Welcome to Thailand
We left Bangkok today after meeting at the Survarnabhumi airport. Having not met half the tour group yet I was relieved to find the two friendly looking women on the queue in front of me where Anna and Julia Booth.The other two paticipants of the tour are Annette Ribbons and her teenage daughter Hana. With Emma and her son Tane , Emmas mum Annie and myself ,we total eight. I chat to the women about why they decided to come on the tour. Annette Ribbons is a lecturer of Costume at NIDA (National Institute of Dramatic Art) and is a lover textiles and textile arts ,and also very fond...
Read MoreNatural Dye Adventure
Last night on the way home from dinner at the night market we thought we would try our hand at buying some sticky rice and mango. We knew we had an early start in the morning so it seemed sensible to be prepared and have breakfast ready to go. At first it was a little tricky to communicate what we wanted as we already had half the ingredients at home, so our order was complicated,but we got their eventually.I think Anna enjoyed the process of purchasing the mango and sticky rice better then consuming it! Anna,Julia and Annette buying mango and sticky rice. We were up early and eating...
Read MoreTrims with Ya Mi
At night from the roof of our guesthouse you can see the lights of the emblazoned Chinese temple and hear the beat of the drummers as they rehearse for the Chinese New Year celebrations. From the mist of my dreams in the morning I hear the Muslim call for prayer ,shortly afterwards the robed Buddhist monks meander the streets collecting alms . Walking home golden Ganesh’s adorn a florist shop front. This is just a taste of the mix of religion and culture here on the Thai- Burma border. Refugees who have been caught crossing over the border seeking a better life in Thailand are...
Read MoreLet The Weaving Begin
This morning began with a five am wake up call, a raucous welcome to the year of the dragon. Our guesthouse virtually overlooks the local Chinese temple. Today was the culmination of a weeks worth of drumming and whistle blowing rehearsals into an onslaught of six dancing dragons unleashed onto the streets of town, and a bleary beginning to the day for us. After a breakfast of pancakes and dancing dragons we head over to Noe Thee’s with Ya Mi, David and Yapa. Everyone settles in quickly to the trim techniques we began learning yesterday and we then move on to a variation. Our...
Read MoreKachin Dancing
Intricate Kachin Weaving The last day we enjoyed together on the 2012 WEFTshop Textile Tour was at a village, housing a small Kachin weaving facility. WEFTshop has been working with Kachin women since 2009 and has developed an ongoing relationship with Ah Htoi and the women working within the KWAT ( Kachin Womens Association Thailand) and their Income Generation Project (IGP). Ah Htoi was busy with the KWAT annual general meeting but very kindly took the time to show us around the weaving facilities.It was fascinating to watch the women weaving on the larger looms, as so far we had been...
Read MoreOrphan Dolls Find a Home
Annette, Hana and Emma Kate Wallace got a sense of completion when they delivered the dolls that were handmade in Australia during the WEFTshop doll making workshops to the KWO ( Karen Women’s Association) on the Thai- Burma border. The dolls were the result of a series of three workshops run in collaboration with the Karen community in Sydney in the lead up to refugee week in 2011. Hana and Annette delivering dolls The intention of the workshops was to promote a dialogue between the Karen community in Australia and the broader Australian community. We worked together to make dolls...
Read MoreWeftshop Gallery