textiles functioned in multiple contexts, yet, within each culture, the techniques, motifs, and messages remained consistent.

An Organization Devoted to Andean Textiles Andean Textile Arts is a U.S. non-profit dedicated to supporting the people and communities of the Andes in their efforts to preserve and revitalize their textile traditions.  If you’d like to read more about this important work, subscribe here to receive periodic updates.

Or you can purchase them online in the ClothRoads shop.

The post Reviving a Pre-Columbian Textile Technique appeared first on ClothRoads.

Of all artisan-made cloth, the tie-dye resist of Indian bandhani stumps most people. It’s a technique of creating patterns in cloth by binding small, continuous knots with thread before immersing the cloth in dye. The dye can’t penetrate the areas where the knots are tied, thereby leaving these areas the color of the original fabric. And due to the thread wrapping, the resulting cloth has a highly textured surface.

Learning bandhani from one’s elders is the traditional way. It’s what imbeds deep cultural meaning and a connection to cloth, permeating the tactile senses beyond spoken words, and contributes to artisan sustainability. It’s the way Abdul Aziz Khatri of Kutch, India, mastered the art from his family. His grandmother’s and mother’s skilled hands taught him the fine tying and binding of traditional patterns. And from his father, he learned the technical art of dyeing. But Aziz’s passion for learning has continued beyond his family, pushing him to  incorporate stitched as well as folded and clamped resist-dyeing technique into his designs. Now his daughter has learned from him, extending the art to the next generation.

The Making of Bandhani The process starts by drawing a design on stencil paper that is then punched with needles. A fugitive dye is then brushed through the paper, imprinting the design directly on the fabric. The base fabric can be fine silk or cotton, or even wool. A fine silk cloth can be folded in two for a symmetrical design or to make two scarves, thereby saving time. Next is the tying of the pattern with thread to form the resist. This step is generally women’s work as it’s portable; men do the dyeing.

Most widely used is the simple dot (bindi) which is formed by pinching a small area of cloth and tightly wrapping cotton in one continuous connect-the-dots around the raised parts. Using a metal tube through which the cotton thread is fed facilitates the winding around the dots. Once the wrapping is complete, the fabric goes into the dye bath, the dye squished into the fabric to make sure it penetrates. The binding resists the dye from reaching that part of the cloth so when the thread is removed, the undyed pattern is revealed. Once the fabric is dyed and dried, the knotting is removed simply by pulling on both ends of the cloth. Watch this whole process in this video (length 2:16).

Shibori Resist-Dyeing Aziz Khatri has expanded his resist dyeing to include shibori, the Japanese term for these technique. His clamped (itajime) designs are complex patterns achieved by folding and clamping the cloth multiple times and dyeing it in successive dye baths. His stitched “mokume” or wood-grain shibori is made by sewing parallel running stitches across the width of the cloth, gathering tightly, and dyeing. If you look at my past blog on shibori, you can see how the sewn-resist is done. Of course, Aziz’s technique is much finer, more complex, and is worked on silk!

You can meet Aziz Khatri and other global artisans at the annual International Folk Art Market in Santa Fe during the month of July.

The post Resist Dyeing of Bandhani and Shibori appeared first on ClothRoads.

“To tie a cloud”. What an image this phrase conjures. In the town of Margilan, in the Fergana Valley of Uzbekistan, one can find many artisans who “tie clouds”–ikat weavers who, over the past 28 years since Soviet rule, have revitalized their heritage textile making. This valley is the center of silk production of the whole of Central Asia. So changed is this country, that Uzbekistan is included in the New York Times 52 places to go in 2019. (Of course, the article didn’t note ikat among the reasons to go, but it’s the main reason I went last May.)

Everyday Ikat Recently, while viewing hundreds of photos I took during my trip, I chuckled when finding photos I had taken of ikat in use, ikat kitsch, everyday ikat—not just the exquisite artisan-produced fabric.

Bread, Always Bread And then, there’s the food. Isn’t that another reason to travel? Every town has its own variation of bread.

Architecture And what about the surrounds? Such intricate mosaic work both bold and subtle. Dazzling.

Fergana Valley While in Fergana, our group stayed at “The Ikat House”, a small traditional hotel owned by the ikat-producing family of Rasuljon Mirzaakhmedov. We visited the workshop of ikat master Fazlitdin Dadajanov where we saw the entire ikat process. We spent a morning at the colorful Kum-Tepa market where stall after stall was loaded with ikat. Another morning we toured the Yadgorlik factory seeing silk being reeled and spun from cocoons and ikat being woven on floor looms. Everywhere we visited, we were warmly met.

Travel Here If any of these images leave you with textile wanderlust, ClothRoads friend Christine Martens still has a few spaces in her upcoming tour Sept 2-16, 2019. Plan a visit to this vibrant country and partake of textiles, architecture, and the traditions of Uzbekistan guided by Christine and Raisa Gareeva. Martens began researching the textile and traditions of Uzbekistan in 2001 and yearly trips continued in the Central Asian republics, Mongolia, and Xinjiang. Ms. Gareeva was the Central Asian foreign expert for Aid to Artisans in Uzbekistan, guiding artisans in the revival of traditions and honing of skills which had been forgotten during the Soviet era. For a full itinerary and to reserve your place, contact: christinelillianmartens@gmail.com.

Read More If you’d like to read more from past blogs about Uzbekistan, Shannon Ludington wrote this ikat overview based on the eight years she lived there. And here’s a review I wrote of the Sacred Scraps exhibit, curated by Christine Martens.

The post Tying Ikat Clouds in Uzbekistan appeared first on ClothRoads.