A day’s visit to a weavers’ school was an enlightening experience for me on my recent trip in Chiang Mai, Thailand. While awaiting the conclusion of the World Crafts Council (WCC) Board meeting, I had hours to spare and decided to have a closer look at the local craft industry. Given that there were multiple fields of craft, I have Dr. Sitthichai Smanchat from the WCC to thank in arranging a visit to a special weavers’ school.
Coming from Sarawak where our ethnic communities are known for textiles such as the pua kumbu; I have seen how yarns are spun, fabrics weaved with extravagant designs and, at Tanoti’s songket weaving studio in Kuching, witnessed how designs are created and implemented. Nevertheless, I still found myself entranced by this Thai weavers’ school.
A smiling lady and her charming daughter turned up at Chiang Mai University to pick me up in their car. Dressed in her natural-dyed cotton top and woven traditional skirt, Nussara Tiengkate is a renowned weaver while her daughter, Roong, is a phamarcy graduate who shares the same passion for her mother’s art.
Winding our way through the suburbs of a green neighbourhood with plenty of detached houses boasting large gardens, we eventually arrived at a rustic looking plot where wooden and bamboo houses surrounded a courtyard under the shades of trees. A stark contrast to the modern villas around, I was somehow tempted to explore without hesitation. It certainly reminded me of my childhood in Sarawak, of a time where wooden houses were common in more natural surroundings.
Nussara Tiengkate is a textile historian, weaver and designer who originates from Bangkok. After graduating from the Faculty of Social Administration at Thammasat University and receiving an honorary Masters in textile design from Rajamangala University of Technology, she discovered Mae Cham village in North Thailand back in the 1980s and fell in love with the local weaving community there.
The Lua culture, the natural life and colourful tradition inspired her to spend the next 2 decades living with and learning from the welcoming villagers about the traditional ‘Lanna’ (a local colloquial word for northern Thailand) weaving styles referred to as ‘Teen Jock’, a pattern of traditional Lanna skirt worn by women solely for important events and ritual ceremonies.
As we walked around the wooden structures we arrived at the weaving section where a young man was working away at the looms. Watcharapong Tongruchat, nicknamed Golf, is a weaver and teacher. He showed me the end part of the piece he was constructing which has detailed patterns that were distinctively ‘Teen Jock’.
At her weaving school, Nussara works a lot with the young, encouraging them to learn traditional weaving and to create new designs. I met another of her young designers called Bom, whose full name is Thanawat Tepteial. This young man is designing new patterns using information technology and is also into indigo and other natural dyes.
There were plenty of supplies of dried leaves, seeds and barks in the workshop areas, these being the natural ingredients for coloured dyes used to dye the cotton yarns. I thought of our rainforest back in Borneo and wondered if similar resources might be found.
On the upper floor of the wooden building, I was amazed by the space created in an open concept to house groups of student weavers for classes. It was here that Nussara showed me her colourful woven textiles and Bom’s new designs.
It is wonderful to know that not only are local Thais attending her classes, but also students and weavers from other countries. They can stay a week or two or even a month to learn new techniques, with some having come from as far as the United States.
Nussara loves working with the youth and hopes that they will pass on to future generations the skill of weaving and to revitalise the art using modern technology. Through her weaving school, she teaches them new ways to design products and consider new weaving patterns. Her namesake shop, Nussara, is located in the old Wat Gate area of Chiang Mai city and showcases new hand-woven textiles in a rustic setting. They also offer clothes made of natural cotton with coloured dyes, bags and other interesting products.
My visit ended by sampling their famous dessert of Thai mango with sticky rice and a refreshing ice-cold natural drink made from the blue butterfly pea flowers. In Malaysia we too have this flower known as Bunga Telang, albeit it is rarely applied for drinks. I walked away feeling touched by what I learned and wishing that we will still have the opportunity to live in a peaceful, natural environment in the ages to come.
