Developping and digitalising a collection of traditional Nepalese woven textile.

The project's aim was to achieve three related goals, namely for HNNH to design patters and colours, toimprove the manufacturing process and quality of the texture of these locally produced fabrics inorder to meet the requirements of the European fashion market and to coordinate cooperation between skilled labourer producers in Kathmandu.

 
 

- information about the project | scroll down

- pictures

- diary | experiences | NL only

- published column | experiences | EN

- published column | experiences | NL

 

 

+Project

My project aims to achieve three related goals, namely for me to design patters and colours, toimprove the manufacturing process and quality of the texture of these locally produced fabrics inorder to meet the requirements of the European fashion market and to coordinate cooperation between skilled labourer producers in Kathmandu

 

+Organisation

Dutch Design in Development (DDID - www.ddid.nl), an initiative by NCDO (www.ncdo.nl), develops programmes to stimulate cooperation between the creative industry in Europe and producers in third world countries who seek to export to Europe. Share People facilitates this process. (www.sharepeople.nl). HNNH is one of the three young professionals currently on a placement to promote local entrepreneurship and development among poor communities. The fabrics will be imported by Strawberries Fabrics (www.strawberries-fabrics.nl).

Dutch Design in Development wrote: Na een lange en grondige voorbereiding zijn wij trots een tipje van de sluier te kunnen oplichten van het unieke samenwerkingsproject ‘Fabrics of the World’. In mei reizen productontwerpers Marielle Leenders, Hannah Bonjer (www.hnnh.nl)  en Mitzy Theelen voor DDiD en in opdracht van Strawberries Fabrics  (www.strawberries-fabrics.nl) naar Bangladesh, Nepal en Mali. Daar zullen ze samen met de producenten van de textielbedrijven Kumudini, Kalamandir en l’Union des Artisans de Bandiagara drie stoffencollecties ontwerpen en ontwikkelen. Deze collecties zullen onder andere gepresenteerd gaan worden op de Ethical Fashion Fair in Parijs  (www.ethicalfashionshow.com/langues).  Els Visser van Strawberries Fabrics heeft DDiD benaderd om samen met haar dit project op te zetten. Zij hoopt hiermee de lokale producenten, wiens stoffen al enthousiast worden ontvangen door verschillende Nederlandse modeontwerpers, toegang te geven tot de Europese markt. Via onze website houden we je op de hoogte van dit project.

- Column for Sync.nl

 

+DDID - Dutch Design in Development wrote:

Fabrics of the World

 

Na een lange en grondige voorbereiding zijn wij trots een tipje van de sluier te 
kunnen oplichten van het unieke samenwerkingsproject ‘Fabrics of the World’. 
In mei reizen productontwerpers Marielle Leenders, Hannah Bonjer (www.hnnh.nl)  en Mitzy Theelen voor DDiD en in opdracht van Strawberries Fabrics 
(www.strawberries-fabrics.nl) naar Bangladesh, Nepal en Mali. 
Daar zullen ze samen met de producenten van de textielbedrijven Kumudini, 
Kalamandir en l’Union des Artisans de Bandiagara drie stoffencollecties 
ontwerpen en ontwikkelen. Deze collecties zullen onder andere gepresenteerd 
gaan worden op de Ethical Fashion Fair in Parijs 
(www.ethicalfashionshow.com/langues). 
Els Visser van Strawberries Fabrics heeft DDiD benaderd om samen met haar 
dit project op te zetten. Zij hoopt hiermee de lokale producenten, wiens 
stoffen al enthousiast worden ontvangen door verschillende Nederlandse 
modeontwerpers, toegang te geven tot de Europese markt. 
Via onze website houden we je op de hoogte van dit project.

 
+Pictures send by Kalamandir - local producer

"Dhaka weaving" traditional cotton fabric from Nepal

 

 

 

 - column for Sync.nl

In 2006, designer  Hannah Bonjer graduated cum laude from the Eindhoven Design Academy. Since May, she’s been residing at Kopundole, a little village in Nepal,participating in DDiD’s Fabrics of the World project. Project initiator Strawberries Fabrics aims to improve and expand its range of fabrics, but the foremost ambition of this project is to provide support for local fabric producers. Much emphasis is placed on combining both European trends and the unique, local techniques. Hannah shares her experiences in a diary and photo archive at her website, www.hnnh.nl .

As Ploegstoffen (est. 1923), one of the most venerable exponents of the Dutch handwoven fabrics industry, is heading for its demise, I find myself in Kathmandu, the Nepali capital, to design a range of traditional, handmade Nepali fabrics intended for export to the Netherlands, Europe! A remarkable fact which promptly marks the first distinction between Nepali and Dutch work ethics.

During the first few days in Nepal I wanted to explore and familiarize myself with the fabrics themselves: I’m convinced that by looking and learning how to look, you’ll be able to recognize and distinguish quality samples. The owner of Kalamandir, two head weavers and I visited a number of weavers. Hidden away in private homes in villages just outside Kathmandu, a few unoccupied rooms are crammed with looms.  The weavers are all women and weaving techniques are passed on from one generation to another. The looms are made of wood or bamboo, the weaving material is cotton and maximum daily output is 30 centimeters (12 in.). An intricately woven fabric called Dhaka requires highly skilled fingers and extremely patient weavers; the characteristic, colourful, geometric patterns on a solid background are produced from memory without the use of templates or any other markings.

During my visit, only a handful of women were actually weaving. Other women had to work in the fields due to recent rainfall. Every weaver has a plot to produce her own food. Property after all, is inexpensive (family owned) and children go to state schools. The income generated by weaving is an additional bonus, but the women are either reluctant or unable to turn this into their only source of subsistence. This explains the seemingly indifferent attitude of the women; they weave whenever they feel like it, at a pace that suits them, using the colours and patterns that they like. The laidback atmosphere surprised me, especially as I was a visiting foreigner in the presence of their superiors. Nobody appears to work up a sweat, they chat around, listen to the radio every once in a while, and our arrival triggers curious looks. I stumble upon this work attitude throughout all of Kathmandu; people don’t run but go quietly about their business. A fairly large number of people just seem to be sitting around – I ask myself: are they sitting there because there’s no work, or what?

Not only the work attitude strikes me as different, the work process too, is unfamiliar. It’s remarkable to see that everywhere there are more people available than is actually required for a particular job. There’s always someone to hand someone a calculator or a plastic carrier bag, whether it’s within reach or not.
Relatively speaking, manual labour is extremely cheap in Nepal, the costs involved in machine-operated work however, are outrageous exceeding western price levels which is the exact opposite of the European situation. Whereas traditional, Dutch handwoven products have become all but priceless and manufacturing works close their doors for good (only last week, weavery and production facility De Ploeg –the plough- shut down, producer of the famous Ploegstoffen fabrics bought by my grandparents), the Netherlands imports Fair Trade products from all over the world on a scale as if there’s no tomorrow.

Tastes and requirements
After having spent a few days assessing the staggering number of weaving patterns and unravelling the colour combinations used, I could define my objective as a consulting designer: categorizing, digitizing en cataloguing patterns. The way it‘s currently organized spells disaster for the export to Europe as far as planning, logistics and communication are concerned!

I decided to focus on the development of a range of Dhaka fabrics, consisting of existing patterns in new colour combinations. Kalamandir seems very relieved, having observed that the women won’t be very much interested in learning how to produce new patterns, since they reckon that tilling the fields is their main preoccupation. At present, keeping in line with proven skills of the women seems the sensible thing to do. But at the same time I realize that they too, must get accustomed to the tastes and requirements of the West if they wish to preserve their tradition and not be obliterated by the machine-produced textiles from India and China.

Meanwhile, the first half of the design range has been brought to the weavers, new shades of cotton are being purchased and the looms have already been set up… I’ve designed five different colour combinations for each of the first 10 patterns selected. Selecting a colour range was a hell of a job: this is where I experienced the greatest divide in life and thought between Nepal and the Netherlands. I’m in Kathmandu, seeing each and every colour of the rainbow amidst an unrelenting cacophony of car horns, the heat and sheer number of people makes me sweat, I feel dirty because of the dust and dirt in the streets and must now to envision the target group for these fabrics in Europe…
So far, I’ve avoided speaking or even thinking about any of the trends and other elements that might further characterize this target group. High fashion in a developing country is a virtually impossible, albeit ever so challenging combination.

Over the next few days, I’ll concentrate on the second half of the design range not forgetting to fully enjoy my stay on the roof of the world.