Lotus & Silk Weaving ~ Inle Lake, Burma
Inle Lake is home to a unique micro-industry of textile weaving using fibers from lotus reeds. About 200 people from two villages work in this industry and produce a beautiful range of fabrics in lotus and silk blends. Not to be missed if you’re heading to Burma soon.
Inle Lake
Situated in Burma’s Shan state, Inle Lake is a long, shallow body of freshwater situated at 2,900 feet above sea level, surrounded by lush hills and inhabited by about 150,000 people. The largest ethnic group of Inle Lake are the Intha, meaning “Sons of the Lake,” a Tibeto-Burmese people who migrated from Burma’s southern Mon [...]
Pa-O Style
The Pa-O women of Burma’s Shan state are known for their strength and beauty, and not surprisingly they have a great style of dress to match! It consists of a lunghi (skirt), a sleeveless shift blouse with a v-neck in front and back, and a long sleeved, crop-length jacket with a short, stand-up collar. The [...]
High Road to Taos
Here are my three favorite images from a recent trip to Santa Fe to photograph its historic churches: St. Francis of Asis church at Taos, painted and photographed beautifully by many artists for its architecture (in the New Mexico light) Ceiling of San José de Gracia church at Las Trampas, decorated with 18th century designs [...]
IKTT Reviving Cambodian Ikat
On the outskirts of Siem Reap nestled away in a tropical forest, the enlightened Institute of Khmer Traditional Textiles (IKTT) is working to restore and preserve Cambodia’s silk textile traditions. The Khmer Rouge all but obliterated the country’s artisans during the 1970s, including its weavers who produced silk ikat, one of the world’s most complex [...]
Anokhi Factory
The clothing retailer Anokhi is one of my favorite things about India. A trip to one of their shops brightens even the worst day in Delhi. Not only are their block printed clothes and other textiles beautifully designed and tailored, they actually run a socially and environmentally ethical business. Before leaving India I visited their [...]
Butter Sculptures
Torma are sculptures made of flour and butter used in rituals and as offerings in Tibetan Buddhism. They’re made for different purposes and symbolize different Buddhist concepts. After they’ve been “used” they’re placed outside and eaten by birds and animals.
Ajrakh Printing in Dhamadka
Another set of images from the archives! Dhamadka is one of two remaining places in Gujarat where traditional ajrakh block printing is still done. See the MAIWA website for how the cloth evolves from start-to-finish. It’s an extremely labor-intensive process and the results are gorgeous. The last image shown here was a test cloth, but I [...]
Sanganeri Block Printing
Just outside of Jaipur, the small town of Sanganer one of the largest block printing centers in Rajasthan and India. Each block printing center has its own traditional designs, and today Sanganer does both its traditional and new styles of work. The bus dropped me off along the main road in front of a small shop [...]
Rehwa Society
Roshanara Bi was unlikely to become one of the top weavers of Maheshwar. Born into a poor family from the Muslim area of town, at age 16 she was married off to a young man from a neighboring village. She bore a son but did not want to stay in the marriage, and after three [...]
Norbulingka Institute
The Norbulingka Institute near Dharamsala was established to preserve Tibetan culture and traditional arts. It has workshops for thanka painting and appliqué, woodworking, metal sculpture and textiles, and produces top-notch work, all done by Tibetan refugees. There’s a beautiful shop where the goods are sold, a Buddhist temple, a doll museum, a delicious cafe, a [...]
Sand Mandala
Today I went to check out the creation of a sand mandala at Thiksey Monastery. When I arrived at 8:30 this morning, about six monks were working on it and the middle part was already done. I stayed with them until 4:30. They fed me and talked with me and I tried not to get [...]
Central Institute of Buddhist Studies
In 1959, the year of the Chinese takeover of Tibet, the Central Institute of Buddhist Studies (commonly referred to as CIB) was established in Choglamsar, a suburb of Leh. CIB instructs students in Buddhist history and philosophy, traditional Tibetan medicine (Amchi), and the Buddhist arts of sculpture, painting and woodwork. It also acts as a [...]
