By Zon Pann Pwint
August 16 - 22, 2010
August 16 - 22, 2010
Daw Khun Shwe shows off a selection of Chin, Naga, Kachin and Kayin textiles at her shop, Yoyamay in Bogyoke Market on August 9. The sale of textiles to tourists is one means by which ethnic groups can maintain their weaving traditions. Pic: Seng Mai
“They believed that the blanket would unite the two spirits one day,” says Chin woman Daw Khun Shwe, a native of Huk Lai village, Tetain township, Chin State. She now lives in Yangon where she runs Yoyamay, a shop selling traditional ethnic textiles in Bogyoke Market.
The textiles are more than just pretty souvenirs sold to tourists, each design has a history replete with its own symbolism, says the shop owner.
“The younger generation are no longer superstitious about old traditions like their grandparents were. The older generation that wove blankets and left them unused may sell them when they are older, so I had the idea to open a gallery that stocks old textiles.”
Yoyamay opened in 2003 but Daw Khun Shwe first started selling textiles in 1992, focusing on modern Chin products.
“When I opened the [first] shop, foreigners often inquired about buying naturally dyed Chin textiles, which were not sold.
They were intrigued by textiles dyed with natural leaves and herbs and said that Chin people had pure textiles that did not use chemical dyes. At first I did not comprehend what they wanted,” she says, adding “Later I came to know that what they called for was old textiles.”
The new shop now stocks a variety of Chin handwoven textiles, some more than 150 years old, but most woven in the past century, in addition to Kachin, Kayin and Naga textiles and various other ethnic handicrafts.
“Some Chin descendants sell old textiles woven a long time ago at the [Thai] border but the textiles are now fewer and dealers at the border refuse to raise the price even though they are highly valued,” says Daw Khun Shwe’s husband U Cin Lamh Mang, an anthropologist currently working towards an online PhD on Chin textiles.
The Chin ethnic group consists of about 50 subgroups, and whilst each shares common customs, there is a degree of variation among them. Textiles passed down the family — memories of weddings and other important events — are considered treasured possessions but may be sold by families during difficult financial times.
Different motifs represent the wearer’s status, signifying whether someone is married or what position they have in the village hierarchy. For example, a young woman dressed in traditional designs, signifies that she is open to being courted.
“A Chin mother with many daughters would have to weave more textiles because when a daughter accepted a proposal from a young man, he would have to offer a cow or a gong or a gun to the bride’s parents who in return had to present woven-textiles to the groom as a dowry,” says U Cin Lamh Mang.
“Visitors to the gallery are very curious about weaving techniques,” adds Daw Khun Shwe, “Some look at the intricacy of the patterns through a magnifying glass. I’m very proud that woven textiles made by Chin women have become the ultimate status symbol among exotic products.”
While old textiles are popular with tourists they aren’t always maintained in their original form.
“A few people buy old blankets and shawls as Chin souvenirs, but most people are reluctant to make a purchase even though they love them,” says the shopkeeper.
Often, the better pieces of cloth taken from worn-out textiles are repurposed for use as tablecloths or bags, combining the aesthetic value of the original with a modern purpose.
“Most of the customers for our Chin textiles come from Japan and the US. They request woven five-metre Kimono belts, coats and tablecloths using blankets or textiles. We make them, but conservative people are a little suspicious of such changes. Yet if I keep with tradition I am afraid the weaving techniques may be lost,” says U Cin Lamh Mang.
Generally, such repurposing is done with new textiles that have been made in the traditional way, generally by Chin women who live in the border area between the northernmost part of Rakhine and southern Chin State, employed to weave vegetable-dyed textiles.
“In the Chin hills, Chin women are adept at weaving and can enjoy a regular income from the work. It also maintains knowledge of weaving techniques because young people often leave home to find work at the border when they do not have work to do at home,” says U Cin Lamh Mang.
He keeps the finest textiles woven more than 150 years ago and hopes, one day, to donate them to a future textile museum established in Myanmar.
Although the tourism industry has helped to maintain a degree of interest in producing traditional textiles, U Cin Lamh Mang believes that the ritual ceremonies of ethnic groups are withering away in certain parts of the country since many of the customs were connected with spirit worship. Only the most important ceremony, marriage, is left.
“While on a tour of the Chin hills I asked Chin people why they do not wear traditional textiles and they replied that they sold them all because there were no longer any ceremonies to attend in traditional clothes,” he says.
Yoyamay also exhibits antique Kachin, Kayin and Naga textiles, each with a unique appeal. Kayin textiles, for example, are decorated with Job’s tears (a whitish seed taken from coixseed, a type of wild grass), which Daw Khun Shwe says are particularly liked by customers. Few old Kayin textiles are available however, apart from some made 20 years ago.
Of all the Myanmar ethnic groups, Naga textiles are the most sought after, owing to a greater awareness outside the country of this particular ethnic group following anthropological studies contained in books such as The Hidden World of Naga by Aglaja Stirn and Peter Van Ham (2003), The Nagas, Hill People of Northeast Indi by Julian Jacobs (1990) and ‘Naga of Burma’, Their Festivals, Customs and Way of Life by J.D Saul (2005).
This popularity among collectors has served to increase the price of Naga textiles as the quantity available to market has diminished. However, customers may be surprised to learn that a high proportion of Naga textiles on sale are not actually woven by the Naga.
“Customers do not like Naga wool-woven textiles because they think they are synthetic, so now Chin people weave Naga blankets using pure cotton, meeting the demands of customers,” says Daw Khun Shwe. Although the Naga are not weaving their own textiles for sale, the patterns used are facsimiles of the original designs.