The Sweet Blue: A 4-day indigo workshop in Bali with Aboubakar Fofana and Threads of Life
13 to 16 March 2017 Space limited to 10 participants — SOLD OUT — A master dyer from Mali, Aboubakar Fofana focuses during this 4-day workshop on the use of powdered indigo and [...]
Tribawana: The Inner Journey and Outer Practice of Batik
A 5-day natural dye batik workshop. 30 January to 03 February 2017 Space limited to 12 participants — SOLD OUT — Awaken your creative potential through Java’s ancient Three Worlds [...]
Marketing for Traditional Weavers: A Question of Values
The following is the text of a presentation for the First Asian Ikat Weavers Conference held by the Lake Sebu Indigenous Women Weavers’ Association (LASIWWAI) in the Philippines between April [...]
A Conversation with Petronela Pape
It takes many visits before a community perceives us as being seriously committed to working with them. While the intensity of Nggela’s sacred feeling remains strong for me, this visit felt more [...]
The Joka Ju Festival in Nggela
Early July I received a text message from one of the traditional leaders in Nggela, Flores, inviting me to attend the traditional harvest ceremony, Joka Ju. I was eager to make this trip to learn [...]
The Ngurisang Coming of Age Ceremony
The village of Bayan in north Lombok maintains a local culture, rituals and traditions that predate the conversion to Islam of most of the community. Their traditional ceremonies always fit [...]
The Power of Nusa Penida and its Textiles
When looking at a map of Bali, my brother Darta always describes Bali’s shape as being like a chicken and that Nusa Penida is the egg. When I was young I feared the dark powers that came [...]
The Rain Cloths of Nggela, Flores
Threads of Life staff have been visiting the village of Ngella in central Flores for over a year, learning about the village’s textile traditions and searching for weavers to work with. Looking [...]
Young Weavers Take Up the Art of Weaving Natural Dyed Textiles
Visiting the weaving group Karya Sari Warna Alam in Seraya on East Bali is unlike visiting any other place for me. Every time I visit there is so much activity! Young women are busy weaving [...]