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Textile Training Program Starts
Contents
* our weaving class in Xiamalong Village
* the first stage of the process
* why this program?
* why nomad artisan products are a challenging business
by Wu Bangfu
Nov 9, 2006
The program is being held in Xiamalong Village, a grasslands area near Tagong,
at their abandoned primary school.* The program started on November 3 and will
last for two months.
Yesterday, I visited the class. When I arrived the trainees and the instructors
were very busy cleaning and spinning the materials of wool and yak hair, and
making dye for the wool. The program needs several colors, but locally they can
only find material to make yellow dye, which comes from a kind of plant. All of
the other three dyes will have to be purchased elsewhere, perhaps they will have
to be ordered from Lhasa.
The class starts at 8:00 a.m and ends at 6:00 p.m. The trainees and the trainers
arrive each morning bringing food with them, and go home each night. They are
very industrious. We arranged a cook to cook their lunch so they don't have to
interrupt their work.
At this first stage, the main task is to card and spin the yak hair and wool.
Then they will dye the thread before weaving it into square meditation rugs.
All of the trainees and instructors are Tibetan women from Xiamalong village.
The trainees are working hard because there is a lot to learn in only two
months. They hope to learn it well enough to teach other villagers.
The trainers are Dechen Wengmo, 58 yrs old (the shorter one in the picture) and
Bolha, 40 yrs old. The students are Shaha, 40 yrs old; Domsen Lhamo, 35 yrs
old; Renzen Wengmo, 35 yrs old; Tsedu, 40 yrs old; Dalha, 37 yrs old; Zenzen
Sambu, 40 yrs old; Garlo, 36 yrs old; and Shiro Lhamo, 40 yrs.
Why this program? (by Pam Logan)
Kham Aid has organized this training in cooperation with the Lhagang Nomadic
Artisans Cooperative which was founded by Angela Lankford. She has been
creating interest in nomad products among buyers of fine artisanal crafts in the
US and other countries overseas. (Her website is
www.definitelynomadic.com). She faces many challenges in this business,
especially a shortage of high quality products. The supply simply cannot even
come close to meeting the demand. That's why we decided to train more
artisans.
Another problem lies in the nomads' concept of what the products should be.
Angela Lankford writes, "Some artisans are disappointed that we will not tell
them exactly what they should make, and that what buyers want are specially
created handiwork rather than factory-style mass production... They understand
our work as a simple money-making affair, and base their ideas on Chinese
factory situations and the kind of junky handicrafts sold in Tagong town.
Therefore they only by accident produce the sorts of things we are looking for."
She continues, "The reality is that the largest and highest-paying market for
nomad-made things relies not on cheap prices or cute items - quite unlike the
things for sale in Tagong town. The market relies instead on the interest
far-off people take in the nomads themselves, their home place, and their
lifestyle.... They want to be reminded, when they use the [product], of all the
things they imagine Kham to be."
Nomads in Tagong have had little exposure to the arts outside their own narrow
world, and they come from a culture that prizes the ability to make exact copies
rather than express new ideas. For them to regain creativity and a sense of
craft is not an easy task. We have only just started this program and don't yet
know if it can be successful. Nevertheless, we hope that our students and their
students will develop the weaving arts so that they can command the admiration -
and cash - of collectors the world over.
Our program and the Lhagang Nomad Artisans Cooperative receive key support from
the Sustainable Tibetan Communities Program, Kham Aid's partner Winrock
International, and the major sponsor which is USAID.
Left to right: preparing yellow dye from plants; carding the wool;
spinning.
Left to right: wool laid out to dry; dying process; preparing the loom
*Note: the education bureau has lately been closing down village schools and requiring children to attend centralized schools - but this is another story.