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Monday, March 29, 2010

ARTISTRY OF FABRIC: LEGACY IN CLOTH



Recently we met Sandra Niessen, a freelance anthropologist who just published a book on the Batak textiles of Indonesia. At 568 pages and the culmination of 30 years of work, all we can say is WOW! Of course I carried the very heavy book with me all day long and spent hours into the dawn reading and studying the beautiful images.

Our conversation was wide ranging and generated so many ideas of ways to collaborate. Our most ambitious: plan a conference on preserving living weaving traditions. So all my weaving friends in India, Guatemala, Peru, Laos and Borneo: Save some room on your calendar for 2011!

And with all the reinvention we've been thinking about, we talked about how traditional weavers can keep their art alive and evolving ...
Any thoughts?