Craft

Gong Making in Benguet

This photograph, taken from the Philippine National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA)’s book on living traditions in the Philippines, is of a trainee artisan as he pounds a brass plate into the shape of a gangsa, a round, smooth-surfaced handheld gong used by the Cordillera peoples in the Benguet region of Luzon.

Indigo Textile Dyeing in Daboya, Ghana

The Indigo Dyeing Tradition in Daboya: Notes from the Field

Daboya is a semi-urban community in the Savanna Region of Ghana. It is well noted for its organic indigo textile dyeing and weaving tradition which dates back to over three centuries. Before the introduction of synthetic dyes, Indigo was the foundation of most textile traditions in West Africa. In Ghana, most of the traditional smock dresses and related fabrics that are worn are produced in Daboya. Below, I present an account of the indigo dyeing process as observed in Daboya in May 2022.

The Filipino Jeepney: A Dying Art

The first photograph was one taken by Italian actress and photojournalist Gina Lollobrigida in 1975 Cubao, a district within Quezon City, one of the most populated cities in the Philippines. The photograph captures 6 onlookers (including the driver) watch as an artist paints onto the driver’s jeepney a man blowing wind into the mountains while the sun rises. The other photograph, of jeepney artist Vic Capuno in 2018, shows him painting a monster truck onto the side of a jeepney in his San Pedro workshop.

Function vs Form: What determines a design's value?

The first photograph is one that depicts a Jacquard loom print card, a piece of cardboard that has been punctured with holes in order to consistently replicate a complex design on a weaving loom. This particular print card would have been used to create handmade Dutch damask linen in the 19th century, as part of the W.J. van Hoogerwou & Zonen mill whose pieces are currently located at the Textielmuseum in Tilburg, Netherlands. One such product of damask linen would be a tablecloth, which was also on display nearby. 

Ajrak: A textile without borders?

The two textiles shown side by side, are Ajraks-- the blue silk one is from Karachi, Pakistan and the blue-red is a wool-silk scarf produced in Bhuj, India. While deeply visually similar, the textiles are produced in two countries, that though border each other, are divided by political conflict that does not allow trade or travel between the two countries-- even to conduct research. The blue silk scarf is mine and the blue-red scarf belongs to Meera Curam. 

"Hidden" Meanings

Pha hol is the name for an ikat-patterned silk cloth woven among ethnically minoritized Khmer communities in today's Thailand, especially in Surin and Buriram provinces. Hol is "the Queen of Surin silk" many say -- the most beautiful, locally meaningful pattern. Calling hol a Queen draws attention to its creation and use primarily by women.

First sharing practice

My research is about Color Red in natural dyes.Title of my PhD research is  Color matters: reconsidering plant based textile colourants. My interest in colour comes from curiosity to know more about materials , methods and techniqes to extract and apply colour . In my previous research, Song of Kalamkari, in search of golden hue in Kalamkari  I intentionally looked at Colour Yellow which seemed to be an insignificant colour in the hierarchy of colours in Kalamkari. This journey took me to the Coromandel coast to Masulipatnam, Andhra Pradesh, South India.

True Blue Indigo Kit

In the process of breeding the indigo vat, we noticed a fermented smell unique to indigo, and experienced the process of indigo becoming a dye through fermentation. We also noted the color cange from green to blue in the oxidation process. We used shibori resist dye techniques for the dyeing process. We applied pressure to the cloth using boards or strings and create a resist. We thought it would be ideal to show contrast between the indigo and the white of the fabric to accentuate the beauty of the blue.

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