friday the 13th

The village of Sa near Sapa.

Small steps going down. Steep trails, dirt. She identifies wild plants on the hillside used for indigo colors in their clothing.

The wild terrain. Rising rice terraces where people harvest. People cut, thresh, stack of stalks and burn them. Isolated puffs of smoke dot the valley below rising green forests and mountains.

It’s a long simple home with a dirt floor, and bamboo walls. There are some wooden walls but wood is expensive. The home is divided into a kitchen on the left, main room and bedroom. The main room has a TV and DVD machine. Under the roof is a storage area.

Outside is a faucet for water, water buffalo pen, pig pen and writing pen. 

Indigo cloth dyed in a large vat hangs to dry along a wooden wall. Stacks of straw for winter feed wait. Twenty-five kilogram bags of rice in blue, white and orange plastic bags made in Indonesia are piled in a corner.

Sa's father returns with water buffalo. Her mother smiles.

We share a simple lunch prepared by one Sa’s three daughters. She is 19, a mother, a trek leader and speaks excellent English. Rice, tofu, and greens. 

dancing weaver

My name is Gratitude. I am a weaver on Lombok. See the mountain hiding in clouds? It's Rinjani.

My village is at the bottom. Walk past the village co-op sellling cloth and sarongs. Turn right and go down the alley. Keep going.

You will pass women working. They wash cotton, hanging it to dry. Others are dying colors.

You will hear the sound of woman singing and looms clacking.  We are a community of women weavers. We do what we love. You can follow me on FACEHAPPY.

weave

namaste on new year, new day, new moment.

elf sits with boua mon, a weaver in a village across the mekong. they met in 2010. she is gentle and kind.

her smiling laughter is infectious. women sit, sharing food, stories.

she looms silk threads. click, clack. click-clack. diamond designs. abundance.

 

nature Bag

The day after big present day is another present. A gift day.

It's in the bag, said Elf. 

Homemade by the Khmu people in Northern Laos. They use the income to purchase food, clothing and school supplies.

Resusable, biodegradeable.

No manufacturing, no cultivation.

5000 years of sustainability.

Life enriching.

Miraculous fabric.

Created from jungle vine.

Enjoy. Share. Transform.

Nature Bag

bali Aga ikat

Katut knew kamben gringsing.

It took five years to weave the muted colors of reddish brown tones, eggshell and dark blue or black colors into a piece of magic cloth. In the beginning his mother gathered sunti roots and mixed them with indigo to make dyes. His father made narrow back strap looms from trees.

The women spun cotton cloth by hand. According to tradition the yarns were soaked in candle nut oil and wood ash water. They were stored for 42 days in an earthenware jar covered with a checked black and white cloth. The strands were dried for 42 days and covered with open hibiscus flowers to protect them from witches. 

Warp threads were woven up and down. Weft threads woven left and right on different frames for dyeing. Geometric stars, small crosses and flowers were woven into the threads and a very careful matching process tied or bound the different threads together to form intricate designs and patterns. 

Kamben gringsing patterns contained combinations of 14, 24, 37 or 40 fields to make healing garments for men and women in Tenganan. Katut knew there were over 20 basic designs of the cloth. His mother’s main concern was how the cloth was used in the village.   

She told him a story as they walked toward the mountain.

“The word gring means 'illness' and sing means 'not' she explained. “It is the most important social and sacred cultural symbol for the people in our village.”

Katut listened and understood kamben gringsing was their way of life. Kamben gringsing created a social identity, a relationship for their people. Ikat protected them from impurities and danger.

It allowed them to make transitions across boundaries in life’s journey. The villagers used kamben gringsing when they participated in rituals and rites of passage from birth to death.