Laos' Traditional Arts & Ethnography Centre - weaving and other crafts

What seems a lifetime ago, I had studied the tribes inhabiting the regions of NE India, Burma and South East Asia. So, I was looking forward to actually visiting the areas where the Hmong’s, the Kachin's and other tribes lived today and more so in seeing once again at first hand the fabulous textiles and crafts which I had studied at the Dept of Archaeology and Anthropology in the late 1960’s. Laos is one of the most ethnically diverse countries having 49 officially recognised tribal groups. 

It was a surprise to me that TEAC – the Centre for Traditional Arts and Ethnology – is actually run by some French ladies with Lao support staff. It is dedicated to preserving and promoting the cultural diversity of the country. Founded in 2006, it generates income from ticket sales, donations and services.

TEAC activities include exhibitions, preservation and documentation, education and outreach and finally, advocacy and livelihood work. Very creditable objectives clearly established. Foreigners are also welcome to attend certain workshops.

It is located in a small bungalow way up a small hill and in a totally out of the way place. It consists of a museum and a small shop where you get some excellent items at high prices, but having bought some scarves and table hangings, well worth the price. This is a dying art and it’s because of TEAC’s support of local weavers that one can appreciate them for years. 

TEAC gives back 50% of its income to the villages across Laos.

The museum display is well designed, the exhibits well lit, the write ups perfect – in Lao and English – and it follows a well laid out path in its layout. From clothes to house to jewellery etc.

There are four basic groups – The Tai-Kadai, The Hmong-Yao, Sino-Tibetan and Austro-Asiatic.  I was just enamoured with the textiles on sale and found it really difficult to choose. 

Hmong embroidery is from the mountainous regions of Laos, Vietnam, Myanmar and Thailand. During the Vietnam War, the Hmong’s helped the American side and as a result thousands fled to USA when the USA lost the war.  Their embroidery and appliqué techniques are famous for the detailed stitch work and amazingly intricate patterns. It is said that their motifs are often inspired by nature or folklore. 

The second group featured in TEAC was the Yao Mien who is essentially from north Laos and are Taoists. Their women are dexterous embroiderers who use three types of stitches – cross stitch, grid stitch and weave stitch. This particular design would be featured on a man’s shirt or be part of a design for a baby carrying cloth.

As the Yao use Chinese script as their written language, there is a definite Chinese influence. Appliqué work and braided cord are used as designs material for baby carriers – fabric used for strapping babies on the back. Some important pieces may feature silver discs and the craftswomen may take months to complete a design incorporating their techniques.

I was told that one set of Yao Mien women’s trousers can take nine months to embroider. 

A lesser known group are the Katu from south Laos and highlands of central Vietnam having Austro-Asian background. This fabric is woven on their traditional back strap loom and generally has cross thread or weft beading.

Until the introduction of cheap machine made textiles, traditionally every Hmong and other tribal household would have produced its own textiles. Girls would learn the art of weaving, embroidery, appliqué, indigo dyeing, and batik from a young age. Now women purchase batik cloth from traders and then embellish with their own appliqué and embroidery.  Polyester and cheap cotton have killed the creative instincts and skills of the Lao women. 

The skirt featured here can use up to six metres of fabric. Their batik work begins with the design being drawn with beeswax. On plain cloth. Then dyed indigo blue. The waxed areas don’t accept indigo. The fabric is then boiled to remove the wax. This is known as resist dye process. 

 
 These Khmu women clothes are made from hand spun undyed cotton woven in their village of Luang Namth province. When they relocated, they left behind their looms and skills. The short exhibits a modern style decorated with sequins and multicoloured embroidery. 

“Job’s tears” is a grass with long stems and leaves resembling corn. Generally found in swamps or edges of a river. It grows as a weed along roads also. They adapt well to natural and human habitat, they can be easily gathered and cultivated. There are four wild species and three wild varieties all native to this area. 

They are used for three main purposes:

·         Food – domestic variety used as a cereal – boiled or steamed as a meal or as a snack.

·         Medicine – herbal medicines are made from their roots, stems, leaves and / or seeds.  Especially useful for skin and internal ailments.

·         Beads – locals gather the hard shelled fruits from the wild species and use them as beads in handicraft items and costumes.  

 Historically, Job’s tears seeds were used for decorative purposes, based on the local environment and an ability to cultivate certain seeds locally. Sadly plastic has started to replace nature’s bounty. In the past natural materials played a crucial role: plat vine, cotton, plant dyes and seeds. Now we have factory produced synthetic fabrics, chemical dyes, plastic beads, and manufactured ornaments!! 

As villagers get resettled, they have less access to the forests and fields where they sourced their original needs. People now have jobs and money so why waste time creating when they get a wider range of items? Migration and media have exposed whole communities to different lifestyles which led to changing livelihoods and cultural norms. 

But why were bags decorated with Job’s tears? The seeds were actually an item of decoration and beauty: the Wa of eastern Myanmar use the tube shaped beeds.

But the Jhingpaw people of Kachin state in Myanmar recognise the bag as a symbol of the male costume – for attending social and cultural events. The bag symbolises the torso of a human and the tube shaped seeds on the bottom fringe are the legs!  However, in Yunnan province of China, Jhingpaw women wear their bags with seeds to demonstrate their ethnic identity especially when traditional clothes are not worn. 

The Khmu are well known weavers – they would weave a traditional shape of bamboo basket according to which village they came from !! 

The visit to the TEAC museum was extremely interesting especially as they have done a splendid job in tracing and keeping alive the varied tribal cultures. A morning well spent. 

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