Today’s A Journey through Aesthetic Realms will be presented in Laotian, with subtitles in Arabic, Aulacese (Vietnamese), ## Aulacese (Vietnamese), Chinese, English, French, German, Hungarian, Indonesian, ## Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Malay, Mongolian, Persian, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish.

Greetings, talented viewers, and welcome to A Journey through Aesthetic Realms on Supreme Master Television.

Laos is a beautiful Southeast Asian country endowed with bountiful natural and cultural heritages. If you have an opportunity to take a stroll at the morning market of Vientiane, you are sure to be attracted by the luscious tropical fruits, the rich variety of folk crafts, the elegant and colorful traditional costumes, and of course the friendly smiles of the local residents.

The culture and history of Laos is woven into delicate motifs, mythical symbols, and the storytelling figures on the fine fabrics of their sarongs, traditional skirts, and head cloths.

Today, please let us explore Lao’s cloth-making tradition with two wonderful guides, Mrs. Nang Phron, a professional weaver in Ban Xang Hai Village, and Mrs. Chan Pheng, a weaver and weaving teacher from Phiawat Village.

My name is Nang Phorn, living in Ban Xang Hai Village. My profession is a weaver. Since the inauguration of the cultural village, fabric has been woven for sale.

We are here in Ban Xang Hai Village. We start weaving from 11, 12 years old. We also study in school at the same time as we learn to weave. A girl should learn to weave before having a family, so that she can make a living.

Weaving is a family skill that’s passed between generations of Laotian women who make all the clothes of their household. Girls learn how to weave very early in their lives.

In the beginning, the mother taught how to weave. At 9 years old, I could weave already. My mother taught me how to weave. In the olden time, the parents were weavers.

Before, the sale of cotton products like this did not exist. We wove clothes for our household use only, making dresses for the household. Pants and shirts were woven as clothes to wear. Parents have taught us to do like this since the old time.

In our village, many people can weave. This has been our profession. We weave in our own house instead of doing it in a group. We make it, and sell it independently. Weavers are also rice farmers, housewives; they weave for home use. We weave fabric for sale.

The fertile land of Laos is ideal for growing cotton and mulberry crops. From here, the production of traditional textile begins.

When talking about the weaving process, at first, we have to plant cotton, then harvest it to make yarn from the cotton, then weave it to make fabric products, and sell it to the city night markets. More often, foreigners come to buy it.

This is white cotton. Before weaving we should dye it to obtain the color that we like, like red or yellow, and mix it, then expose it to the sun, and spin the yarn like this in the small shuttle and weave it in the loom with long white cotton like this, and long colorful textile products will be produced.

From yarns to fabrics, several customary weaving techniques are used, including chok, khit, mat mi, ghot, muk, and muko. They are all done on traditional wooden looms.

This kind of looms can do any kind of weaving, whether in large or small sizes, all kinds. Basically, instruments needed are hand loom, shuttles, and reed. Large instruments are made by men.

There are 19 pieces of wooden devices in all. Why are there so many pieces? With one piece we can get a small portion of flowery pattern; so, with 2 pieces we will get more patterns, with 3 pieces, we will get many more pieces and will get more and more until we are finished with all pieces. Then we will get a full range of flowery pattern. Without this it will not be a full flowery pattern.

Mrs. Nang Phron explains how to weave cloth on a loom.

Before weaving, put the cotton yarn into the reed tooth, circle it around the pole back and forth, long like this, then tug it in by hooking it to this Kampan wood. Then weave. We roll the yarn around the little tubes to be inserted into this shuttle, and then weave it. While weaving, we have to go slowly, put it sideway like this. Step on here and change left and right. The footsteps go up and down, weaving a mixed pattern and it becomes fabric.

Various tools and techniques are used to create distinct patterns. Let’s hear from Mrs. Chan Pheng how this is accomplished.

This is called hanging pattern, made by turning to the other side, then start working, and change to a new wooden piece. Continue with the weaving like this for 3-4 days for one piece.

Before a cloth is produced from the loom, the threads are given vibrant colors. This is done using natural dyes in combinations.

We have our own weaving design. The colors used are red, yellow, black, and green. We use natural colors. It is dyed with natural barks of the trees.

The natural red color is obtained by dyeing with pterocarpus, mixed with red lime. Then the red color will show up. Yellow colors are obtained by dyeing with curcuma, mixed with lime. Black is similar. Black color is obtained by dyeing with flagrant reed.

We select colors for weaving and try to mix different colors that go well together, like black and red, and if they fit together and if that would make it beautiful, then we do it. We do as we imagine and design it by ourselves. If we think the colors blend beautifully, then we mix it to match to the color we like. The color red goes well with yellow; then we blend it, like this.

When a specific color has been dyed, we move on to dye another color, such as black, etc. When the dyeing is finished, then we detach, and leave it in the sunlight to allow it to dry; then select and roll it, and then put it up for weaving. At the end, after weaving, it will become a handmade Lao skirt fabric, 1.80 meters long.

Color patterns are combined with distinct motifs outlined with gold and silver threads to create symbolic images with cultural significance. Common designs include the lucky diamond and star shapes, plants and animals, as well as dragons and nagas, mythical serpents that are reputed to dwell in the Mekong River. In epic tales of Theravada Buddhism, the Naga was the main guardian of Lord Buddha.

Mostly, patterns are new: this pattern is a new design, created by ourselves, in bird, fish, chicken patterns. We do it by ourselves. The old style is just woven like this, that is it.

We can make a large textile in flowery patterns, like this one, or in a small size.

The rich cultural content and spiritual symbolism reflected in the exquisite fabrics make weaving an invaluable heritage of Laos. Once an important criterion for a man to choose his future wife, the time-honored tradition is again becoming a widely sought-after artistic skill.

Nowadays, there are movements for learning about weaving. When I was young, learning everything was very important for all women in the countryside. Since 1980 up to now, they began to learn again.

Our village is Ban Phiawat, the population number is not known, of 130 families; around 30 people can weave. Mostly, they learn weaving from me because I saw them free at home and want to help them to have careers. They learn for free at the beginning, when they are skilled, I pay them. Then I sell these skirts and fabrics.

In addition to personal wearable items, traditional fabrics are also found in a wide range of daily accessories such as wall hangings, table cloths, bedspreads, pillow covers, and handbags. A must-see in Luang Prabang, one of the textile centers of the country, is its famous night market, where over a hundred stalls display their hand-loomed woven arts, attracting tourists from all over the world.

Mrs. Nang Phorm and Mrs. Chan Pheng, thank you for your kind introduction to this marvelous art form. Combining a rich cultural tradition and an intricate crafting process, the woven textiles of Laos are a priceless treasure of world heritage. May the beautiful people and land of Laos continue to be blessed for eons to come, on a gentle and loving planet.

Thank you for your graceful presence on today’s episode of A Journey through Aesthetic Realms. Vegetarianism: The Noble Way of Living is up next, following Noteworthy News. May everyone’s noble qualities shine forth in heavenly resplendence and glory.

Thank you for your graceful presence on today’s episode of A Journey through Aesthetic Realms. Vegetarianism: The Noble Way of Living is up next, following Noteworthy News. May everyone’s noble qualities shine forth in heavenly resplendence and glory.