Fabric and Fabric Design of Thailand, Cambodia and Laos MAPEH Arts 8

Sep 7

Lesson 1: Fabric / Fabric Design

THAILAND, CAMBODIA, and LAOS

Thai silk is produced from cocoon of Thai silkworms. It is mainly produced in Khorat which is the center of the silk industry in Thailand. Thai weavers from this region raise the caterpillars on a steady diet of mulberry leaves.

Today, Thai silk making is considered to be one of the finest arts in the world, a product of a unique manufacturing process and bearing unique patterns and colors.

Silk weaving in Cambodia dates to as early as the first century since textiles were used for trading. Modern textiles have traces of motifs imitating clothing details on ancient stone sculptures.

There are two main types of Cambodian weaving:

1. Ikat technique (Khmer term: chongkiet)- to create patterns, weavers tie and dye portions of weft yarn before weaving begins. Patterns are diverse and vary by region; common motifs include lattice, stars, and spots.

2. Uneven twill- it yields single or two-color fabrics, which are produced by weaving thread so that the color of one thread dominates on one side of the fabric, while the two others determine the color on the reverse side.

Traditionally, Cambodian textiles have employed natural dyes coming from: insect nests- red dye; indigo - blue dye; prohut bark - yellow and green dye; and ebony bark - black dye.

According to Lao tradition, stories of thier history were not passed on orally nor was written, they were woven. Strand by strand, Lao stories were weaved in the intricate dense patterns and motifs of textiles. Unfortunately, some elaborately fantastic and the motifs so cryptic, that in many cases only weaver can accurately interpret the story.

Most diverse of these stories are the ones woven into a sihn - the Lao women's ankle-long skirt form is undeniable but whose patters are unique to each skirt.

Though the skirt looks simple and elegant, it is traditional that every woman in Laos weaves all sihns she would wear throughout her lifetime. She uses folk icons to express personal views. This is often accomplished by symbolist totems from the inanimate or animate world - crabs for resourcefulness, snakes for fertility, butterfly for beauty, birds for success, and so on.

Women wearing sihn

Activity 1

Chose the letter that has the best answer;

1. Thai silkworms can be found in;