tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91123709033378916822024-03-19T09:46:55.182+01:00Batak Textilesthe blog of Sandra NiessenSandrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13817899796223662652noreply@blogger.comBlogger279125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9112370903337891682.post-82731404807872559072023-12-12T11:01:00.003+01:002023-12-29T14:31:10.285+01:00Violence by Definition<p><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Designer and decolonial thinker, Pierre-Antoine Vettorello, together with his team, has made a Zine called 'Yarn' devoted to decolonial dialogue on <a href="https://www.uantwerpen.be/en/research-groups/decolonial-dialogues/events/call-for-paper/" target="_blank">violence in the fashion school</a>. I responded to their call with the following piece on the classic definition of fashion. The Zine was launched in December 2023.</span></p><p><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14.666667px;">Niessen, S. Violence by Definition. </span><i style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 14.666667px;">The Yarn</i><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14.666667px;"> [Zine] Issue 1. Antwerp, Belgium. 2023</span></p><p><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14.666667px;"><br /></span></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh7EDlBlwr4XDGwMjZhuGRvNgZm4LUZNlqS_cSRoj3u28LnYnZIEFFfsm8q4RlPUoo2mAZwH2ctdsQpqRVCxHnQ6lTIqZNOH8F9AjjvwxeQKNjoQYZoHHrXlA3YSS3IKJYCda02VO7DE9oOtIGEKJbjLs7pn0cZhQobMZV6JEdIj6WiVO502K54zeL0GrM" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="4000" data-original-width="6000" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh7EDlBlwr4XDGwMjZhuGRvNgZm4LUZNlqS_cSRoj3u28LnYnZIEFFfsm8q4RlPUoo2mAZwH2ctdsQpqRVCxHnQ6lTIqZNOH8F9AjjvwxeQKNjoQYZoHHrXlA3YSS3IKJYCda02VO7DE9oOtIGEKJbjLs7pn0cZhQobMZV6JEdIj6WiVO502K54zeL0GrM" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image by Adrian Vieriu-11625609 Creative Commons</td></tr></tbody></table> <span face="Calibri, sans-serif">I have increasing difficulty with the definition of Fashion that has held course for so long: ‘rapid style change’. It is the essential part of a longer definition that was whittled down further every time another component of it proved false.</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif">Finally only ‘style change through time’ remained and it seemed to sufficiently capture the essence of what was needed. In 1904 Georg Simmel wrote, “Fashion does not exist in tribal and classless societies.” This was the caveat, usually unwritten, that undergirded ‘style change through time’. The definition supported a West-Rest dichotomous hierarchy.</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">I never attended a school of Fashion. I am an anthropologist but ended up teaching in a Department of Clothing and Textiles in Canada where a significant proportion of the students aimed for a career in Fashion. I was writing a book then, one of the earliest non-Western histories of dress (<u>Batak Cloth and Clothing: A dynamic Indonesian Tradition</u>, 1993). The ‘style change through time’ definition was in the textbook that I was teaching from at the same time. Needless to say, I felt rather uncomfortable. Cultural relativity is the central pillar of modern anthropology. I liked to compare dress systems in terms of their respective, unique dynamics. It was confusing to me to be in a field in which an arbitrary line had been drawn between East and West. Within a university, no less! I perceived a 19<sup>th</sup> century bias, with no bother having been spent to scrutinize it and no intent on verifying it. It drove a fundamental wedge between me and my colleagues.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">At the turn of the millennium the fashion world was slowly coming to agree that styles in India and Japan also seemed to exhibit ‘change through time’ and could perhaps be accepted into the Fashion fold. That didn’t make me feel much better. I wondered who the gate-keepers were and why these conclusions were being accepted without any self-reflexive analysis of the fence around Fashion’s fold.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">‘Style change through time’. Innocent enough: a parade of lovelies. It was the gatekeeping that was exclusionary and unjust. It was the implicit power hierarchy, the dominance. How and when was the definition applied? On the face of things easy enough to fix: just acknowledge the universality of style change through time. But no, the definition was the flag on a colonial ship. There was that caveat untried but treated as true: “Fashion does not exist in tribal and classless societies.” The conceptual violence had consequences.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">As the Fashion industry expanded exponentially, we badly needed a conceptual revolution to curb it but instead ‘sustainability’ was being seen through the same materials-only lens that was ground for the definition of Fashion. Again the focus was on the styles: the fibres, and the industrial processes and energy used to make them. And then there was the after-thought: there should be better pay for slave labour. Here wasn’t just the materials-only lens, but the familiar in-built hierarchy. The implicit racism in the definition of fashion had never been fully and thoroughly debunked. How could industrial Fashion ever be sustainable when slave labour enables it and it expands through the exploitation of their traditions? I began to perceive the definition of ‘style change through time’ as both pernicious and insidious. I came to understand it as an invitation to put one’s head in the sand, to willfully close one’s eyes to protect the status quo. A definition so seemingly innocent, so apparently a-political, so focused on the lovely. How could one possibly rebel against bows and ribbons? As innocuous as pablum.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">I learned to see the violence as not just against the peoples who had been pushed out of the Fashion boat -- except insofar as they were forced into slavery to make Fashion items for their oppressors and give up their own traditions. I perceived willful negation and erasure of the existence of non-Fashion and their makers and wearers. Racism can be as subtle as it is pervasive. ‘Style change through time’.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">I think of my students. Some swallowed the definition of ‘style change through time’ whole, to regurgitate it on exams, and others who had come to Canada to try to make it in the global Fashion arena were quiet. What did the definition cost them? What did it reinforce? What latitude did they have to address the feelings that it called up?<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">As more time passes I am experiencing the hottest summer in the history of humankind. Global emergency is teaching me to see Fashion violence through a broader lens, violence in which we are all complicit. We struggle to understand why we have arrived at such a terrible zenith of Fashion over-production, over-consumption, use of toxins and build-up of waste. Now the definition ‘style change through time’ reveals the full extent of its capacity to blinker. It fixes attention on a parade of designs while Fashion is really what is happening behind the scenes. Cultures of dress everywhere in the world, including the West, are the victims of industrial Fashion predation. We, the consumers and users, are rendered complicit in the destruction of the biosphere. We have become the extension of our body coverings co-opted by industry and economics. We have become ensnared in the innocence of our own definition, sacrificed by our own game. We have joined all that has been exploited by industrial Fashion.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">The scales loosen from our eyes gradually, but a way out of the trap is hard to find. Caught as hamsters in a wheel, we learn to see Fashion as a process in which we victimize and are victimized by complicity. How to stop that wheel?<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">I propose we start with a new definition: <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 56.9pt 0.0001pt 2cm;"><b><span style="color: red;">Fashion is ecologies of dress and bodily adornment through which we express our relationships with our environments.</span></b><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">It is a universal definition that avoids the dualism of Fashion haves and have-nots, ‘civilized’ and ‘uncivilized’, exploiters and exploited. It offers a level playing field: we are all in this together. It emphasizes process, the materials of fashion being but a visual epiphenomenon. Most of all, it emphasizes connections and interactions in all of their complexity (ecologies). Environments are plural and multi-dimensional. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">May this definition liberate and transform understandings, offer a pluriverse of ways out. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">It turns out that <i>we</i> are the gatekeepers. Let us get up on the bridge and run the colonial ship aground.<o:p></o:p></p>Sandrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13817899796223662652noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9112370903337891682.post-25841873514585757082023-11-17T21:34:00.009+01:002024-01-11T15:40:27.051+01:00Our Common . Market: Some Background<p> <span style="font-size: medium;">I presented th<span face="Calibri, sans-serif">is t</span></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt;">ext during the webinar, '<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOAe0Kf2P0s" target="_blank">Expanding the Frontiers of Commoning,' 16 November 2023, with the Schumacher Center for a New Economics</a></span></p><style class="WebKit-mso-list-quirks-style">
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</style><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">I would like to tell you about OurCommon.Market, a collection and platform of fashion commons being developed by the activist group, Fashion Act Now, or FAN, headquartered in London, England. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">You are probably already scratching your head. Fashion commons? Now, if you are thinking, “Isn’t Fashion all about showing off, and supporting, hierarchies of status and power?” you would be right. ‘Fashion commons’ appears to be a contradiction in terms, an oxymoron. I hope I will be able to alleviate some of this cognitive dissonance during the next 10 minutes.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">At FAN we work on dismantling the Fashion system. But first, a bit about working within FAN. Participating in this activist group I have been excited to experience how a whole can be greater than the sum of its parts. What I want to share today is very much the fruit of FAN discussions and working together; it is impossible to pinpoint the boundaries between the thinking of our individual members and that of the whole group. Many of the ideas that I will be sharing are the result of ‘group discussions’; our ideas are constructed and held in common. As we agitate for what we call ‘de-Fashion’ (i.e. degrowth, sustainability and radical fairness in clothing systems) we try very hard to learn and practice what it means to be a knowledge commons. None of us is an expert in commoning. We are learning while doing. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">The place for me to start to explain Our Common Market is with the distinction that underlies all of our thinking in FAN, namely, the difference between what we call big and little-f Fashion. If ‘Fashion Commons’ was an oxymoron for <i>you</i>, that is because you have big-F Fashion in mind. Not surprisingly! Most people only know big-F Fashion because it has been the dominant system of clothing production and consumption on the planet since <b>long</b> before <b>all of us</b> were born. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Recently people have been raising their voices to decry Fast Fashion as 'Fossil Fuel Fashion' pointing out that this highly damaging form of Fashion is enabled by fossil fuels --not just for production but also for synthetic fibres. We at FAN agree, but we go <i>much</i> further. We point out that ALL of Industrial Fashion is Fossil Fuel Fashion. Since its inception in the Industrial Revolution in the early 19<sup>th</sup> Century the <i>entire trajectory </i>has been enabled by fossil fuels, starting with coal-powered steam engines. The use of those fossil fuels has increased exponentially and Fast Fashion is only the latest stage in the trajectory.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">While fossil fuels have been the true engine of industrial Fashion, Fashion theorists attributed the uniqueness of the clothing system in the West, instead, to a higher stage of cultural evolution, to a more sophisticated civilization, to racial superiority. In short, the sheer power of fossil fuels went straight to our heads and puffed up the ego of the West. The term ‘Fashion’ was co-opted for the clothing of rich sophisticates who could afford rapidly changing styles, while the rest of the world ‘merely’ had clothing rooted in tradition and slow to change. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">So there you have it, the dark side of Fashion lurking behind every catwalk and Fashion magazine: the vertical binary: the Industrial forms versus the non-Industrial forms. That simple. And thus Fashion has been celebrated while all other clothing forms, including peasant, tribal, and foreign, have been erased, ignored, undermined, plundered, and considered unimportant and bound to disappear.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">I think you can see where this is going: On the one hand: the unseen, erased, carbon-sequestering, local, small-f fashion expressions and on the other: the growth-based, destructive, Industrial Fossil Fueled Fashion that has ballooned out to dominate the clothing scene worldwide, with FAN's interest in 'fashion commons' relating to small-f fashion expressions.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Of course the thinking of most of us has been dominated by Industrial big-F Fashion, informed by: what the shops are filled with, catwalks, fashion magazines, the styles of the rich and famous, and on and on. Small-f fashion doesn’t even appear as a blip on the screen, except maybe when dubbed ‘handicraft’. This blinkered view of big-f Fashion also dominates the framework of sustainability in Fashion, which is entirely oriented to reforming the Industry! We, at FAN, place little hope in the industry becoming ‘sustainable’, because it is growth-based and fossil-fuel based </span><i style="font-size: 14pt;">and</i><span style="font-size: 14pt;">, by definition, rooted in the unfairness of erasing small-f fashion expressions.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Long, thoughtful, soul-searching discussions amongst FAN members have led us to a fork in the road. Would we choose the Extinction Rebellion kinds of strategies of visible and audible protest against the Fashion industry, or would we choose the path of building and supporting alternatives to big-f Fashion? With the wise counsel of David Bollier in our ears, and the clear-sightedness of Sara Arnold, our co-ordinator, we chose for building and encouraging alternatives: in other words, to showcase small-f fashion. And this makes us unique as activists for a better fashion world. There are many other groups brilliantly critiquing the Fashion Industry. Make no mistake, the Fashion industry MUST BE dismantled for the well being of people and planet. But here’s the thing: when Big-F Fashion comes down, little-f fashion has to be there. Ready. Resilient. Regenerative. Small and Beautiful; Free, Fair and Alive.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Hence: <a href="http://OurCommon.Market">OurCommon.Market</a>, the interactive platform that we are building to connect, encourage and support small-f fashion expressions. This includes a whole array of community groups that repair, share and repurpose their clothes, farm to fashion initiatives like <a href="https://fibershed.org" target="_blank">Fibershed</a> (now in many countries, not just the States where it started), <a href="https://thelinenproject.online" target="_blank">The Linen Project </a>in The Netherlands, groups reviving or maintaining their clothing heritage, such as communities in the Ukraine that have produced and decorated clothing from homegrown flax and wool for generations, and so on and so on. Zoe Gilbertson, one of our FAN members, is researching bio-regional bast fibre knowledge, and is plugged into its revival in the UK. Another member, Ariel Fabbro, has constructed the website, <a href="https://cobbledgoods.com" target="_blank">Cobbled Goods</a>, to profile sustainable shoes made with respect for nature.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">We have constructed ground rules -- we call them the ‘Common Code’ -- for participation in Ourcommon.Market so that the communities that we on-board are not big-f Fashion wannabees waiting for their chance to ‘scale up’, but function, rather, as commons, in which the common good and fairness, not profit and growth, are central. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjO-GxIfWEFzdGkLzhNd0El8mqp6Y67yoDMIK0PHkJDtlrH45nWasKhN_cwIQ1REpJ-deklXDtKiHT5bgztAXTHqhxMQmobXl8wlUU3oyVu1HiOKyuc6DOU3jVy0modryIzAHH4JhawNkIJkYssMzLJb1HR2Vaydp2GKmMrd90Z_f-z_PMDRCN4nunEMe0" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1042" data-original-width="1848" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjO-GxIfWEFzdGkLzhNd0El8mqp6Y67yoDMIK0PHkJDtlrH45nWasKhN_cwIQ1REpJ-deklXDtKiHT5bgztAXTHqhxMQmobXl8wlUU3oyVu1HiOKyuc6DOU3jVy0modryIzAHH4JhawNkIJkYssMzLJb1HR2Vaydp2GKmMrd90Z_f-z_PMDRCN4nunEMe0=w640-h360" width="640" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><br /><br /></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">We hope to offer a forum that will eventually generate a significant groundswell. Will Our Common Market result in some kind of solidarity? Will the communities learn from each other and support each other? Can we collectively become a commons of commons, or a kind of what David Bollier called "a vibrant Republic of Commoners"</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">? That’s what we hope and aim for. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Our path will be made by walking on it. We have to trust to the group dynamics that will take place. We know that many challenges lie ahead. They will need to be solved iteratively, within and through our communities, through trial and error, and through deep discussion: differences of language and culture; differences of vision and strategy, will need to be bridged.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Inside and outside Europe there are countless groups struggling to keep their clothing traditions alive. We want to serve, not just as an alternative to big-f Fashion, but also as an antidote, by providing a space where small-f fashion communities can find each other, support each other, shine, feel pride, revive and flourish. In short, to re-emerge from two hundred years of erasure. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">The loss of these systems is not something to shrug off, and feel that they are doomed by modernity. It is absolutely crucial that they be supported:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">1.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 14pt;">First, they provide alternative understandings of how fashion can operate for the good of communities -- and this is desperately being sought now by Fashion reformists in the Northern nations.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">2.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Second, they are part of the <b>process of becoming sustainable</b> in the North. The <b>process of being sacrificed</b> by the continual expansion of big-f Fashion needs to be reversed. Small-f fashion needs to be granted the space to survive.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">3.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Third, we hear so much about the loss of natural diversity and the 6<sup>th</sup> Great Extinction. But cultural survival is a problem equally profound. That is also part of the polycrisis. Wad</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">e Davis made a <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/last-of-their-kind/" target="_blank">prediction</a> 15 years ago that, <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background: repeat white; color: #333333; font-size: 14pt;">“Within a generation or two … we may be witnessing the loss of fully half of humanity’s social, cultural and intellectual legacy.” </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">My time is up, but suffice it to say that I have found profound, even mind-blowing, meaning invested in indigenous Indonesian clothing systems maintained by indigenous cultural commons. Indigenous systems of dress, not just their appearance, but also how they are made and used, are imbued with what Schumacher referred to as ‘psychological structures’ and, in turn, are profoundly linked to cultural survival. I’d like to end, now, with a quote by <a href="https://archive.org/details/small-is-beautiful-1973-e.-f.-schumacher/page/n141/mode/1up" target="_blank">Schumacher</a>.</span></p><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt;">“The life, work, and happiness of all societies depend on certain 'psychological structures' which are infinitely precious and highly vulnerable. Social cohesion, co-operation, mutual respect and above all self-respect, courage in the face of adversity, and the ability to bear hardship - all this and much else disintegrates and disappears when these 'psychological structures' are gravely damaged. A [person] is destroyed by the inner conviction of uselessness. No<b> </b>amount of economic growth can compensate for such losses.”</span><div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></div><div><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></div>Sandrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13817899796223662652noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9112370903337891682.post-23602017750822824802023-11-12T15:24:00.004+01:002023-11-17T20:37:26.557+01:00The ATBM Disaster is apparently about to strike Silalahi<p><span style="font-size: medium;"> <span face="Calibri, sans-serif">I remember the first time I saw Batak weavers at work in North Sumatra. The year was 1978. I was mesmerized watching the weft being threaded between the warp. I was privy to an act of creation; it felt like magic to see a cloth slowly come into existence from the skillful manipulation of a few yarns and sticks.</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;">It took me many years, decades even, to understand what I was seeing: the most efficient system of production that can be imagined. Batak weavers make ulos, ritual cloth of their culture. What they make may be understood as a kind of meeting point of so many facets of their lives. It all comes together in a satisfying, sophisticated, unique, visual and material way in </span><span style="font-size: large;">their ulos</span><span style="font-size: large;">.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-size: large;">While weaving the weavers are also looking after their household chores. They are teaching their daughters how to weave, and how to fit weaving into their daily lives. Between throws of weft, they cooking, clean, and look after the children. </span></li><li><span style="font-size: large;">They work in the dry season when they are free from duties in the fields. Weaving fits an annual schedule.</span></li><li><span style="font-size: large;">Because they use local materials, they have to learn about trees and plants and their properties. They know which ones can serve as weaving equipment, yarns and dyes. Their bond with nature is profound and reciprocal. </span></li><li><span style="font-size: large;">The physical environment inspires almost all of the patterning that Batak weavers have invented. </span></li><li><span style="font-size: large;">The weavers weave together; they help each other through weaverly challenges by sharing ideas, skills, materials, insights, and successes, deepening their kinship and neighbourly bonds as they work. They share laughter and tears, stories and inspiration. </span></li><li><span style="font-size: large;">They also share and grow the specific language related to their technical skills and their unique equipment. </span></li><li><span style="font-size: large;">Their fruits of their looms were once indispensable for every aspect of their lives: for warmth and comfort, to announce social station and cultural identity, and social and ritual roles. </span></li><li><span style="font-size: large;">Imbued with spiritual powers, the cloths, and the way they were made, involved the maker, and later the wearer, in the spiritual complex that permeates every part of their lives. </span></li></ul><span style="font-size: large;">Totality was inscribed in every ulos: a woman’s personal, social, cultural and spiritual life, her heritage, her know-how and her skill. Ulos production was cultural reproduction of the most essential and efficient kind. The strategies of production honoured all of the elements in all of the weaver’s various environments. The cloths embodied respect, knowledge, caring and heritage. </span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The world of pre-colonial Batak weavers exemplifies how commons work. ‘Commons’ are shared resources managed ‘in common’ by people. I learned to see the woven cloth as a kind of confluence of commons: overlapping and intersecting cultural commons. And I see reciprocity as a primary feature of cultural commons. Those who dip into it and take from it are the ones who also build, grow and store it. For example, the language used by Batak weavers is an knowledge commons; collectively they use it and at the same time build and maintain it through use. Weaving techniques and design are commons in which know-how, knowledge and memory are held and shared, used and added to. The physical environment that is used and maintained by the weavers is another and the ritual sphere yet another relative to which the weavings give and derive meaning. All of these commons are represented and inextricably woven together in a Batak ulos, a kind of total expression of Batak social, intellectual and spiritual life. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In 1978 I was also witnessing weaving commons being eroded by enclosures. Enclosures are external forces that appropriate what is held in common, taking it out of the hands of the rightful stewards. The history of Batak weaving, since the Industrial Revolution and colonialism, may be framed as a succession of enclosures by outside forces. It is a familiar story the world over. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;">For the Batak enclosures began with imported yarns and dyes in the 19<sup>th</sup> Century. Weavers took both happily because the mechanized imports reduced their workloads. Nevertheless, that ease came at a greater cost than the money they paid for it. The imports generated relations of dependence on the market and also reduced the weavers’ reciprocal ties with the physical world: the trees, plants, insects, earth and water involved in making the yarns and dyes. Within a few generations the knowledge of making yarn and dyes was lost because this kind of knowledge is stewarded during hands-on doing. The imported yarns and dyes were just the beginning of the take-over by external markets. Cheap Western-style clothing eventually supplanted the traditional handloomed Batak clothing. Inevitably, many weavers retired their looms. The inroads that the external markets were making were also expressed in faster transportation networks. Heeding the dictates of the new markets, the weavers had to develop regional specializations to compete. Divisions of labour emerged. Weavers had to specialize in their knowledge of design and technique. In short, the market was forcing them to de-skill. It was no longer their village communities and local markets that were shaping their craft. Rather, distant market forces began to dictate what weavers wove. Government and industry brought in semi-mechanical looms with the rationale that these so-called ‘modern’ looms would allow weavers to produce faster and ostensibly earn more. The market focus was shifting weaving away from cultural reproduction and towards speed of production and financial earnings. Working at the new looms was another part of the process of de-skilling and the loss of women’s space in their culture. Unused, the specialized vocabulary related to the ancient Batak technical heritage was not needed in the new looms. The entire conceptual system surrounding the making of a cloth shifted. The weavers no longer needed their special medium of communication that supported the unicity of their craft. The uniqueness of their craft was also giving way to standardized production. The new looms pulled them out of their homes and into hierarchical workshop settings where they occupied the lowest rungs as wage-earning labourers doing mindless, repetitive work according to the dictates of those higher up the ladder. Fashion ‘designers’ also had a role to play in this demotion of the social position of the weavers. Appropriating Batak designs to adapt them to fashion, the designers employed the weavers as mere labour. And as if that were not enough, do-gooders are now moving in with computer-generated designs. Once again, the rationale is that the new designs will ‘aid’ the weavers. At one time the unique Batak designs emerged from the village weaver commons. No one weaver was a designer, but the weavers collectively created unique designs by sharing and trying out ideas together. The unique Batak designs are expressions of a cultural commons. Today there is almost nothing left of that crucible. The weavers’ strongest ties are now with the market, and earning money has eclipsed the cultural facets of weaving almost entirely. All culturally unique facets of Batak weaving have slipped like sand through the fingers and been supplanted with the external market economy. The weavers themselves frequently complain that, while they know how to weave, they do not know how to weave their own traditions.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;">This is a familiar story. All of the time-saving and labour-saving strategies introduced have been a kind of net pulling the weavers into capitalist spheres of production. The art that once expressed the local environment now expresses dependence on fossil fuels (for yarns, dyes, loom parts, marketing and new technologies). The confluence and congregation of commons symbolized by ancient Batak cloths no longer exists in the modern cloths. They now exemplify how modernity can enclose indigenous commons. The work of weavers is no longer that dense and efficient reproduction of their culture. It has been flattened and simplified into running after money, an aim propelled by </span><span style="font-size: large;">joblessness and the </span><span style="font-size: large;">need for cash.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Every Batak region, large and small, once had its own weaver commons: unique designs, unique features of loom and technique, unique kinship and political characteristics, rituals, beliefs and language. The variety of features made the Batak region around Lake Toba dynamic and interesting. But they have been almost entirely eroded by the broad brushstrokes of modernity that reduce it to one indistinct whole dominated by the quest for money and standardized looms.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Remnants of the rich, ancient tradition are left. In Silalahi, a bay at the Northern end of Lake Toba, and a village culturally allied with the neighbouring villages of Paropo and Tongging, weaving is distinctive with unusual techniques and ulos designs that appear to be <i>unique in the world</i>. While the erosive process of enclosures has been at work in this region, some of the ancient technical features of ulos are still intact. This has largely to do with the fact that the traditional looms used in this region have not (yet) been replaced by upright, semi-mechanical looms. This is very special. The weavers of Silalahi need to be cherished, protected and encouraged. There are not many left, and most of them are elderly. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I visited Silalahi again earlier this year (2023), I wanted to take a closer look at how the weavers use three heddle sticks in a single set of heddles. It is terribly complex technique, and terribly difficult to do -- so much more difficult than the mindless weaving that occurs on the upright semi-mechanical looms. The technique has never been documented or recorded. I had the great honour to be able to sit beside the loom of one of the very best weavers, a woman devoted to the Silalahi tradition, Sinta br. Sagala, Ny. Sidabariba, Op. Dita. Her son, Marvin Sidabariba, is equally devoted to maintaining his cultural heritage. Without many means and resources besides his heart, dedication and knowledge, he does all that he can to encourage the weavers in his village.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Recently Marvin told me that there is a government plan to bring semi-mechanical looms into Silalahi. A plan to be mourned. It fills me with deep sadness. It will mean the end of the unusual weaving techniques and resultant ulos designs, which make the Silalahi tradition unique in the world. Once again the looms are being introduced with the best of intentions: 'to increase weaver income’. But they will erode and gradually eliminate the remainder of what is unique in the Silalahi weaving tradition, which is still found in technique and design. Is there nobody in the government who understands how special the ancient knowledge and traditions are, and who can encourage these traditional elements? Why are the Silalahi weavers being pushed to work within a foreign weaving tradition? (The looms are of Western origin.) The weavers themselves are naïve and have few concerns about the impact of these foreign looms. They know how difficult and complex their techniques are, and they are correct in thinking that these techniques cannot be performed on simple, semi-mechanical looms. What they do not know, however, is that the owners of those semi-mechanical looms have no intention of replicating the unique techniques of Silalahi. In fact, they have neither knowledge nor concern about what is unique and ancient. They only want to make the designs easily and cheaply for sale and use them in fashion. Their looms will churn out cheaper products. The buyers, who also know nothing about the unique Silalahi tradition, will make their purchases based on cloth appearance and price. This has already happened throughout the Batak region. All in the seductive name of modernity.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;">And so something unique and beautiful in the world will slip away, unnoticed except by the handful of elderly weavers who are left and knowledgeable idealists like Marvin Sidabariba. The message to these weavers will be that the world does not care about their skill and art. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I stand with Marvin.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></p>Sandrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13817899796223662652noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9112370903337891682.post-1055509732890723482023-09-19T17:22:00.001+02:002023-10-19T14:59:45.471+02:00 TO DEFASHION<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18pt;"> </span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18pt;">Friends, do you see de-Fashion as reduction<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18pt;">frustration, disappointment, no satisfaction<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18pt;">‘tightening a belt’ that already feels too tight?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18pt;">For a feel good future, it just doesn’t seem right.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18pt;"> </span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18pt;">I beg of you to change your lens<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18pt;">to see beyond enticing brands<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18pt;">to the industry failing to meet your demands<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18pt;">hurting us all, then turning a blind eye<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18pt;">seducing, brainwashing, only to deny<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18pt;">hiding behind a succession of styles<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18pt;">contributing to waste for miles ….and miles<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18pt;">sacrificing us all when we buy in<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18pt;">to seasons, sales and ‘professional’ design<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18pt;">to hate our bodies, lose touch with our community<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18pt;">with our sheep and our flax and our creative capacity<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18pt;">offered freely by nature; erased with impunity.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18pt;"> </span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18pt;">The top of the curve is our lowest point.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18pt;"> </span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18pt;">Humanity flattened by the consumer role,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18pt;">dress of the other eroded, to say naught of our soul.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18pt;">The awful potential of the exponential.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18pt;">For a fistful of money, dominance and control<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18pt;">civilizations implode and climates boil<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18pt;">trapped by debt millions sweat and toil.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18pt;">Industrial Fashion: you are toxic<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18pt;">to all that walks swims flies and thinks.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18pt;">Carbon sinks are of no avail<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18pt;">if your coloniality will prevail.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18pt;">Fashion mirror in our dress<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18pt;">reflecting sadly who we have come to be<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18pt;">though kindliness is what we <i>want</i> to see:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18pt;">regeneration, reparation, sustainability<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18pt;">a healthy world, not our current distress.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18pt;"> </span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18pt;">The top of the curve is our lowest point.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18pt;"> </span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18pt;">Dear friends, we are gathered here to de-Fashion<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18pt;">education and the entire system, to reweave<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18pt;">healing in our clothes, community in every stitch<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18pt;">repairing the tears of sacrifice, mending, re-using<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18pt;">microfibres of hope in our heart relearning<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18pt;">the art of universal fashion: to refuse exploitation<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18pt;"> </span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18pt;">When we fail to give the other room we prepare our own doom.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18pt;">Here, dear friends, in Berlin<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18pt;">we embrace all as family<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18pt;">and only thus reclaim our humanity.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18pt;"> </span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18pt;">The top of the curve is our lowest point<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18pt;">whence we embark on de-Fashion.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18pt;">Let us here, now, be the point of inflection<o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18pt;">marking the start of the Great Resuscitation.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 18pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">(recited at the De-Fashioning Education Conference, Berlin 15 September)</span></p>Sandrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13817899796223662652noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9112370903337891682.post-64031742223846764632023-09-13T16:25:00.004+02:002023-10-19T15:02:52.655+02:00Fashion: Be Careful What You Celebrate! Status and Othering in Fossil Fuels and Fashion (with an appended 'Table of Industrial Fashion Myths')<p> <span face="Calibri, sans-serif">At the end of this short blog I present a ‘Table of Industrial Fashion Myths’, a work-in-progress. I preface it here briefly with some preliminary thoughts about possible links between these myths and fossil fuels.</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"> (Also published on the Fashion Act Now website: </span><a href="https://www.fashionactnow.org/post/fashion-be-careful-what-you-celebrate-status-and-othering-in-fossil-fuels-and-fashion">https://www.fashionactnow.org/post/fashion-be-careful-what-you-celebrate-status-and-othering-in-fossil-fuels-and-fashion</a>)</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">For decades I have looked at coloniality, othering, and the hubris of the West/Northern Nations, as a ‘wrong turn’ in philosophical terms. If the error of our ways could only be demonstrated, has been my thinking, then all could be set aright! Hence the adoption of strategies of jumping into the pen, teaching, appealing to the innate goodness in people, their ratio. Nothing can change the world like ideas.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">Recently, however, the idea of ‘energy-blindness’ as explained by Nate Hagens (see his podcasts on <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWJOjGOpN8oSVr_OoJLzk9g">Youtube</a>) has altered my own thinking on the topic. It is obvious that fossil fuels enable industry, including the Fashion industry, nothing new there. What is new, that Hagens has sparked in my thinking, is the significance of the fact that Western Industrial fashion is a <i>function of</i> the discovery and use of Fossil Fuels. I don't mean this in a deterministic sense, but clearly the course of Western fashion history <i>has been shaped</i> to some extent <i> </i>by the use of fossil fuels, and is inextricably intertwined with access to fossil fuels. In that case, Western fashion history needs to be examined through the lens of fossil fuel enablement. This insight may have ramifications so profound as to require a re-write of Fashion history; in the traditional focus on design history, the significance of roles and types of fuel in Fashion have been underexposed if not completely ignored. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">Key to this insight is that for more than a century, the distinction of ‘rapid style change’ has been attributed to Western superiority, not fossil fuels. Furthermore, when ‘rapid style change’ was regarded as definitive for Fashion, by deduction Fashion had to be exclusively Western. The Eureka moment here is the possibility that not only Western Fashion, but also the Western Fashion ego, is indirectly a product of fossil fuel access. This ego appears to have undergone a kind of collective rush when exposed to the exceptional power of fossil fuels and I propose that this rush was expressed in delusions of superiority and mythologies of othering. Indeed, a wrong conceptual turn, but there was a hydrocarbon foundation underlying it. While acknowledging that this proposition still needs to be researched and verified, I would still like to go one step further by pointing out that the Fashion ego appears to be part of a larger fossil fuel thought complex.<span style="background: repeat lightgrey;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="background: repeat lightgrey;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">During this crisis era of global heating, researchers and writers are scrambling to come to grips with society’s addiction to fossil fuels. Andreas Malm’s historical research has revealed that steam power (from coal combustion) out-competed water power in the early decades of the 19<sup>th</sup> Century because coal could be privately owned and stored where and when it suited the needs of the owner (industrialist). Water power could only be generated in proximity to flowing water and access to it demanded negotiations with others having access to that same source, as well as reliance on the right weather conditions. In short, according to Malm, steam power offered greater latitude to exploit labour (Leather 2017), and thus the stage was set. It did not take long before fossil fuels were requisite to compete successfully in industry and deploy the labour coming into the city. In addition, fossil fuel offered more independent autonomy to industrialists and thus became the lifeblood of high social status -- which it has remained until this day. (I write just as the decision of a single individual, Elon Musk, to thwart a Ukrainian drone attack on the Krim has come to light, illustrating my use of the word ‘autonomy’ in regard to high social station, i.e. isolation from social controls.)<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">The characterization of Fashion’s uniqueness relative to all other fashion forms in the world is strikingly parallel. It was a vertical binary setting off, but also separating, the West from the Rest. Those ‘with’ fashion placed themselves on a pedestal, a status position, that also isolated them from the Rest. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">Kendra (2021) has reviewed white supremacy in the oil industry as evident in labour relations, racial segregation and racial violence, and concluded that it “is so much the norm that it is easier to point to the exception." Malm’s research went on (in <u>White Skin, Black Fuel: On the Danger of Fossil Fascism</u> 2021) to document the link between fossil fuels and the defense of white privilege, Donald Trump being a good example of a supremacist who did all in his power to remove limits to fossil fuel discovery and use. In their review of the government of climate change, Diego Andreucci and Christos Zografos (2021) <span style="color: #2e2e2e;">noted that othering is a technical tool used by the government of climate change in strategies of ‘mitigation’ (extraction of minerals for alternative energy systems), ‘climate migration’, and ‘vulnerability’ (a filter through which to assign where social ‘improvements’ are needed). All of these strategies extend capitalist relations of racism and colonialism. They </span>discerned that “<span style="color: #2e2e2e;">othering helps to preserve existing relations of racial, patriarchal and class domination in the face of climate-induced social upheavals”, concluding that “[O]thering is not only a feature of fossil fuelled development, but a way of functioning of capitalist governmentality more broadly…” <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #2e2e2e;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #2e2e2e;">Notably, the accepted sustainability discourse in Fashion has stubbornly failed to address the issue of othering embedded in the existence of sacrifice zones, labour exploitation and industrial growth.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #2e2e2e;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">I am not aware of fashion having been brought into discussions about relations of race and coloniality in the fossil fuel industry, but there appear to be reasons for doing so, given that Fashion is arguably the most potent tool to facilitate and normalize othering. Fashion has its origin and raison d’être in the intent and practice of othering (Niessen 2003). It not only makes othering possible and palatable by normalizing it, but exalts it by showcasing it in association with mythologies of superiority and the goodness of consumption. Fashion’s continual physical expansion works hand in glove with fossil fuel expansion. There appears to be a relationship of complementarity between the two. While fossil fuels have clearly played a powerful role in industrial Fashion history, Fashion appears to have played a complementary role in the social history of fossil fuel relations and consumption. In the needed re-write of Fashion history attention must be paid not only to what Fashion <i>is</i>, but what it <i>does</i>. Furthermore, in the task of ‘getting Fashion off fossil fuels’ it becomes clear that entirely new fashion thought systems will need to be constructed. Taking the plastic out of our clothing and switching to other power sources will not be sufficient to change what Fashion <i>does</i> in the manner of fossil fuel Fashion.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #2e2e2e;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #2e2e2e;">I cite Andreucci’s and Zografos’s conclusion that “[A]ny genuinely radical, comprehensive and meaningful response to the climate crisis must attack the root causes of the ongoing, uneven and combined socioecological catastrophe” (2022) in the event that in the job of unpacking and exposing the partnership of fossil fuels and Fashion any additional encouragement is required.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">A comprehensive account of how the political and historical links between Fashion and fossil fuels have been expressed in Fashion mythologies and othering is significantly beyond the scope of this exploratory blog. A graduate student may want to take on this important work! The ‘Table of Industrial Fashion Myths’ below is a draft list of the ways in which hubris has functioned in Fashion. It has long been averred that fashion is the handmaiden of capitalism, but its enmeshment in perpetuating the fossil fuel economy not yet. Readers are invited to comment on and contribute to this foray. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 18pt; text-align: center;">Table of Industrial Fashion Myths<o:p></o:p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 18pt; text-align: center;"><o:p> </o:p></p><table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoTableGrid" style="border-collapse: collapse; border: medium; color: black; font-variant-caps: normal; width: 652px;"><tbody><tr><td style="border: 1pt solid windowtext; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 91.6pt;" valign="top" width="122"><p align="center" class="MsoListParagraph" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt -5.55pt; text-align: center;">Centrisms of Superiority <o:p></o:p></p></td><td style="border-color: windowtext windowtext windowtext currentcolor; border-image: none; border-style: solid solid solid none; border-width: 1pt 1pt 1pt medium; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 106.6pt;" valign="top" width="142"><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: center;">Manifestations<o:p></o:p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: center;">of othering and superiority<o:p></o:p></p></td><td style="border-color: windowtext windowtext windowtext currentcolor; border-image: none; border-style: solid solid solid none; border-width: 1pt 1pt 1pt medium; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 290.6pt;" valign="top" width="387"><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: center;">Fashion Mythologies<o:p></o:p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: center;">of othering and superiority<o:p></o:p></p></td></tr><tr><td style="border-color: currentcolor windowtext windowtext; border-image: none; border-style: none solid solid; border-width: medium 1pt 1pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 91.6pt;" valign="top" width="122"><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p></td><td style="border-color: currentcolor windowtext windowtext currentcolor; border-style: none solid solid none; border-width: medium 1pt 1pt medium; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 106.6pt;" valign="top" width="142"><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p></td><td style="border-color: currentcolor windowtext windowtext currentcolor; border-style: none solid solid none; border-width: medium 1pt 1pt medium; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 290.6pt;" valign="top" width="387"><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p></td></tr><tr><td style="border-color: currentcolor windowtext windowtext; border-image: none; border-style: none solid solid; border-width: medium 1pt 1pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 91.6pt;" valign="top" width="122"><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">egocentrism<o:p></o:p></p></td><td style="border-color: currentcolor windowtext windowtext currentcolor; border-style: none solid solid none; border-width: medium 1pt 1pt medium; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 106.6pt;" valign="top" width="142"><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">narcissism<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">hubris<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p></td><td style="border-color: currentcolor windowtext windowtext currentcolor; border-style: none solid solid none; border-width: medium 1pt 1pt medium; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 290.6pt;" valign="top" width="387"><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 18pt;">Fashion depicts individual superiority<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 18pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 18pt;">Fashion depicts individuality<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 18pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p></td></tr><tr><td style="border-color: currentcolor windowtext windowtext; border-image: none; border-style: none solid solid; border-width: medium 1pt 1pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 91.6pt;" valign="top" width="122"><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">ethnocentrism<o:p></o:p></p></td><td style="border-color: currentcolor windowtext windowtext currentcolor; border-style: none solid solid none; border-width: medium 1pt 1pt medium; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 106.6pt;" valign="top" width="142"><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">white supremacy<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">racism<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">colonialism<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">othering<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">linear time<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">modernity<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">cultural erasure<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">belief in Western technology <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 18pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">cultural sacrifice zones are condoned<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p></td><td style="border-color: currentcolor windowtext windowtext currentcolor; border-style: none solid solid none; border-width: medium 1pt 1pt medium; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 290.6pt;" valign="top" width="387"><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 18pt;">Fashion is a zenith of cultural ‘evolution’ <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 16.85pt;">Fashion depicts social/cultural relevance<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 18pt;">Fashion is rapid change of styles<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 18pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 18pt;">“A least it gives them jobs” (re: Fashion labour)<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 18pt;">Indigenous designs and techniques are freely available for use by industrial fashion<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 18pt;"> Industrial Fashion can perpetuate the clothing systems/technologies/designs of the other<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 18pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 18pt;">‘globalization of Fashion’<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 18pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 18pt;">‘universal dress’<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 18pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 18pt;">confidence that technology will solve the sustainability problem<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 18pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 18pt;">‘we’ are dependent on the Fashion industry for beautiful clothing<o:p></o:p></p></td></tr><tr><td style="border-color: currentcolor windowtext windowtext; border-image: none; border-style: none solid solid; border-width: medium 1pt 1pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 91.6pt;" valign="top" width="122"><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">anthropocentrism<o:p></o:p></p></td><td style="border-color: currentcolor windowtext windowtext currentcolor; border-style: none solid solid none; border-width: medium 1pt 1pt medium; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 106.6pt;" valign="top" width="142"><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">human exceptionalism<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">ecological sacrifice is condoned<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">greenwashing<o:p></o:p></p></td><td style="border-color: currentcolor windowtext windowtext currentcolor; border-style: none solid solid none; border-width: medium 1pt 1pt medium; padding: 0cm 5.4pt; width: 290.6pt;" valign="top" width="387"><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 16.55pt;">human ingenuity will solve all problems<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 16.55pt;">most conceptions of ‘sustainability’ <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 16.55pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 16.55pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p></td></tr></tbody></table><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 36pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">Selected References<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">Diego Andreucci, Christos Zografos, Between improvement and sacrifice: Othering and the (bio)political ecology of climate change, Political Geography, Volume 92, 2022, 102512,<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">ISSN 0962-6298, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polgeo.2021.102512" style="color: #954f72;"><span style="color: black;">https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polgeo.2021.102512</span></a>.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">Hagens, Nate. The Great Simplification. Podcast series on Youtube. Ongoing since 2022.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">Kendra, Pierre-Louis. <a href="https://whowhatwhy.org/science/environment/understanding-the-fossil-fuel-industrys-legacy-of-white-supremacy/" style="color: #954f72;"><span style="color: black;">Understanding the Fossil Fuel Industry’s Legacy of White Supremacy</span></a>. <u>Who What Why</u>April 2021. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><a href="https://whowhatwhy.org/science/environment/understanding-the-fossil-fuel-industrys-legacy-of-white-supremacy/" style="color: #954f72;"><span style="color: black;">https://whowhatwhy.org/science/environment/understanding-the-fossil-fuel-industrys-legacy-of-white-supremacy/</span></a><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">Leather, Amy. “Why capitalism is addicted to fossil fuels”. International Socialism: A quarterly review of socialist theory. Nr. 153. 2017<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><a href="http://isj.org.uk/why-is-capitalism-addicted-to-fossil-fuels/" style="color: #954f72;"><span style="color: black;">http://isj.org.uk/why-is-capitalism-addicted-to-fossil-fuels/</span></a><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">Malm, Andreas. <u>White Skin, Black Fuel : On the Danger of Fossil Fascism</u>. Verso. 202<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">Malm, Andreas. <u>Fossil Capital: the Rise of Steam Power and the Roots of Global Warming</u>. Verso. 2016.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">Niessen, Sandra <span lang="EN-GB">“Afterword: Reorient</span>ing Fashion Theory” In Niessen, S.A., A. Leshkowich, and C. Jones (eds.) <u>Re-orienting Fashion: The Globalization of Asian Dress</u>. Oxford: Berg Publishers. pp. 243-266. 2003.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p>Sandrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13817899796223662652noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9112370903337891682.post-89777984444169211882023-05-11T07:16:00.006+02:002023-06-30T13:11:49.473+02:00Time Made Time Spent<p> (for Harna and Lasma)</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">Home again after a long journey, I multitask. There are the things that need to be picked up from 5 months ago, and there is the residue from the journey. It doesn’t take long before everything criss-crosses into the chaotic jumble that is my current now. I iron a blouse while doing a wash, breaking off to examine the provisions in the kitchen and write a quick message to a friend; I note that it is time to put away my winter clothes; then I remember to pay a bill… In the meantime, I daydream about Ompu si Sihol, my weaving teacher in 1980. I recall her sitting on her haunches, stick in hand, guarding her piglet so that it can eat without interruption. This was part of her daily routine. Her day was always calm and clear. I remember admiring her amazing work habits: methodical, orderly, deliberate, calm. I did not expect such excellent time management in a poor Batak village but I am embarrassed now to admit it because Batak weavings should have taught me that they were made with careful discipline. When Ompu si Sihol wove, her work was methodical, orderly, deliberate, calm. I break off my rushed criss-crossed chaos to sit down and write.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghQHyZbMS3naCSaE5fd9HCpXTX5XCOzM3J-3Fwd6aB7ePFlXyBSd1nzLXZOBJTQsQpQJTx5lakZObxuuBWDkqhTS-RfFp7MIM_KjWGvKQvEp_gaY1_dv7K8z1Z1bc-ujp7rwuJPhad3e5HF7Pu3EyvUDfgQfTUpL-fvlf6Thd2tomUYz2UYdhKzKsy/s3925/80-9-20-edit.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3925" data-original-width="2500" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghQHyZbMS3naCSaE5fd9HCpXTX5XCOzM3J-3Fwd6aB7ePFlXyBSd1nzLXZOBJTQsQpQJTx5lakZObxuuBWDkqhTS-RfFp7MIM_KjWGvKQvEp_gaY1_dv7K8z1Z1bc-ujp7rwuJPhad3e5HF7Pu3EyvUDfgQfTUpL-fvlf6Thd2tomUYz2UYdhKzKsy/w408-h640/80-9-20-edit.jpg" width="408" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">Ompu si Sihol didn’t multitask. She set herself a goal and she worked on it until it was done. Never rushed. The goal that she set for herself was manageable and filled her day; she did it expertly, not fast and not slow. Step by step. She kept in mind the preparations for the next day in the process. Time was in her hands. Time was the process of weaving her cloth: winding the warp today, setting up the loom tomorrow… Occasionally a neighbour would come by to chew the fat while Ompu si Sihol continued her work, methodically and unwavering. Only feeding her pig and taking a bath in the stream when the sun was high, would pull her away, but those interludes, too, were part of her day’s rhythm. I often think of that when I am multitasking, in a rush to meet deadlines, forgetting the pot on the stove. And I admire Ompu si Sihol all over again. But having recently learned more about the technical side of Batak weaving, I know that there was so much more to Ompu si Sihol’s way of working.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">I recognized that deliberate, clear orderliness that I learned from Ompu si Sihol when, more than 30 years later, I observed Ompu Elza, br. Sinaga, weave her bulang. I saw that the steps in the process of making a hiou (the name for a cloth in her culture) structured her days. The parts of her cloth framed the steps in weaving it. The facilitating techniques were her medium, and in her hands that medium also synchronized with the cloth’s design.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">I recall how she reacted viscerally, even after 15 years, when she remembered what it was like to try to meet the demands of the sagging market, to try to earn a few cents. It turned her into a slave because she needed every cent she could get to try to meet the needs of her family. She worked non-stop, pressured to weave ever faster. She hated every second of that demoralizing bondage. Ompu Elza likes to work with utmost care, checking, double checking, establishing her best self in her cloth.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">During my years in the Batak area of North Sumatra, I have rarely observed that methodical manner of working but I assume that it was once the norm. Today, most weavers work quickly. Speed of execution is their priority. They cut corners, take liberties to meet market strictures, even taking pride in their capacity to zip through a cloth. Speed and flexibility is where they see their expertise: “I just try to make money,“ they say. “I weave whatever the market asks. Do I like weaving?” My question puzzles them. “I am just trying to earn some money, that’s all.” And they sandwich the weaving between other demands on their time. What gets half done now will be worked on again later. Late nights if necessary. A double weft fills a cloth faster than a single weft. Dispense with ikat in this erstwhile ikat tradition and shift to supplementary weft because it is faster; there are fewer steps involved. Don’t bother to repair a broken warp yarn like Ompu Sihol did fastidiously; no point repairing errors. ‘Seolaholah’ (‘quick and dirty’) is good enough. Weaving in this way has everything to do with the rhythm of the market. The market discourages rigour and quality. Consumers don’t know quality anymore anyway, so it is a waste of time. The market teaches weavers that their work has no value. Their products are disposable tokens. Only speed has value because only money has value. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">These speed-weavers work in a ‘modern’ time frame. They probably have neither knowledge nor recollection of the cloth frame that Ompu si Sihol lived within. How could they? The income of weavers has been drastically low for generations and they have had to adapt to maximize their earnings. Even those painful economic circumstances declined further as the (semi-) mechanical loom gained in popularity. Such a loom weaves cloth faster and drives prices down. Backstrap loom weavers now have to compete with (semi-)mechanical speed for even just a tiny corner of the market. If these women had an alternative, they would not be weaving at all; they would prefer something less demoralizing. They have not had the luxury to think about time nor the perfection of their skills, nor their creative capacities and the capacities built into their ancient weaving tradition.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">I think back on my anthropological training and my fascination with temporal frameworks. I learned that the circular Batak warp represents never-ending cyclical time, the cycle of all life. I saw the warp In my mind’s eye as a circle mapped onto a concept, like a letter in the alphabet representing a sound. I imagined the fully woven but uncut cloth being circulated in the hands to depict the perpetuity of life, something the Batak apparently used to do. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhelyh-pEQ6vHXdLrsPjdSVbwxFTciuAe-UHhngHdVuAL3beJqI_jiHLCEouIVM7I-BGy_GBXI1cIaXttS57xq6AOd7RH2RfcTx7GucXv43wrMimOKennKrl5Y-uVPXmFbpBYOTqOBnnWryDyosWDugVdVkPEGjwq8PyM3g9LvoWsMp4jBr8E7bg19p/s3264/IMG_5878%20copy.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="627" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhelyh-pEQ6vHXdLrsPjdSVbwxFTciuAe-UHhngHdVuAL3beJqI_jiHLCEouIVM7I-BGy_GBXI1cIaXttS57xq6AOd7RH2RfcTx7GucXv43wrMimOKennKrl5Y-uVPXmFbpBYOTqOBnnWryDyosWDugVdVkPEGjwq8PyM3g9LvoWsMp4jBr8E7bg19p/w470-h627/IMG_5878%20copy.jpg" width="470" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ompu Elza weaving a Bulang</td></tr></tbody></table>But there is that other dimension already mentioned above; that Ompu Elza wove to a rhythm consistent with the structure of her cloth-in-the-making, allowing the design and techniques of her cloth to structure her days: one day to weave half of the red part, the next day for the other half, pausing for lunch only when a segment had been completed and so on…. Cloth design was simultaneously weaving time. In her loom she made time while she spent time. Time was not just an abstract ‘out there’. It was experiential; it was her guide and the framework of her self-discipline. It shaped her days. When Ompu Elza wove her bulang, she lived the process -- and I think that was the case with Ompu si Sihol as well. Ompu Elza’s longing to work in synchrony with her cloth, supported by the sufficiency of pay that I gave her for her work, provided her with the room that she needed to be able to co-exist with her cloth.<o:p></o:p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">This is the room that weavers, who are plugged desperately into the market for their daily needs, all the while competing with semi-mechanical looms, do not have.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">A Batak weaver inherits her repertory from the ancestors, all the way back to the first ancestor who came down from the upper world. She must accurately recapitulate the weaverly steps first performed by her ancestors to make a cloth fit to be named (<i>na margoar</i>) and thereby eligible for social ritual, to enable the wearer to come in contact with the spirit world, to entreat that world to be benign. The temporal process of weaving is a sacred trust just as the design of the cloth. And so each generation of weavers is also like a cycle of uncut cloth rotated in the hands; each with the onus to pass on her divinely inherited skills to a successor, the next link in the chain. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZj4Ww5Wu-1lHXs3a3rLbnrp3RboCNOIwcWZzuCQq53UOrb-Td2yhNWtCdDq2Py1ttvqDd18fW7nFay6T0-9J7dTJuEymDrYxlKDRFQoYJ45m5JuvuDDU7flW0QzoNMfIhjmTPg4CKoz3XBtdnrxReAWFDvGAyrHq3yG-WsJcePQ-VE-xwNa0Tptsg/s632/SNF%20A-105.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="452" data-original-width="632" height="286" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZj4Ww5Wu-1lHXs3a3rLbnrp3RboCNOIwcWZzuCQq53UOrb-Td2yhNWtCdDq2Py1ttvqDd18fW7nFay6T0-9J7dTJuEymDrYxlKDRFQoYJ45m5JuvuDDU7flW0QzoNMfIhjmTPg4CKoz3XBtdnrxReAWFDvGAyrHq3yG-WsJcePQ-VE-xwNa0Tptsg/w400-h286/SNF%20A-105.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p style="text-align: left;">Let weaving time take its rightful place in acknowledged lifecycles of the Batak: the cycles of the sun and moon, the winds and rains, the rice, the links of which the patrilineage is made, the birth, maturity and death of all creatures. The exclusive purview of women, weaving time is women’s time when she is free from enslavement to the market and has the space to embody the process of creating time.</p><o:p></o:p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">The weaverly ways of Ompu si Sihol and Ompu Elza open what feels like a magical window onto a conceptual world that has faded into the past. When I set out on my first fieldwork expedition in 1979, I wanted to find remnants of the pre-colonial Batak conceptual system. I remember pondering the elusive matter of conceptual change. We live ineluctably within our conceptual frameworks; is it even possible to recall or re-experience a conceptual system after it has transformed? Are we not mono-conceptual? We cannot live in two conceptual frameworks at one time, or flip-flop between them. Are there any words or ways to describe or elicit another one? Watching Ompu si Sihol and Ompu Elza weave, I feel that I am privy to something rare and precious, something to be treasured like a final drop of healing medicine. Theirs is a conceptual invention outside modernity, outside capitalism. In the West this is what we seek as a way out of the damaging way we go about having clothing. Theirs is an alternative to the globalized fashion system, which is none other than a driver of production, consumption and waste. Yet this precious alternative is slipping away before our eyes -- unrecognized, un-treasured, unnoticed -- as elderly weavers die and others concede defeat and lay down their looms a very last time. <o:p></o:p></p>Sandrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13817899796223662652noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9112370903337891682.post-20725785938398395002023-03-16T03:46:00.049+01:002024-02-21T10:39:18.865+01:00Ompu ni si Markel’s Story<div class="separator"><div style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></div></div><div class="separator"><br /></div><div class="separator"><br /></div><p>
<span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="text-indent: 0.55pt;">It started out quite simply. I went to her house and she offered me a chair
and sat in the one next to me.</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="text-indent: 0.55pt;"> </span>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVPt96PZGe8sI8lunCW8vaw1OqOdlhKC2wp7n7bdzPFX2t_QU4lt0LTWREDATG_-toMPOIjJZ-aS48eJyPAyO40ihqYszfSQbNeKLdakCe38zidg6FRGhuxlbiCGmQZnlEnS7rliPnHVl6rrwBxmNcj5chkwQa8zBbNX1qEIC40ULwGc-vP7wfwc7W/s3088/Ompu%20ni%20si%20Markel.JPG" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2320" data-original-width="3088" height="420" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVPt96PZGe8sI8lunCW8vaw1OqOdlhKC2wp7n7bdzPFX2t_QU4lt0LTWREDATG_-toMPOIjJZ-aS48eJyPAyO40ihqYszfSQbNeKLdakCe38zidg6FRGhuxlbiCGmQZnlEnS7rliPnHVl6rrwBxmNcj5chkwQa8zBbNX1qEIC40ULwGc-vP7wfwc7W/w560-h420/Ompu%20ni%20si%20Markel.JPG" width="560" /></a>
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SN and OM. This is the selfie we took upon our first meeting.<br /><br />
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<p></p>
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<br />
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<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
S.N. Your story yesterday was so amazing (<i>tidak terduga</i>). How is it
possible that you and I should meet and that I should have known about part of
your story from another perspective?<o:p></o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<o:p> </o:p>
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<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
Our meeting the day before had not been by chance. She had seen me next door
and had obeyed an urge to greet me. She told me that she had been to the
TongTong Fair in The Hague in The Netherlands in 1978 and that her loom had
been collected for/by a museum. She invited me to visit her sometime. I had
been touched by something very sweet in her character, and I wanted to connect
with her, perhaps learn more about her experience in the Netherlands just a
year before I went to Indonesia the first time myself. She and I are almost
the same age. Now I, too, was answering an urge to meet her. In the privacy of
her own home this time, just the two of us, it was her pain that led the
conversation.<o:p></o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<o:p> </o:p>
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<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
SN: I would like to learn more about your visit to The Netherlands. What did
it mean for you? Was it worth it? It was such a huge and expensive undertaking
for that time!<o:p></o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<o:p> </o:p>
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<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
OM: They asked me for my loom for the museum and said that I would be
compensated for it later, but I never received anything for the loom.<o:p></o:p>
</p>
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<o:p> </o:p>
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<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
I had to let this sink in. Then I explored it with her.<o:p></o:p>
</p>
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<o:p> </o:p>
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<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
S.N. That’s so unfair! Was it the museum that didn’t pay you?<o:p></o:p>
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<br />
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<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
Ompu ni si Markel shrugged.<o:p></o:p>
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<o:p> </o:p>
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OM: I don’t know. I can’t place any blame. I have let it go. I had no
recourse. I don’t know how it happened.<o:p></o:p>
</p>
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<o:p> </o:p>
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<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
SN: Who is responsible for this? Who ‘donated’ or ‘gave’ these items to the
museum? Was it your group leader? Did they receive the money from the
museum?<o:p></o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<o:p> </o:p>
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<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
OM: I know that none of us were compensated for our equipment that we left
behind. I stayed in touch with some of the others and I know they didn’t
receive anything either.<o:p></o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<o:p> </o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
She looked at me without emotion, simply stating a fact, but I started to get
hot under the collar.<o:p></o:p>
</p>
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<o:p> </o:p>
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<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
SN: This is wrong! The museum should have a record about who donated the
equipment! Surely we will learn the facts in this way!<o:p></o:p>
</p>
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<o:p> </o:p>
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<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
OM: Please know that I am making no demands.<o:p></o:p>
</p>
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<o:p> </o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
SN: You are a much more gentle soul than I. I feel very upset and angry! I
want to know who deserves the blame!
</p>
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<br />
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OM: Please don't be upset! I do not want you to be sad!
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<br />
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<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
SN: I have great difficulties with this story. You came from a country that
was colonized by the Dutch. And then you received the wonderful opportunity to
go to The Netherlands and display your work. And then you were robbed while
you were there. This is injury upon injury. You thought you were on an
exciting journey, and then this happened. What a bitter end to this
experience! This must be so painful!<o:p></o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<o:p> </o:p>
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<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
Ompu ni si Markel looked down for a moment when I connected the misfortune to
the colonial era. Then she looked up at me again and nodded slightly. Her eyes
became a bit red. Even though it happened 45 years ago.<o:p></o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<o:p> </o:p>
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<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
O.M.: There was someone who went to my mother after I left and expressed
amazement that she let me go. “You will never see your daughter again,” that
person said. "They will keep her there." In those days there were no
mobile phones. My mother and I couldn’t reach each other after I left. My
mother cried and cried for days. She thought she had lost me forever.<o:p></o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<o:p> </o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
I had to let this sink in as well. The courage the mother had shown to let her
daughter go! In those days! A young girl of only 22 years of age. I felt so
sad thinking about this. And the young girl herself! At the age when she
needs to spread her wings! The biggest event of her life happening when she
was only 22! I paused for a moment.<o:p></o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<o:p> </o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<o:p></o:p>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhvE2fqY7UUz5Y5JgfYyOlWqqKaCqlZpA1wV5I1lhfS7hmUkIHZCRPoTlex5dDgZm-1Af8Iv37-nzYG6Qx-gmVw50_csmDqQVvLrWuowtOnwCxurcvxBJG3_j4cLCne641IO5dZLfDhPVSQZanvFgWFJfM6CNc9kCRhQ4mxnbxUwjnvmY78Yb0wPjkE" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="414" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhvE2fqY7UUz5Y5JgfYyOlWqqKaCqlZpA1wV5I1lhfS7hmUkIHZCRPoTlex5dDgZm-1Af8Iv37-nzYG6Qx-gmVw50_csmDqQVvLrWuowtOnwCxurcvxBJG3_j4cLCne641IO5dZLfDhPVSQZanvFgWFJfM6CNc9kCRhQ4mxnbxUwjnvmY78Yb0wPjkE=w553-h414" width="553" /></a>
</td>
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<td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">
There she is, the sweet girl in the white blouse, just after she got
home again.<br /><br />
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<p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<o:p><br /></o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
SN: ... Was the equipment your mother’s or was it your own loom? Was it a
family loom?<o:p></o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<o:p> </o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
I knew I had touched another nerve then, because her eyes became wet.<o:p></o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<o:p> </o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
OM: It was my mother’s loom. A mother always sacrifices herself for her
daughter, to help her daughter get ahead. The loom was from our ancestors. My
mother got it from her mother. I don’t know how far back the loom went beyond
my grandmother. My mother had to purchase a new loom and she had to pay for it
herself.<o:p></o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<o:p> </o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
SN: How terribly sad. You must have felt so bad! <o:p></o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<o:p> </o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
OM: Yes. I was chosen from 3 candidates. We were interviewed and tested, and
they selected me.<o:p></o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<o:p> </o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
There was pride and regret mixed. She grabbed a tissue and dabbed her
eyes.<o:p></o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<o:p> </o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
SN: I can see why they would have chosen you. You have such a wonderful
presentation of self, so clear, so gentle and honest.<o:p></o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<o:p> </o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
OM: And also my fluency in Indonesian. In the end, I had to go to Medan three
times in preparation for the journey, to arrange for my passport and so on.
All of this occurred through the Kantor Bupati, the office of the Regent.<o:p></o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<o:p> </o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
I myself went to Indonesia for the first time in 1979, a year after her
journey to The Netherlands. I remember the road to Medan. It was still under
construction then. It was an arduous journey all the way from Tarutung and
took an entire day of 10 – 12 hours, longer if you got stuck in the muck.<o:p></o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<o:p> </o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
S.N.: Was there anything good about the trip? Did you enjoy it at all? Were
people good to you?<o:p></o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<o:p> </o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
OM: I stayed in a guesthouse at Nassaulaan 7 in The Hague. We met the
Ambassador and his wife. She was a Hutagalung, br. Tampubolon. They gave me a
jacket because my clothes were not warm enough. It was so cold. And they fed
us nasi goreng. But we didn’t get much rice at our accommodations and that was
something to get used to, but we had enough to eat. It is called ‘experience’.
(That is what traveling is all about.)<o:p></o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
When I left, Mrs. Ambassador gave me some money for her father. He lived close
by us in Tarutung. So that he would have proof that I had returned from The
Netherlands, from visiting her.<o:p></o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<o:p> </o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
I let this sink in as well. She had not been given compensation for her
weaving equipment, but she dutifully brought money to the father of the
Ambassador’s wife. In the back of my mind was the question of who had arranged
for their looms to be given to the museum? <o:p></o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<o:p> </o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
SN: Was it a lot of money?<o:p></o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<o:p> </o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
OM: No, not very much. And when I got back home, I gave a gift to the head of
the Department of Industry. They were the ones who arranged the journey. I
presented him with the material for a new suit.<o:p></o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<o:p> </o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
SN: That was a very significant gift….Was it Perindustrian (Department of
Industry) that arranged for the donation of your equipment?<o:p></o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<o:p> </o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
OM: I don’t know. I am making no demands. I don’t know how it all worked. So
how can I blame anyone? There was Perindustrian Medan and the local
Perindustrian. I don’t know who was responsible.<o:p></o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<o:p> </o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
I let this sink in, too. I think of a young girl with few opportunities in
life. She prepares to go on a huge journey that is actually unthinkable for
someone in her circumstances, a journey to another country, where another
language is spoken. She does so with trust. She has no fall-back. She is alone
in a foreign place.<o:p></o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<o:p> </o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
SN: You were very young. In fact, you were in a position in which you could
hardly say, “no” if someone asked for your loom. After all, they had organized
your trip! And you couldn’t phone your Mom and ask for permission.
Did your mother get angry at you?<o:p></o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<o:p> </o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
OM: Why would she? I was not at fault. And we could make no demands because we
didn’t know who was responsible.<o:p></o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<o:p> </o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;"></p>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC-3hJRWgn5R5ZD25X1kBMjKQXrMdXEecU_B4370tnQV6mFmPjP_TNn5F6jcECrkcmpEeYKa7DkCBDIK62DP8JattrJpT-ee_UClWDB8b0mdIhcbqJZEtU9NGPxPWo7kAPQrt6VVOqBcQewzp962tV702LTabCafwRZFEqHSyWu53lXjl1Fne8F2ey/s4032/IMG_6768.JPG" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="757" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC-3hJRWgn5R5ZD25X1kBMjKQXrMdXEecU_B4370tnQV6mFmPjP_TNn5F6jcECrkcmpEeYKa7DkCBDIK62DP8JattrJpT-ee_UClWDB8b0mdIhcbqJZEtU9NGPxPWo7kAPQrt6VVOqBcQewzp962tV702LTabCafwRZFEqHSyWu53lXjl1Fne8F2ey/w568-h757/IMG_6768.JPG" width="568" /></a>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">
She showed me this worn photo of her demonstrating her<br />skills in
The Hague. "I always have this photo with me."
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<br /><o:p><br /></o:p>
<p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<o:p><br /></o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
SN: So you were told that you would receive compensation after you got home. I
suppose in the beginning you believed that. And then slowly, slowly…..it would
have become clear that the compensation would not be
forthcoming. And slowly, slowly, you would have felt sad and then
increasingly bad as the awareness sank in that you had been tricked.<o:p></o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<o:p> </o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
Ompu si Markel looked down. I think she was remembering how the slow
realization settled deeper and deeper into her being. She dabbed
her eyes.<o:p></o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<o:p> </o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
OM: But they did give us compensation while we were there. We received money
for doing the demonstration and it compensated us for the days that we were
not earning while we were away from home. And our food and our accommodations
were given to us. My father advised me to just accept what happened. So I am
not making any demands. How can I blame anyone?<o:p></o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<o:p> </o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
SN: Of course your food and accommodations were provided! You were working in
the interests of another! Did you get to do any sightseeing while you were
there?<o:p></o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<o:p> </o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
OM: Yes, I was on a train that went underground. One of the men in our group
took us to the seaside. They were good men; they behaved honourably. And the
flight was an experience. One girl from Eastern Indonesia sat beside me. When
the plane took off it started to shudder. I put my arm around her and told her
not to be afraid, that this was normal, and nothing to fear.<o:p></o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<o:p> </o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
We chatted a little bit about trains that went underground, planes that
shuddered, and the Dutch land relative to sea level.<o:p></o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<o:p> </o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
But the tears by then could not be staunched. She kept needing to dab her
eyes. <o:p></o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<o:p> </o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
OM: I haven’t told anyone this story. You are the first one I have told in
such detail. I haven’t told my husband or my children or my neighbour. How
could I tell them? They have never traveled. But you are from the Netherlands
and you understand. And you speak Indonesian, so I can share my story without
a language barrier. <o:p></o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<o:p> </o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
SN: Your story is pretty amazing. I think that the person who arranged for the
collection by the museum may have been Rita Bolland, former curator of
textiles at the Tropenmuseum, and one of my dissertation advisors. She wrote a
publication about one of the looms, and I have used that writing in my work. I
even saw the looms when she showed me the museum Batak collection. I remember
her telling me about the weavers who came to The Netherlands from Indonesia.
She used to live in my town and I used to visit her. And I know the TongTong
Fair and the Nassaulaan and the Indonesian Embassy in The Hague. I can imagine
it all. It does bind us.<o:p></o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
<o:p> </o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
She laid her hand on my arm.<o:p></o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">
<o:p> </o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
SN: I don’t think your story is over yet. I would like to share your story.
Would you mind if I share your story?<o:p></o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<o:p> </o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
OM: I have nothing to be ashamed of. I didn’t do anything wrong. I am not
blaming anyone. I am only telling the truth. I am not lying. I am only saying
what happened.<o:p></o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<o:p> </o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
SN: I believe you. If I share your story on social media, would you be OK with
that? <o:p></o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<o:p> </o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
I pulled out my mobile phone and showed her LinkedIn and how stories are
shared for the general public, for the whole world.<o:p></o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<o:p> </o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
SN: Would you be OK with that? There are people concerned with restitution
these days. May I share it with them?<o:p></o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<o:p> </o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
OM: I have nothing to be ashamed of.<o:p></o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<o:p> </o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
I wrote to a former colleague in the Tropenmuseum while I sat there with her
but did not receive a response while we were together. <o:p></o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<o:p> </o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
SN: We will meet again. What a bitter edge to a story. And it is not over
yet. Have you lived here all your life?<o:p></o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<o:p> </o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
OM: Yes, since I married.<o:p></o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<o:p> </o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
And then she looked down once again. Out come an afterword about her recent,
severe illness, a long and critical hospital stay which could only have cost a
lot of money, that her husband received no pension, that she still had young
children at home for whom she had to fend, and how her work at the loom was
her only source of income aside from a small rice paddy. <o:p></o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<o:p> </o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
I felt so utterly, utterly sad. I saw her courage, her pride, her pain, her
resolve, her humility, and especially her dignity. The fact that she had come
to me to tell this story after all these years meant that it still bothered
her. I grabbed her two hands in my own and felt like I wanted to pray with
her, to infuse her somehow, with something. Amelioration. She said that our
meeting was a blessing. And so I share her story. I still hope/plan that it
turns into a blessing for her.<o:p></o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<o:p> </o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<o:p><br /></o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<o:p><span style="color: #800180;">3 July 2023 - update</span></o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<o:p><br /></o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<o:p><span style="color: #800180;">Before I left Indonesia in May I visited Ompu SiMarkel one last time. She
looked much better, clearly still recovering from her long illness. Her
neighbour quickly joined so that she wouldn't miss out on the excitement, so I didn't feel that I could talk. I did sadly relay to Ompu SiMarkel
that several of my contacts in the Netherlands had failed to find any
record of her loom. I began to wonder if it might have been acquired by a
curator visiting from another European country.</span></o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<o:p><span style="color: #800180;"><br /></span></o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<o:p><span style="color: #800180;">A curator at the Tropenmuseum and key people at the former Nusantara
Museum, the TongTong Fair and the Indonesian Embassy in the Hague
had all responded to my blog but their efforts didn't yield anything.
Apparently there were no holdings in the Tropen and no financial records
going back that far; no acquisition record of the loom in Nusantara; no
records at TongTong, although they did their best to put me in touch with
the museum curators.I decided to hold off with my search until I was back
in The Netherlands. So I left Ompu Si Markel with a promise and a little
bundle of rupiah notes to make her feel that she had received at least a
token for compensation.</span></o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<o:p><span style="color: #800180;"><br /></span></o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<o:p><span style="color: #800180;">Back in the Netherlands I was initially swamped with catch-up, but I
eventually got in touch with my old friend, Koos van Brakel, former head
of collections at the Tropen. He was first on my list because he had known
Rita well and I thought he might remember the looms of the TongTong Fair.
He did! He confirmed my own memory of Rita Bolland's excitement about
those looms and suggested I contact the current head of collections in the
museum. Another old friend, from the days when I documented the Batak
textiles in the museum, Richard van Alphen!</span></o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<o:p><span style="color: #800180;"><br /></span></o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<o:p><span style="color: #800180;">Richard was incredibly empathetic and helpful and immediately found a
loom from the TongTong Fair of 1978! I thought that we had hit the
jackpot, but no. This loom was from an Angkola Batak weaver who was making
an Ulos Godang (Rita had written about that textile), while I was looking
for a Toba loom with a half-woven Pusuk Robung textile. According to the
acquisition record, the Angkola loom had been acquired by the
Twents-Gelders Museum in Enschede. Five years later it was
transferred to the Tropenmuseum. Apparently I had worked on the on-line
description for the loom myself when I worked there, but I have no
recollection of that.</span></o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<o:p><span style="color: #800180;"><br /></span></o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<o:p><span style="color: #800180;">The Twents Textile Museum hasn't yet put its collection on-line, so I
couldn't search their collection from my armchair. I sent them an email to
see if they had anymore looms from the TongTong Fair of 1978. An answer
is pending...</span></o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<o:p><span style="color: #800180;"><br /></span></o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<o:p><span style="color: #800180;">Then I coupled back to Richard van Alphen who dug deeper into the museum
acquisition records and found vague and confusing mention of a Batak loom,
one apparently a heddle rod and shed stick loom (backstrap) that had gone
to the Education Museum in The Hague. It was not what I was looking for (the
museum record had a photograph) but I also immediately wrote to the
National Education Museum and was put in touch with the collections
manager. This museum's holdings are also not yet on-line. So far, they
haven't found the loom, but will search further. </span></o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<o:p><span style="color: #800180;"><br /></span></o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<o:p><span style="color: #800180;">That is where the matter now stands. As I wrote to Richard, it just
doesn't seem likely that a loom would be misplaced or de-acquisitioned, so
we retain some hope that we may uncover it as yet. Stay tuned!</span></o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<o:p><span style="color: #800180;"><br /></span></o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<span style="color: #800180;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(128, 1, 128);">7 July</span></span>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<span style="color: #800180;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(128, 1, 128);">It turns out that there are two education museums. The one I contacted
was in Dordrecht and not The Hague, but when they found nothing matching
my description in their holdings, they suggested I contact the one in The
Hague, which I did, and am awaiting further information.</span></span>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<span style="color: #800180;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(128, 1, 128);">Stay tuned!</span></span>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<o:p><span style="color: #800180;"><br /></span></o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<o:p><span style="color: #800180;">13 July, 2023.</span></o:p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;"><o:p><span style="color: #800180;">The loom has been located! Yesterday, to my great joy and surprise, I received
an email from a staff member of MUSEON-Omniversum (The Hague) with a
scan of an acquisition card and the news that she thought she had found
it. It matches the description that I received from the weaver, including
the Pusuk Robung textile half woven.</span></o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<o:p><span style="color: #800180;"><br /></span></o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<o:p></o:p>
</p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiccwH6cthC-tV1BhwyydtzJM3GtU9f5lQLAEijy7ZlXbA076CMvq6IB3jL5chutN1p9bI9Tx6E2v_6WXQRsh-kSus5Ic3hu5niZC8evCF4d-IjMpNfA-GAqWEXhbw6mhJRhh3z9Lij46yd0ADTlTRB__qCXWPtBJl-hpLwJzU9RiOHSyIz6UlRV5deO3g/s2295/Markel%20loom.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1721" data-original-width="2295" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiccwH6cthC-tV1BhwyydtzJM3GtU9f5lQLAEijy7ZlXbA076CMvq6IB3jL5chutN1p9bI9Tx6E2v_6WXQRsh-kSus5Ic3hu5niZC8evCF4d-IjMpNfA-GAqWEXhbw6mhJRhh3z9Lij46yd0ADTlTRB__qCXWPtBJl-hpLwJzU9RiOHSyIz6UlRV5deO3g/w640-h480/Markel%20loom.jpg" width="640" /></a>
</div>
<br /><span style="color: #800180;"><br /></span>
<p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<span style="color: #800180;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(128, 1, 128);">I wanted to phone the weaver immediately, but it was too late in the day.
I did call Gisele, the MUSEON staff member, who was most helpful. One
puzzle solved, but it yielded many more puzzles. The loom was acquired in
1980; where had it been in the meantime? Was it used in the exhibition on
gold yarn textiles before then? What did the message from the Tilburg
person have to do with the story? How was the Ambassador involved, besides
as the donor? We are going to try to find out.</span></span>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<span style="color: #800180;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(128, 1, 128);"><br /></span></span>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<span style="color: #800180;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(128, 1, 128);">This morning early I tried, without success, to call the weaver. Her
telephone was not receiving calls. Was she out of call credit? Was her
phone broken or lost? Was she not well? I called my trusted and kindly
becak driver and asked him to look in on her next time he drove by. He
promised, saying he would do so tomorrow. I will call him again the day
after tomorrow. </span></span>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<span style="color: #800180;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(128, 1, 128);"><br /></span></span>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<span style="color: #800180;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(128, 1, 128);">If I can somehow contact the weaver by telephone, I can ask her about her
wishes. Does she want her loom back? Would she prefer compensation in the
form of money or something else? Clearly, it is a 'stolen object' because,
for whatever reason, the owner did not get paid for it. And that matter
needs to be cleared up by hook or by crook.</span></span>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<span style="color: #800180;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(128, 1, 128);"><br /></span></span>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<span style="color: #800180;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(128, 1, 128);">Stay tuned....</span></span>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<span style="color: #800180;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(128, 1, 128);"><br /></span></span>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<span style="color: #800180;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(128, 1, 128);">18 July</span></span>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<span style="color: #800180;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(128, 1, 128);">The becak driver said that the weaver was out working in the fields. This
is harvest season. The neighbour would let her know that I was trying to
contact her.</span></span>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<span style="color: #800180;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(128, 1, 128);"><br /></span></span>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<span style="color: #800180;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(128, 1, 128);">Today the weaver picked up her phone when I called. She received the news
politely. I told her we were still trying to find out where the loom was
located between 1978 and 1980.</span></span>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<span style="color: #800180;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(128, 1, 128);"><br /></span></span>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<span style="color: #800180;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(128, 1, 128);">She said she did not need the loom back, but she would gratefully receive
money for it. I passed this news on to MUSEON and await their answer as to
how to proceed.</span></span>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<span style="color: #800180;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(128, 1, 128);"><br /></span></span>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<span style="color: #800180;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(128, 1, 128);">I let my becak driver know that his mission had been accomplished.</span></span>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<span style="color: #800180;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(128, 1, 128);"><br /></span></span>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<span style="color: #800180;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(128, 1, 128);">Stay tuned...</span></span>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<span style="color: #800180;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(128, 1, 128);"><br /></span></span>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<span style="color: #800180;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(128, 1, 128);">July 20</span></span>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<span style="color: #800180;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(128, 1, 128);">The last word is that the museum is pleased that Ompu si Markel knows
that her loom has been located and is being cared for well. I let them
know that Ompu si Markel's preference would be to be paid for her loom.
They are discussing the matter internally and also continuing to try to
find out what happened to the loom between 1978 and 1980 when it was
finally acquisitioned by the museum. I understand that this is not a
pleasant position for the museum to be in and they will want to know who
was responsible for the promise to the weaver and where things might have
gone wrong. By accepting the loom they have, through no fault of their
own, been placed in a position of responsibility. I hope their research
turns up the information that we are all looking for. We did not agree on
a deadline. I should probably go after that because things like this can
drag on for a long time, and the weaver is not getting any younger.</span></span>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<span style="color: #800180;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(128, 1, 128);"><br /></span></span>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<span style="color: #800180;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(128, 1, 128);">September 1</span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<span style="caret-color: rgb(128, 1, 128); color: #800180; text-indent: 0.55pt;">MUSEON has written to me with the news that an article appeared in the
Trouw newspaper on 4 July 1978 to announce the acquisition of the looms by
Dutch museums:</span>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<span style="caret-color: rgb(128, 1, 128); color: #800180; text-indent: 0.55pt;"><br /></span>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 14px; text-indent: 0px;"><span style="color: #800180;"> “<i>De Indonesische culturele attaché drs. Koesnadi Hardjasoemantri heeft
zondag de Ikat-weeftoestellen, waarmee weefsters uit Sumatra, Borneo en
Timor demonstraties hebben gegeven, geschonken aan het Tropenmuseum in
Amsterdam, het Museum voor Land- en Volkenkunde in Rotterdam, het
Volkenkundig Museum Nusantara te Delft, het Twents-Gelders Textielmuseum
in Enschede en het Museum voor het Onderwijs in Den Haag</i>.” </span></span>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<o:p><span style="color: #800180;"> </span></o:p>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<span style="color: #800180;"><o:p> [translation:" The ikat looms that the weavers from Sumatra, Borneo
and Timor used for their demonstrations were donated by </o:p><span style="text-indent: 0.733333px;">The Indonesian cultural attaché drs. Koesnadi Hardjasoemantri</span><span style="text-indent: 0.733333px;"> to the Tropenmuseum in Amsterdam, Museum voor Land- en Volkenkunde
in Rotterdam, Volkenkundig Museum Nusantara in Delft, the Twents-Gelders
Textile Museum in Enschede and the Museum voor het Onderwijs in the
Hague."]</span></span>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<span style="text-indent: 0.733333px;"><span style="color: #800180;"><br /></span></span>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<span style="text-indent: 0.733333px;"><span style="color: #800180;">This is important information. It means that the fault does not lie with
the Dutch museums; they simply acquired a donation through the Indonesian
Embassy. </span></span>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<span style="text-indent: 0.733333px;"><span style="color: #800180;"><br /></span></span>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<span style="text-indent: 0.733333px;"><span style="color: #800180;">But there are outstanding questions. </span></span>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<span style="text-indent: 0.733333px;"><span style="color: #800180;">Who promised the weavers compensation for their looms but subsequently
did not pay up and why not? </span></span>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<span style="text-indent: 0.733333px;"><span style="color: #800180;">A</span></span><span style="color: #800180; text-indent: 0.733333px;">nd why was the Batak loom not registered as part of the MUSEON collection until 1980? </span>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<span style="text-indent: 0.733333px;"><span style="color: #800180;">These questions will probably never be answered. Only one thing is really
clear: those least able to afford it were the ones who paid for 'the
gift'. </span></span>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<span style="text-indent: 0.733333px;"><span style="color: #800180;"><br /></span></span>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<span style="text-indent: 0.733333px;"><span style="color: #800180;">How that came about looks, on the face of it, to be a tale of power,
hierarchy, coloniality, status and possibly mischief or error, certainly neglect. </span></span>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<span style="text-indent: 0.733333px;"><span style="color: #800180;"><br /></span></span>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<span style="text-indent: 0.733333px;"><span style="color: #800180;">Funny how things come to light after 45 years.</span></span>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<span style="text-indent: 0.733333px;"><span style="color: #800180;"><br /></span></span>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<span style="text-indent: 0.733333px;"><span style="color: #800180;">September 6</span></span>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<span style="text-indent: 0.733333px;"><span style="color: #800180;">One question has been resolved. MUSEON has explained to me that the
official registration of the loom in the museum collection may have
occurred a bit behind schedule. It may have been acquired in 1978 but only
been officially acquisitioned in 1978. It seems that the loom was inspected in
the meantime.</span></span>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<span style="text-indent: 0.733333px;"><span style="color: #800180;"><br /></span></span>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<span style="text-indent: 0.733333px;"><span style="color: #800180;">October 17</span></span>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<span style="text-indent: 0.733333px;"><span style="color: #800180;">The past month has seen some exciting developments in regard to the Ompu
si Markel's loom. The very kind and clear-sighted curator of
MUSEON-Omniversum, Hub Kockelkorn, took the matter to heart. It is no
museum's pride to hold stolen objects and if the past can be rectified,
all the better. That a museum is unable to 'purchase' a museum object some
40 years after it was officially acquisitioned, makes good sense. Mr.
Kockelkorn proposed that Ompu si Markel supply a newly-woven ulos for the
museum under terms and conditions of sale that will represent a win-win for both
parties. I shared his proposal with Ompu si Market through a WhatsApp
call, and we made a plan for the three of us to meet through another
WhatsApp.</span></span>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<span style="text-indent: 0.733333px;"><span style="color: #800180;"><br /></span></span>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<span style="text-indent: 0.733333px;"><span style="color: #800180;">It was a successful meeting. Ompu SiMarkel and Hub Kockelkorn were both
able to state their positions and felt mutually understood. Ompu SiMarkel
was willing to weave an ulos for the museum. The down payment has been
sent. </span></span>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<span style="text-indent: 0.733333px;"><span style="color: #800180;"><br /></span></span>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<span style="text-indent: 0.733333px;"><span style="color: #800180;">As soon as she receives it, Ompu SiMarkel will be able to buy the yarn for her
ulos. She was no longer able to make the 'pusuk robung'
type that she wove in 1978 (the supplementary weft patterning is
hard on her eyes), but she offered to make a 'mangiring', the traditional
cloth that is a specialty of her village. Hub preferred a red one to a
black one (it comes in two varieties) and Ompu SiMarkel will do her best.
I do hope for a happy ending for this story. May it end with pride for both
sides.</span></span>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<span style="text-indent: 0.733333px;"><span style="color: #800180;"><br /></span></span>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<span style="text-indent: 0.733333px;"><span style="color: #800180;"><br /></span></span>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<span style="text-indent: 0.733333px;"><span style="color: #800180;">November 11</span></span>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<span style="text-indent: 0.733333px;"><span style="color: #800180;">Last Saturday, market day in Tarutung, Ompu SiMarkel purchased yarn for
her museum ulos. Yesterday, when I contacted her daughter, she told me
that the ulos was finished (this is customary in Tarutung; weavers spend a
week on their ulos to prepare it for market a week later) and had sent to the twiner to make the patterned edging. She wants to have it
ready to send to The Hague next week. I can hardly wait to see it.</span></span>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<span style="text-indent: 0.733333px;"><span style="color: #800180;"><br /></span></span>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<span style="text-indent: 0.733333px;"><span style="color: #800180;"><br /></span></span>
</p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<span style="text-indent: 0.733333px;">December 13</span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;"><span style="text-indent: 0.733333px;">A week ago I contacted the museum to find out if the cloth had arrived in the mail. It hadn't. I had another look at the proof of shipping and found nothing hopeful there: no insurance, no track and trace, no request to have the package returned to sender if it could not be delivered. I became upset again. Could the fates really be conspiring to have Ompu Si Markel fall victim to bureaucracy again? I started to devise strategies and Plans B. (These took me an entire night of thinking....) but the next day when I called Ompu Si Markel's daughter, Esther, she showed me a second proof of shipping that had track and trace. It turns out that the package is hung up in Dutch customs. So we have to sit tight, be patient, and pray. I have lost textiles in the Dutch postal service before....</span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<span style="text-indent: 0.733333px;"><br /></span>
</p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;"><span style="text-indent: 0.733333px;">December 16</span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;"><span style="text-indent: 0.733333px;">According to the track and trace, the package was ready to deliver to the museum but had not been accepted by the museum. I immediately contacted the curator who tracked down what had happened. Apparently a letter had been sent to the museum requesting payment of the customs invoice. It was not paid on time, so the package is now being returned to Indonesia. Needless to say, we are all very disappointed. We have to try again and do it better. But the most immediate priority is to make sure the cloth does not get lost on the way back to the weaver. I suggested that the weaver's daughter go to the post office immediately on Monday to let them know that they are waiting for the return of the package. Argh.</span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
<br />
</p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">December 20</p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">The past few days have been a scramble to try to figure out what happened and to try to ensure that the package does not get lost on its way back to Indonesia -- also to figure out how to send it better the next time (if there is a next time).</p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">The curator obtained interesting information from the 'complaints' line. It turns out that the Post Office had used an email address that it had 'on hand' but was not the email address of the museum and was not even a valid address! This was why the museum did not receive the request from Postnl to pay the import duties. It is odd that the Post Office did not use my phone number, which was listed on the package. All very frustrating and evidence of a refusal to accept responsibility. There is something rotten in our postal system. Clearly.</p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">I have also been in touch a lot with Ompu Si Markel's daughter to coach her through thisl, making sure she visit the Post Office in Tarutung, that they have her number, that they will call her if/when the package comes back. She was concerned that she had done something wrong at her end when she sent the package, so I had to reassure her that the problem lay with The Netherlands. Sad for them, as they had looked forward to the final payment before Christmas.</p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">
4 January</p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">It was feeling critical. The package should have arrived back in Indonesia by now. I wrote to Ompu Si Markel's daughter, Esther, and asked whether she had been able to visit the Post Office again to ask whether the package had arrived. She wrote back immediately. Yes, she had been to the Tarutung Post Office and they had told her to rest easy, that they would contact her and tell her to pick it up when the package arrived. </p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">Then it seemed to me that the time had come to pose the next, rather challenging questions: How long should we wait? And what will we do when we have given up hope?</p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">This question also received an almost direct response, and it was very different from what I expected. It was a photograph of the package.</p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjezlUktazVW1rDC6FmjjdF9MZEtt_C6dPRY0G_aSTfQ2lvQt-c1Jf_5V9JDic460Fad1IWues490FuiX1_zn58J3e0rWx_tXJHIGZIgZkcfYqTHcGOybl6OWh1TZ-_etOMMLQOzzeObtRXZ3O-TnUIt1mDYva4osGiQbyewa9CAJhK6atHZoAZxdzHmBU/s1280/WhatsApp%20Image%202024-01-04%20at%2009.56.47.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="373" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjezlUktazVW1rDC6FmjjdF9MZEtt_C6dPRY0G_aSTfQ2lvQt-c1Jf_5V9JDic460Fad1IWues490FuiX1_zn58J3e0rWx_tXJHIGZIgZkcfYqTHcGOybl6OWh1TZ-_etOMMLQOzzeObtRXZ3O-TnUIt1mDYva4osGiQbyewa9CAJhK6atHZoAZxdzHmBU/w664-h373/WhatsApp%20Image%202024-01-04%20at%2009.56.47.jpeg" width="664" /></a></div><br /><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;"><br /></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;"><br /></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;"><br /></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;"><br /></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;"><br /></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">"I have just picked it up," she wrote.</p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;"><br /></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">Halleluja! The New Year had just been rung in! I wrote to the curator immediately and he joined the chorus. "Now for the second attempt," he wrote.</p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;"><br /></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">I know that this responsibility will again fall to me. How to do it better the second time? I am still pondering my strategy. Uppermost in my mind is making a complaint to the Dutch post office, but I have to set my ire aside and tackle this properly.</p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;"><br /></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">16 January</p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">The curator has requested that the shipping fee be transferred to Indonesia. When the weaver receives it, she will re-send the package. This time we will follow the track-and-trace and make sure that we get the package as expeditiously as possible. For now, we wait for the museum admin and the banks. In the interim we researched other means of shipping, but there are no others in little Tarutung.</p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;"><br /></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;"><br /></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">16 February</p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">Well, the weaver re-sent the package by post and the Indonesian track and trace said that it arrived in The Netherlands on the 4th of February. By today, it had not been picked up by the Dutch track-and-trace system. I called customer service and they said that they had no information on the package. Obviously, I found my shirt once again in a knot. How was it possible that all initiatives for this weaver could end up being stuck under such dark clouds?</p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;"><br /></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;">Only minutes later, the curator wrote to say that he had received the billing from customs, and he had paid it immediately. Now we have to sit tight and wait for it to be delivered. Fingers crossed.</p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.55pt;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiocNxWSufvcg74O5qAl-K03GuUw60h0akZfu4o_OW4-BQx30SDxzN-723Cr4cyFIrJwMgtECj7yRDmzm9viZ1sDViGwtwLwIUGe1mrDI8laO0Mpt8OYyX--13hOJUv-hrZF-hdRNi9RFYDkPPl2xSSwrzca9heZpHpvUbQXaKRprhhS-jM2C9KEpc3L8o" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1202" data-original-width="888" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiocNxWSufvcg74O5qAl-K03GuUw60h0akZfu4o_OW4-BQx30SDxzN-723Cr4cyFIrJwMgtECj7yRDmzm9viZ1sDViGwtwLwIUGe1mrDI8laO0Mpt8OYyX--13hOJUv-hrZF-hdRNi9RFYDkPPl2xSSwrzca9heZpHpvUbQXaKRprhhS-jM2C9KEpc3L8o" width="177" /></a></div> <p></p>
<div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">22 February,</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Is it possible?? Should I pinch myself? The curator writes to say that the cloth has arrived! Hallelujah! This story nears its end. The weaver will now receive her last installment. And the past will have been straightened out. We can shift gears towards the future. Hallelujah! </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVXs8b3cItCqOUOa3zyld8U_OHvdtgEa3s21GR8Zz4hv8HWFPtverqV5wzmNdZP69RB-NzHd0-P9h2YzW7SCw_2ApbgwIVdNhw_9a-_WfIydHVz5Qn4RJDZDssQMKCAHff3SFcLwLVWYsHvP_1YA8dchTj9WnmIvMCYuhlplq_uNE3C8GeULdsE8uT50g/s2048/WhatsApp%20Image%202024-02-21%20at%2010.10.04.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1152" data-original-width="2048" height="317" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVXs8b3cItCqOUOa3zyld8U_OHvdtgEa3s21GR8Zz4hv8HWFPtverqV5wzmNdZP69RB-NzHd0-P9h2YzW7SCw_2ApbgwIVdNhw_9a-_WfIydHVz5Qn4RJDZDssQMKCAHff3SFcLwLVWYsHvP_1YA8dchTj9WnmIvMCYuhlplq_uNE3C8GeULdsE8uT50g/w563-h317/WhatsApp%20Image%202024-02-21%20at%2010.10.04.jpeg" width="563" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><br /></div>Sandrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13817899796223662652noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9112370903337891682.post-70321829113546061842023-02-10T10:42:00.003+01:002023-06-11T20:40:32.745+02:00A Batak Photograph I took in Silalahi in 1986<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7od5t_yzbCHEugr1JI09yJ4JIg69EtQ9NTtU11X_q-xuDITTnygTAkjICBriAS0CC0Uw5unske88T2lOvRTHy4m9GWwptWY3BzB1a_AWceEuxFR6NPdTIfLRw7gOGcA3TVPUazxpufe97A319NFayTBXwEs1ddHWGL3HnGgBP0ZVkmg3onuunF8dc/s1720/Screen%20Shot%202023-02-10%20at%2016.13.14.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1418" data-original-width="1720" height="486" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7od5t_yzbCHEugr1JI09yJ4JIg69EtQ9NTtU11X_q-xuDITTnygTAkjICBriAS0CC0Uw5unske88T2lOvRTHy4m9GWwptWY3BzB1a_AWceEuxFR6NPdTIfLRw7gOGcA3TVPUazxpufe97A319NFayTBXwEs1ddHWGL3HnGgBP0ZVkmg3onuunF8dc/w589-h486/Screen%20Shot%202023-02-10%20at%2016.13.14.png" width="589" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">This Batak photograph graces the hompage of the renewed website of <a href="https://www.fashionactnow.org" target="_blank">Fashion Act Now</a>. It is from my book, <u>Legacy in cloth, Batak textiles of Indonesia</u> (p. 138). </span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">It was taken in North Sumatra, Indonesia in 1986, and specifically in a village on the North shore of Lake Toba called Silalahi. I snapped it quickly because I was so excited to see the regional version of the textile called ‘bintang maratur’ (ordered stars) typical of that region. I had seen the ikat patterning and textile layout in century-old museum collections but nobody was making it anymore. The textile tradition of the Batak people is in sharp decline.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Like most varieties of Batak textiles, this textile has become extinct. The Batak people living around the edge of Lake Toba have (perhaps I should write ‘had’) an ancient weaving tradition. Based on weaving vocabulary and the technical repertory, it is believed to be one of the oldest in the Indonesian archipelago. At one time a tremendous number of ikat patterns, expressed in manifold variations in the different villages around the huge crater lake, characterized their tradition, but since colonial times that variety has shrunk as has the quality of the textile work. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">This is not the fault of the weavers. Despite often being on the receiving end of blame for the decline in their tradition, in fact they are the heroes of their story. It is by dint of their ingenuity, technical prowess and allegiance to their craft that they have continually been able to adapt the fruits of their looms to the vicissitudes of the market and changing social circumstances. They have learned to deal with altered materials including yarns, dyes and loom parts, and have also altered their patterns to be able to weave faster. This has inevitably meant larger and less complex patterns and letting go of some of the exacting rules taught by their ancestors to ensure high quality. They have developed divisions of labour and the speed of their work is spectacular, but after a while even their amazing creativity and perseverance has not been able to win against the forces of the market. I have witnessed weavers in tears because the cost of yarn had become higher than their earnings from weaving it. They had no choice but to put down their looms. This is traumatic for them because they lose their expertise and social position and are no longer able to supplement the family income. It is not their choice to stop weaving; they are forced. Many of them burn their looms in hopelessness and discourage their daughters from taking up the craft. Poverty is a major reason why their tradition is dying. The failure on the part of government to protect them from competition from (semi-)mechanical looms that take over their designs and then sell their ersatz products at a lower price is partly to blame for their destitution. None of this is the fault of the weavers. They are being sacrificed by the system. Their skill and aesthetic system is being obliterated by modernization: industrialization, colonialism, capitalism, and the incessant exhortation to wear Western garments and fit into urban culture. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">There are amazing stories of weaver resistance here and there around the world. <a href="https://www.lifegate.com/guatemala-maya-women-textiles?fbclid=IwAR3qDvW5lhGamTpKpyUMpQyijfTRTBi-6QKnbWPYGh02lf8PLzyb7pVI4Dk" target="_blank">This article</a> about Guatemalan weavers explicitly points the finger at the fashion industry to explain their resistance. <a href="https://www.mongabay.co.id/2013/04/15/mama-aleta-berjuang-mempertahankan-lingkungan-melawan-tambang-dengan-menenun/" target="_blank">An Indonesian story</a> reveals how Mama Aleta in West Timor used her Molo loom and her weaving community to protect her natural environment from planned mining operations. Her story fits the familiar theme of indigenous people standing up for clean water, ancestral lands and access to the forests for natural dye and other materials. These are people unwilling to be erased and to live in sacrifice zones. So far no leaders in Batak weaving communities have stood up to organize resistance. And their tradition continues to decline.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Many initiatives are afoot to further commercialize, professionalize, speed up, commodify and fashionalize the Batak weaving tradition. The computer has been brought into the mix to ‘invent new Batak motifs’ and extensive efforts are trying to fashionalize the indigenous aesthetic. This has led to the introduction of yet more (semi-)mechanical looms in the region. Designers (many of them male) and university students have blithely assumed the weaver community’s prerogative to design their own tradition. Collectors have scouted for the last remaining heritage pieces of cloth and sold most of them to buyers from outside the country and in urban settings. Ironically, these collectors are often celebrated as ‘aficionados of indigenous craft’. The youth have lost touch with the wealth that their tradition used to embody. Modern versions of their heritage tradition have become, like fashion, items to parade, wear, use decoratively and then discard where they have permanence as waste because they are made with synthetic fibres.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">It is, in short, a tale of enclosures, to use a word from the commons. The first wave of industrial and economic enclosures took place a century and a half ago with the introduction of synthetic dyes and commercial yarns and knowledge of natural dyes and fibres went into sharp decline. The second powerful wave of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enclosure" target="_blank">enclosure</a>s occurred with the introduction of (semi-) mechanical looms against which the weavers were unable to compete. We are now in the third wave of enclosures in which computers and professional designers are assuming the weavers' role as designers. It is as though amnesia has struck and all have forgotten that it was the weavers themselves who invented and grew their brilliant tradition. Now they have been relegated to labour positions and become alienated from their own tradition. They have been squeezed out of the social position from which they constructed that tradition. This textile history is also about the loss of women's space. Yet they are the authors of weaving techniques and designs that are unique in the world. The textile tradition that is taking over from them in the name of ‘preserving their tradition,’ especially for tourism, is anything but unique. It represents decline and impoverishment and the kind of transformation that is taking place everywhere. Ho hum.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"> This why I wanted to capture the image in Silalahi of a woman wearing a beloved textile from times gone by. I am sorry that I was not able to obtain the name of the wearer and she is probably no longer with us today. If anybody can identify her, please let me know. I would like to publish her name for posterity to accompany this photograph.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">Follow-up:</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">C.F. Sidjabat contacted the writer of this blog in April 2023 because he knew the woman depicted in the photograph: Nai Jainus, Nyonya Sidebang, boru Simanjorang.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p>Sandrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13817899796223662652noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9112370903337891682.post-44953536782107293502023-01-31T02:22:00.006+01:002023-05-11T19:46:21.621+02:00Pekalongan 2023: Where Batik Lives<p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif">Yesterday Pekalongan’s magic emerged for me again. This time it was in the meeting room of the Batik Museum.</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif">When the batik maker Lim Po Him spoke I realized I was once again in the heart of passion. Afterwards Pak Sapuan explained that Lim Po Him frequently cries when she talks about her batik enterprise, a kind of trademark! He asked her whether she was crying from happiness or sadness or pain. It was unclear; it was all jumbled together. It seemed to be pure passion: gratitude, an expression of her great struggle, her success, the meaning of her entire life.</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"> </span></span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">“I have been able to live because I sell batik.” She explained that her father began the enterprise out of desperation and he started from ‘0’; he had to learn batik from scratch. (Tears of empathy). He died when she was just a teenager (tTears of sadness and shock) and she took over. She bore the responsibility for keeping it going (Tears to mark the struggle and the fear). Everything she knew was from him; he was her teacher (Tears of nostalgia and acknowledgement). Now she had white hair and she was grateful that she was still able to make batik. (Tears of gratitude.) Endlessly grateful. Even though it was difficult to survive. (More tears to mark her struggle.) Despite corona. She had managed to get through the pandemic with her workshop intact. (Tears of gratitude and pain.) Batik was her entire life: her upbringing, her relationship with her father, her avenue to learn about life, her repository of passion, aesthetic and skill, her pride, her success, her love. Oh yes, and her income. It was not a ‘business’ in any cut and dried ‘rational’ sense. It was her entire life.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">This is the magic of batik in Pekalongan. I am not writing about the Pekalongan where batik is the centre of trade. I write about the Pekalongan where batik is inscribed on the hearts of the ones who wield and guide the wax pen (canting).<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Pak Sapuan spoke with a kind of meta-voice. He revealed that that only five batik workshops where the wax pen is deployed (rather than the print production) had survived corona. It was a quiet fact. He did not complain, but this fact told me enough about the pain. Even here in the batik centre of the world! My heart dropped down to my sandals. It had been a ‘lockdown’ of craft. Lim Po Him’s words had revealed how profoundly hearts had been broken, how unwillingly the traditions severed, the immensity of the loss.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">The first time I met Pak Sapuan was in the home of Ibu Fathiyah, about 12 years ago. That was when I encountered the vibrancy with which a textile tradition can live in a community. Ibu Fath had invited batik makers and they brought their favourite ancient batiks with them. Everybody discussed them avidly and shared stories of their families as batik makers. I referenced that meeting during my talk: “I grew up in Canada. There clothing and textiles are what one buys, wears and throws away. They are dead. Here in Pekalongan, they are alive. They are treasured and discussed. They bring their owners in touch with their forefathers and their histories. Here people live through their cloth.” That was the first time I experienced Pekalongan’s magic. Pak Sapuan referenced my words. They had struck a chord. Some people recorded Lim Po Him while she was speaking. She was voicing the essence of batik in Pekalongan. It was an historic moment.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEswSpioAl2EaYgqvxS2KgKa4pXtbOai8oOisVMW_oRY7B1-Mldj8gbux4DeP9KgiWi3xGdWMyli1O0OliGzUXE6B1x1661R0AoTUL1hQPVXL4aotBlryYy7itQoneIaAXPxkGTRY5UrB_IiY2Y1MXtCx39wZzlxrazgYjZaujpv0v7bm6t3ezgmuy/s4032/IMG_6360.JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEswSpioAl2EaYgqvxS2KgKa4pXtbOai8oOisVMW_oRY7B1-Mldj8gbux4DeP9KgiWi3xGdWMyli1O0OliGzUXE6B1x1661R0AoTUL1hQPVXL4aotBlryYy7itQoneIaAXPxkGTRY5UrB_IiY2Y1MXtCx39wZzlxrazgYjZaujpv0v7bm6t3ezgmuy/w300-h400/IMG_6360.JPG" width="300" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Afterwards a young man came to me and said that there was also an exhibition of promising new batik talent in the museum. He took me to see two of his pieces on display. Such extraordinary talent! Falahy Mohamad is an architect, a textile design student devoted to his batik tradition, an artist learning about natural dyes. His batik deployed intricate geometry combined with the ‘buketan’ or flower bouquets that, since colonial times, have come to characterize the batik of the Pekalongan area. Most important, he is an aspiring batik maker and he faces an economic system that is hostile to art, particularly of the craft nature. He asked me for advice and I felt the enormity of his question. Two young colleagues were with him facing the same challenge and hoping for a golden bullet.<o:p></o:p></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh411HuNCVMVoBi98AzhC2wHIG0fOojCLscAoa6Z8EseEzwIpAGQAwJ2kOC7Npl2DDrvrbgmYcCQkNeZ6yGrDuynjo_r0-5s9ufx_4OEybdiOLOtDN0viTFI4LR6t490FuBtdQ3cmihmouG_-eY_eOuxwwFd9hY-m0VyDboefOjDASlXua5WPvxSfFV/s4032/IMG_6361.JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh411HuNCVMVoBi98AzhC2wHIG0fOojCLscAoa6Z8EseEzwIpAGQAwJ2kOC7Npl2DDrvrbgmYcCQkNeZ6yGrDuynjo_r0-5s9ufx_4OEybdiOLOtDN0viTFI4LR6t490FuBtdQ3cmihmouG_-eY_eOuxwwFd9hY-m0VyDboefOjDASlXua5WPvxSfFV/w300-h400/IMG_6361.JPG" width="300" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I suggested that they band together, make a community, survive through collective strength and action. Going it alone is not an answer. Later when I was interviewed for the batik television channel I was clear that a tradition that was ancient and vibrant should not be allowed by a government to suffer and die because of an economic blip. The young man’s appeal rests heavily on my heart. I know that an art form cannot survive on alms and donations and an occasional sale; it has to be part of the fabric of society. Is his only avenue for survival the high-end art market for rich collectors? Both of his batik pieces on display took two years to make and they reveal spectacular talent. Artists such as this deserve a prize and a path, not looming destitution. These are the treasures of humankind. More of Lim Po Him’s tears should be of joy</span>.</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Thank you to Arief Dirhamsyah of Pekalongan Heritage and the Pekalongan Batik Museum for putting on the informal discussion about batik on Sunday 29 January, and for including me in it. One of Stephanie Belfrage's batiks was in the Museum show about the Chinese tradition of batik in Pekalongan. I had returned this batik to the public collection, at her behest, some 7 years earlier. For a more complete account of this history, see MJA Nashir's <a href="https://nashirmja.blogspot.com/2023/02/kembali-ke-museum-batik-merayakan.html" target="_blank">writing</a>. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p></p>Sandrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13817899796223662652noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9112370903337891682.post-50842633823452975292022-02-06T15:13:00.001+01:002022-02-06T15:13:20.352+01:00My Grandmother's Sarung<p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"> Uli shared a story about her grandmother’s sarung that will be of interest to consumers in the West who are trying to curtail their clothing consumption. Aside from the complicating theme of coloniality, the story is parallel to ones you would hear in the West, and that should come as no surprise. In Uli’s small North Sumatran village the people are also having to contend with planned obsolescence and an expanding garbage heap. However, the colonial theme makes the Asian tale more poignant.<br /> <br />“Everything I wear has a history and has undergone a long journey,” Uli wrote in her Facebook posting of 25 January 2022, and she went on to discuss how her grandmother's activities as a weaver inspired her:<br /> <br />“35 or 37 years ago, before I started school, I watched my grandmother weave this sarung. I watched her starch the yarn for this sarung. Watched her wind the warp and design it herself. I watched her count the yarns during weaving and calculate the gold yarn she would use, which some 30 years ago was difficult to acquire and expensive too.I accompanied her when she purchased ready-made fabric to append to the top of this sarung. I watched her baste this sarung with the sewing machine. I watched her iron this sarung with a charcoal iron on a rice box in the village named ‘Parhombanan I’.<br /> <br />At that time, a sarung woven by hand was not considered to be 'acceptable clothing'. And I don’t remember seeing my grandmother wear this sarung. It is just that she once said to me [in the Batak language], ‘When you are grown up, you will inherit all of my weavings.’ <br /> <br /><span lang="NL">…<br /></span><span lang="NL"> <br /></span>I liked to watch my grandmother tidy the house, make the bed and fold cloth. I remember the knob on my grandmother’s linen cupboard was like a jade-green flat button. I liked the way she ironed cloth with both hands before she put it away in the cupboard. <br /> <br />…<br /> <br />I didn’t envision that I would one day become a weaver. I got a good education and a good career outside the village. Returning to the village was impossible to my thinking and [foreign] to anything I felt. It was impossible. But who knows life?<br /> <br />The fact is I became a weaver at a time when most of my grandmother’s weaving equipment had been looted by her husband’s in-law. She ordered me to take the equipment back again. She also told me to fetch several ulos which had been taken from the closet in secret. But I didn’t do it, because, you may believe it or not, all things will return to me in a way which is not expected. It was my inheritance which was promised to me when I was little. I was to own it when I became an adult.<br /> <br />And I certainly own it because all this time, there is not a single cloth or piece of weaving equipment from my grandmother, which ‘fits’ anyone other than myself.<br /> <br />*****<br /> <br />Then I got enlightened. <br /> <br />I and my grandmother were already clothing visionaries. Long before anyone had thought of using weavings as daily wear, she had already thought of this, although she wasn’t confident wearing it. At a time when people were drowning in the flow of consumer fashion, I thought of making my own clothes and making clothes to fit my body, rather than making me fit the clothes.<br /> <br /> … </span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">One thing that I am aware of is that clothing made from the best fibres lasts longer than cheap clothing. Take my blouse for example. I wore this blouse when I graduated 20 years ago. The material was expensive and the cloth was lovely. This year I purchased cloth that was cheaper than the selling price 20 years ago, and I hadn’t even worn it three times, only twice, and the cloth was already pilling and tearing, and had to be tossed because indeed the cloth was meant to be worn only a few times and couldn’t be let out or taken in; the idea was that the blouse was only to be worn once. <br /> <br />This is the way textile factories increase production and people keep changing their clothing to conform to the demands of fashions and trends.“<br />_____________</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br />After reading her story, I asked Uli what she meant by ‘acceptable clothing' and she explained: In the past, and still today, people didn’t consider that (hand)woven cloth would be worn on a daily basis, let alone to church. Because handwoven cloth was perceived as old-fashioned. Or they didn’t feel confident wearing it.”<br /><o:p></o:p> <br />I found this rather interesting, given that Batak traditional dress was their own handwoven textiles and these were worn everywhere and all the time prior to the colonial era. O</span><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">f course Uli was aware of this. She pinpointed the change in thinking, not surprisingly, to colonialism and conversion to Christianity. Since then, “people look at what is worn in the West as what must also be worn in the Batak area. Most elderly Batak are even of the opinion that the name ‘Batak’ is old-fashioned and the name ‘West’ is advanced.”</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">_______________</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">It seems that the 'advanced West' has undermined culture. </span></p><div style="text-align: left;"><hr size="1" style="text-align: left;" width="33%" /><div id="edn1"><p class="MsoEndnoteText" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><br /></p></div></div>Sandrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13817899796223662652noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9112370903337891682.post-34857447422595540602022-01-24T11:20:00.004+01:002022-01-25T09:39:13.613+01:00Uli / Beauty<p><span style="font-size: medium;"> <span style="font-family: arial;">Uli, whose name means ‘beautiful’, is a lovely Indonesian woman of the Batak ethnic group who is thoughtfully sorting through her relationship to clothes. She is a skilled weaver who tries to earn a living by making the traditional clothing of her ethnic group. As she whiles away hours every day throwing weft between warp yarns, she ponders her challenges and then posts her thoughts on Facebook in the evening when her mother and daughter are asleep. </span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">It is fascinating to read her take on fashion. Here in the Northern nations we are pummeled by a barrage of fashion advertising that incessantly invites us to enhance our beauty and achieve our individual dreams through the purchase of new designs and styles. Uli is not exempt from this bombardment, even in North Sumatara, but on top of that she is situated in a cultural and temporal crossroads that influences her thoughts and choices.</span><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></o:p><span style="font-family: arial;">She begins her clothing memories in her post on 17 January 2022 with what she learned at junior highschool – no doubt an element of the Dutch curriculum brought to the region during the colonial era: tall, slender people can wear bright colours and large patterns while heavyset people are better off wearing dark colours and small patterns.</span><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: arial;">She perceived of herself as being on the heavy side, not overly so, but enough that her mother bought clothing for her with small patterns and dark colours. When she reflects on her teen years, it is as though she had been “made to wear hotel curtains or bedspreads from the 19</span><sup style="font-family: arial;">th</sup><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: arial;">century”. She grew up in a small Batak village far from a big city.</span><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">When she eventually left the village to find work and earn her own living, she developed a new relationship to clothes. She got caught up in the world of fashion. Not only did she have access to a variety of styles but she had the means to purchase them! That was when “all clothes fit my body”. “…hot pants, ¾ length trousers, long straight pipes, bellbottoms, standard, everything looked good.” Uli used the word ‘tangkup’ to describe her appearance, a Batak word used to denote the “fitting” appearance of clothing being worn. “Whether a midi, mini or long dress, it was ‘tangkup’.” She regarded herself as blessed because she had the quality of 'tangkup'.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Now that Uli is older and has returned to her village, she has become critical of fashion, which she sees as “making us all dependent.” Consequently “we no longer see our bodies as beautiful in accordance with the intent of the Almighty,” but “we see our bodies as full of problems... Because of fashion and also imported beliefs, we see ourselves as having bodies full of problems and so we leave everything to the opinions of clothing designers.” She knows this from personal experience. She used to see her calves and thighs as “too big” even though she knows they are beautiful. She felt the need to hide them and they became “white from sunlight deprivation.” She also has “full breasts and in accordance with the dictates of fashion and fanatical Christianity, I covered myself up like a nun.” <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Uli’s frustrations with the world of clothing run deep. She is wedged in among a variety of forces. One is mechanization. She learned how to weave as a child, in the tradition of her ethnic group, and today she makes the traditional clothing of her ethnic group. These are oblong pieces of cloth that are hung over the shoulder or wrapped around the waist. However, in the neighbouring town there are mechanical looms, brought in during the colonial era, which produce variants of her laborious and time-consuming hand loomed work much faster and at one fifth the price. </span><span style="font-family: arial;">Competing with a mechanical loom is no recipe for well being for a hand weaver.</span><span style="font-family: arial;"> It drags the price of textiles down. Uli’s work is vastly underpaid and she barely scrapes by.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">But that isn’t all. The fashion system, she observes, has been “colonizing them” for a long time. “We live accordance with fashion trends. Fashion becomes ‘expired clothing’ because of the style [which becomes outdated]. [The fashion purveyors] are the ones who determine which [styles] are viable and which should be thrown out” even though “Every 30 years, old clothing styles become trendy again…”. One senses how difficult it is for Uli to eke a living in the midst of the external fashion forces over which she has no control. <span style="color: #050505;">For her as a weaver of clothing, this is devastating. </span>Fashion “makes many people, especially Batak people like me, reluctant to wear [our traditional clothing].” It whittles away her market.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Even in the world of traditional textiles, there are competing trends. Hip wrappers can be worn in the styles of the neighbouring ethnic groups, Minangkabau, Javanese, Malay, all of them considered more fashionable than the Batak style. Uli recounts how she once spent an entire day learning from her mother how to wrap her hipcloth in the Batak way. “We say that wearing our [traditional clothing] is complicated. Yes, in the beginning it is very complicated. But in the end wearing a sarung isn’t as complicated as wearing a dress with buttons, which is often very tight. If you buy a dress in the style and size worn by the masses, it often feels like you are wearing someone else’s clothes.” At some point Uli was struck by the absurdity of it all. “Why would we sell our own weavings, which are more beautiful and better made, for a low price to buy factory clothing which is expensive?” She compared this kind of irrational behaviour to selling her Indonesian chickens to purchase Australian eggs, and only because the Australian eggs were imports and therefore had the allure of being somehow better. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhv8D9R2fWwvVQ_6vgNUbQR7lXqbwwFBPTBdMuMJmYmtdgGNnwOAQjGXDvyPWMtdR13RWxPlz6uQ3QrH3ULnZDGMivZAZf9ug5x9WmYl6NOyqtiilLYyDwVcbfEICJu7Y-gaLtoeET9eVK7rfIsVv9jyEgBizXB9HaeixtMyJLmjiLThgFX5pV9B7zp=s2048" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="2048" height="313" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhv8D9R2fWwvVQ_6vgNUbQR7lXqbwwFBPTBdMuMJmYmtdgGNnwOAQjGXDvyPWMtdR13RWxPlz6uQ3QrH3ULnZDGMivZAZf9ug5x9WmYl6NOyqtiilLYyDwVcbfEICJu7Y-gaLtoeET9eVK7rfIsVv9jyEgBizXB9HaeixtMyJLmjiLThgFX5pV9B7zp=w313-h313" width="313" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Uli has chosen to wear the fruits <br />of her own loom to Church</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Now Uli has chosen to wear the fruits of her own hand loom to Church on Sundays instead of a purchased dress. She noted the progression in her thinking: “… after I started to weave, and read many perspectives about weaving, about heritage textiles of Nusantara, I discovered that the right way to dress was the way our ancestors dressed. They spin, weave textiles for all occasions, and suitable for all circumstances; it is the strength of the patterns, fibres, that they are able to handle nature’s elements and are so durable that they can be passed on to the next generation. Therefore, these are the clothes that are appropriate for these tough economic times. Moreover, clothing that is not cut and sewn highlights the ‘tangkup’ side of every person.” <o:p></o:p></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"></span></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgu3k7v-zihRCD14v2bwj_D9aHOY7FOE2oYcDaSbjR9tZZIR54QNzNreVTKI3UKtz1YSCCYDaSW33VpWmvEeh0bEfEHXbo-dPw0dF4S2t2wL3F-T6QEDP7rONia1kvF1FcdsWt_DAJNoitJGloxIQcil0VOoxGnNjpCD3juJ2dkQS0Z3iL9fnVATKHp=s650" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="562" data-original-width="650" height="554" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgu3k7v-zihRCD14v2bwj_D9aHOY7FOE2oYcDaSbjR9tZZIR54QNzNreVTKI3UKtz1YSCCYDaSW33VpWmvEeh0bEfEHXbo-dPw0dF4S2t2wL3F-T6QEDP7rONia1kvF1FcdsWt_DAJNoitJGloxIQcil0VOoxGnNjpCD3juJ2dkQS0Z3iL9fnVATKHp=w640-h554" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Uli took a photograph of her lap showing a close-up of her <br />fine weaving. She explained that she is using <i>kain</i> and<br /><i>kebaya</i>, her traditional dress, to express her opposition to the <br />industrialisation of her weaving tradition and the <br />garment industry.</span> <br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Uli gave her </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">writing the title, ‘tangkup’ and explained that it denotes ‘fitting clothing’. She had been blessed with the quality of ‘tangkup clothing’, she noted – although there was nothing exceptional about her birth that had augured this good fortune. ‘Tangkup’ means that “I and the clothing I wear are mutually enhancing”. ‘Tangkup’ is not about the quality of the clothing per se, because “if anybody else wears my clothes they may suddenly no longer be nice to look at.”</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">I find this word 'tangkup' interesting and sense that it offers a glimpse into the traditional world of Batak dress. It seems to denote the combination of wearer and clothing. The emphasis is not on the material item. Uli’s perspective reminded me of the words of a Javanese photographer (MJA Nashir) who explained to me years ago that when some people wear clothes, regardless of the quality of the clothes, they look nice, while others don’t look nice regardless of the beauty of their clothing. This was a new perspective on clothing for me at the time and I wondered if there was a spiritual dimension to this talent. When I asked Uli she said she was not aware of a spiritual quality but she thought that charisma and grace figured in the nature of ‘tangkup’. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">It strikes me that as we, in the North, search for ways to make our clothing systems relevant once more, and less harmful to people and the physical and animal environment, we might gain from Uli’s insights, quandaries and challenges. The word ‘tangkup’ in the Batak language also denotes the ‘capture of objects and concepts’. May we ‘tangkup’ the Batak perspective on grace and charisma in dress. As an aspiration it holds a promise of beauty. And may the Batak clothing system survive to demonstrate the concept of ‘tangkup’ – even wile this may entail an overhaul of the fashion industry. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">....</span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"> Postscript</span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="NL"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I show Uli my blog, what I have made of her Facebook post, to request her permission to publish it on line. She is concerned that her criticism of the West (the Netherlands in the colonial era) is harsh and she asks me to receive her words in the spirit of friendship. She knows how hard it is for her when people criticize her country.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I reassure Uli that her words are not too radical and that we at Fashion Act Now are all about reforming the Fashion industry. Moreover, the fashion industry is multinational and not perceived as being owned by a single country. Currently it operates as a cancer throughout the world. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I point out how important it is that we, in the West, become more aware of the ills of the fashion industry in other regions of the world and that this explains why we are so happy with her posts. The industry is already much, much, much too large and is not concerned with other dress systems, except perhaps to exploit them.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Uli immediately understands my perspective. “The problem is that up until now, in the Batak area, the West has been the model of what clothing should be. Even if the clothing is produced in China or Korea. And then there are also the problems of waste, consumerism, and addiction to shopping,” she points out. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;">“Yes, we are all victims,” I say in response. “What is distinctive regionally in Western countries is also erased by this huge industry. These are some of the sacrifice zones of fashion. We write about this on our FAN website (fashionactnow.org).”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The penny drops. “This means that we are all ruined by the industry,” Uli responds.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> “Yes, in this age, we are all victims of all kinds of large industries, oil and gas, palm oil, fishing, fashion, electronics, everything. And we must oppose this. Already 75% of wild animals have disappeared. The number of bees is declining drastically, and so on.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;">“In Indonesia there is the view that if we don’t embrace development, we will be ‘without clothes’ forever,” in other words "that Indonesians will continue to wear their traditional clothing." This perspective saddens her. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I concur. “This is colonial thinking,” I say. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;">“It is the kind of thinking that justifies all exploitation, including of nature,“ says Uli. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I confide that it is my crusade to try to raise awareness that every culture has its own clothing tradition and that all are valid. The Western variant is destructive to all others Why? For monetary gain. The industry prioritizes its own dominance and that entails continued growth. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;">“We sacrifice land, rice paddies, forests, farmland and water for the sake of development,” Uli confirms. “Development for Batak people shows up in clothing and cars. This is obvious on ritual occasions such as weddings when people wear every kind of blouse (<i>kebaya</i>) and so on. They feel ashamed if they don’t wear flashy new clothes. My clothes have a minimum of glitter and I only wear the old style of kebaya (blouse). I do this intentionally. I am a model for the campaign. I also wear my grandmother’s sarung. I purchase second hand clothing for myself, and new clothing only for my daughter.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Once again, she is on the same page with Fashion Act Now. We, too, purchase a minimum of clothing and try to salvage and utilize what is still wearable. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><br /></p>Sandrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13817899796223662652noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9112370903337891682.post-5413878579323178162021-12-08T17:29:00.017+01:002022-01-23T18:48:27.574+01:00 How the spirit of weaving returned to its body<div style="text-align: left;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"><span style="font-size: medium;">Agus really wanted to go to a national university and she thought that would please her parents. They had often gone on about how amazing it would be if one of their children were to obtain a degree from a national university and they were willing to make huge sacrifices, such as selling their only water buffalo, to make that happen. But in the meantime, they no longer had a water buffalo. The hard times they were in were hard indeed. Agus took the entrance exams and managed to win a full tuition scholarship. She was over the moon and knew her parents would be as well. She had really done her best, gone to a neighbouring city for the first time on her own, and focused intensely on the exam. She knew it was her one and only chance and she succeeded! Back in the village she told her mother about her achievement and her mother burst into tears. Agus assumed that the tears reflected how deeply moved her mother was by Agus’s achievement, but she was wrong. Her mother lashed out in anger. “Why would you do this when we are not able to pay for your needs in the city?” she asked Agus. “I am so ashamed.” </span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-55IKwIeWYaI/YbDZeawZ6EI/AAAAAAAADUY/jpPbS-5N6ZEVUoYTQ_umPvBibVq5E-Z-ACNcBGAsYHQ/DSC02581.JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1365" height="640" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-55IKwIeWYaI/YbDZeawZ6EI/AAAAAAAADUY/jpPbS-5N6ZEVUoYTQ_umPvBibVq5E-Z-ACNcBGAsYHQ/w427-h640/DSC02581.JPG" width="427" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p></o:p></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p><span>I pondered what Agus told me. Her mother must have been suffering very deep regret at not being able to facilitate her daughter's education.<br /></span></span><o:p><span style="font-size: medium;"> <br /></span></o:p><span style="font-size: medium;">Agus managed to overcome the situation by finding a sponsor who saw her through to the end of her degree. Recently she has been in a celebratory mood because she has graduated. She now holds a Bachelor of Arts from a national university and has letters beside her name. She has every reason to feel very, very proud. It was <a href="http://bataktextiles.blogspot.com/2017/04/my-young-friend.html" target="_blank">her indomitable courage that saw her through</a>. She received her degree with self-confidence, pride and resolve. But I had a niggling concern. How would her mother be feeling given that someone else had supported her daughter? “Does your mother feel a little ambivalent toward the sponsor?” I asked. </span></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-eIhQmvRQxuA/YbDZHJuNKUI/AAAAAAAADUQ/poZlv9yPalIwWSVT2r0rMaPkdwd8n7qdACNcBGAsYHQ/DSC02636.JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1365" height="640" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-eIhQmvRQxuA/YbDZHJuNKUI/AAAAAAAADUQ/poZlv9yPalIwWSVT2r0rMaPkdwd8n7qdACNcBGAsYHQ/w427-h640/DSC02636.JPG" width="427" /></a></div><span style="font-size: medium;">There is no doubt that Ompu Elza also felt proud. Agus dressed her in the graduation toga and took a photograph of her standing solemnly in front of the University, holding Agus’s graduation diploma. But was there also a tinge of sadness, regret, perhaps even a touch of resentment that she had not been the one to enable her daughter’s achievement? I knew Agus well enough that I could ask that question; I wanted to confide my concern about her Mom. I knew what my feelings would have been in her place.<o:p></o:p></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">“I will tell you what my mother said,” Agus answered in a decided way. “She said, ‘The spirit of weaving has come back.’” I had not expected this answer. What did weaving have to do with Agus’s accomplishment? Agus explained. “Mother’s life was weaving. She started when she was very young and she did it every day. Her spirit and the spirit of weaving were one and the same. But then the spirit of weaving left her.” Agus knew precisely when. It was about twenty years ago, when economic circumstances forced her Mom to stop weaving, leaving her heartbroken. Try as she might, she was no longer able to meet her family’s needs by selling the products of her loom. That was how the spirit of weaving left her and how she withdrew from it. </span></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">“A lost spirit will return when a body misses it and new sprouts will grow,” Agus explained to me.<br /></span><o:p><span style="font-size: medium;"> <br /></span></o:p><span style="font-size: medium;">I had to digest this. It appeared that Agus’s mother attributed Agus’s success (and thus her own good fortune) to the spirit of weaving. “Is it because she has started to weave again that she credits the spirit of weaving for your achievement?” I asked Agus. But Agus didn't know how to deal with my question. I think that the way I had framed it just didn’t make any sense across our cultural difference. She answered with a parable. <br /></span><o:p><span style="font-size: medium;"> <br /></span></o:p><span style="font-size: medium;">“We plant a root crop (<i>ubi</i>) and the roots sprout new shoots. We can’t tell what the harvest will be because the roots are covered with earth. They can be covered up for a long time. Inang [the sponsor] came and tidied up the earth around the plants, cared for them. And then there appeared to be new shoots. They represent hope.”</span></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-jD8r8-66CD8/YbDaqZ7uZMI/AAAAAAAADUg/_WNhjbBzBEQ1pjJB_ZjwxLMAuINFPJeMgCNcBGAsYHQ/op%2Belza.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="1072" height="400" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-jD8r8-66CD8/YbDaqZ7uZMI/AAAAAAAADUg/_WNhjbBzBEQ1pjJB_ZjwxLMAuINFPJeMgCNcBGAsYHQ/w298-h400/op%2Belza.jpg" width="298" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ompu Elza at her loom. She returned <br />to it in 2015 - before the spirit returned.<br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table>“<span style="font-size: medium;">But what made the spirit of weaving return?” I persisted. “We don’t know whether the spirit of weaving attracted the sponsor, or whether the sponsor attracted the spirit,” Agus answered simply. The very question seemed irrelevant. “The point is, it returned, and it hadn’t been there for some twenty years. When the sponsor came to clean up around the plants, apparently there were still some shoots; they were still alive. Hope was still growing in the ground.” <o:p></o:p></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">This story has kept me in its grip. It reveals so much. In the first place, about gratitude. Agus does what she does, to the best of her ability; so does her whole family, including her mother. I, as 'the sponsor', did what I did. We are only human and we proceed as we proceed. For Agus's mother, it is the spirit that prevails and bestows us with success, if it is to be ours. For us there is but one option: to feel gratitude when it bestows. That's when we experience good fortune. ‘<i>Rejeki’</i> comes from a higher hand. The spirit prevails. Gratitude is built into such a stance. It is central to life,; it is not just a feeling.<br /></span><o:p><span style="font-size: medium;"> <br /></span></o:p><span style="font-size: medium;">Agus’s story told me, too, that Agus’s mother has felt very engaged indeed in her daughter's<br /> </span><span style="font-size: medium;">university career and in that pinnacle: her graduation. Agus’s success had awakened her Mother's weaving spirit. It had been buried there, under the surface all that time, capable of sprouting new shoots. This told me how deep Ompu Elza’s pain had been when she was forced to put down her loom, and just how profound the antidote of her daughter’s graduation had been. It restored pride, well-being, a sense of being fortunate. </span></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></p><span style="font-size: medium;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-S83xtRSkYgk/YbHZN9se27I/AAAAAAAADUw/wqNrE1YaRt8VaDG-bA7g_JzzllxUfzhcACNcBGAsYHQ/Agus%2Band%2Bher%2Bfather%2Bfor%2Bblog.jpeg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="377" data-original-width="401" height="301" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-S83xtRSkYgk/YbHZN9se27I/AAAAAAAADUw/wqNrE1YaRt8VaDG-bA7g_JzzllxUfzhcACNcBGAsYHQ/w320-h301/Agus%2Band%2Bher%2Bfather%2Bfor%2Bblog.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Agus with her father not long before <br />he passed away</td></tr></tbody></table><o:p></o:p></span><p></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span><span style="font-size: medium;">All of this confirmed that the spirit of weaving is sweet and good. It is a source of blessings, ability, pride, self-respect. It </span></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span>truly is a core of Ompu Elza’s being; h</span><span>ow deeply lived, the act of weaving can be: positivity and hope, like the shoots of new life, the essence of life.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><o:p><span style="font-size: medium;"> <br /></span></o:p><span style="font-size: medium;">And I learned about how my Simalungun family lives reciprocally with spirit. I learned about their two-way engagement with the spirit world. Like tending plants. We tend them and they tend us in return. Like the line in a Batak prayer about nurturing rice so that it can nurture us (<i>Eme na hupagodang; Eme na pagodang ahu</i>). When Ompu Elza wove, she was nurturing her weaving spirit. And when she was forced to stop weaving, she lost the spirit that was nurturing her existence. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Postscript</b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">Sometimes reality seems to take a strange twist. Then it becomes a challenge to locate the truth. This time, however, I think it is pretty clear where it lies. And that egg? Is it on my face? I choose to be lenient; this is just the way learning in a different culture proceeds: lots of twists, lots of egg, triangulation and hopefully learning. Let me explain:<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">Yesterday I shared with Agus’s elder sister, Lasma, how proud her mother had been at Agus’s graduation and I mentioned that Ompu Elza had used the expression ‘roh tenun’. I wanted to get Lasma’s take on her mother’s ‘weaving spirit’. I also wanted to know what the Simalungun word would be for that spirit that had returned to the body. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">Lasma told me that ‘roh tonun’ is said when someone completes a difficult task that has taken a lot of time, something like ‘congratulations’ but then with more weight. I didn’t get it. Why the word ‘tonun’ (Simalungun for weaving) and why ‘roh’ (spirit)? </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">It turns out that some confusion hinged on the word ‘roh’, meaning spirit in Indonesian but meaning ‘come’ in Simalungun. I didn’t know that, and had thought that the Toba word for come, ‘ro’ was used in Simalungun. Lasma explained that the expression ‘roh tonun’ means ‘weaving comes’. I confirmed that with my Simalungun dictionary – and will have to get back to Agus to see how she responds to this discovery. She had spoken to me of ‘roh tenun’, in Indonesian, ‘the spirit of weaving’. Could be that she was mixed up between the Indonesian and the Simalungun? <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">But I still didn’t understand why ‘roh tonun’ would be used to express congratulations for a really considerable accomplishment. Lasma had an insight into that as well. “This is an expression that is used by weavers,” she said. When a weaver finishes a textile, the other weavers in the group will say, “Roh tonun” to compliment her. She had learned this from her grandmother, Ompu Elza’s mother. The accomplishment is considerable because it is a long and complicated process to weave a cloth. The process of weaving is apparently used as a kind of measurement for a considerable accomplishment, hence it was used by Ompu Elza. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">Once again, however, this interpretation confirms the positive light in which weaving is held. Whew. But I am still horrified by the extent to which Agus and I had been spinning a tale rather than accurately interpreting a Simalungun expression.<span style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><br /></p><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Postscript 2</b></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">I shared with Agus what Lasma had told me, and Agus said that it did not alter her story. She had been talking about 'jiwa tenun', the spirit of weaving, and she had obtained her information from her mother. She knew her story to be true. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">I guess I have to go back and share this news with Lasma. Or ask Agus to talk about it with Lasma.... Reality is not always clear. There can be different perspectives, different experiences, different interpretations. Interpretations can be dynamic and malleable. Culture is never cut and dried or singular or clear, and the process of digging to understand an interpretation can shed much light.</p></span></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p></o:p></p>Sandrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13817899796223662652noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9112370903337891682.post-376554896178034552021-12-04T16:31:00.003+01:002021-12-05T09:28:35.079+01:00Stuck/Mentok vs. Memeyu Hayuning Bawana/Making the Beautiful World More Beautiful<div class="separator"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="text-align: left;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-cj6owA7DVtg/YatsagCVjeI/AAAAAAAADTo/3_WBQZpTcb87zOUr9-tHraWHhkDvwQ1cACNcBGAsYHQ/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-12-04%2Bat%2B14.23.54.png" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="896" data-original-width="738" height="430" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-cj6owA7DVtg/YatsagCVjeI/AAAAAAAADTo/3_WBQZpTcb87zOUr9-tHraWHhkDvwQ1cACNcBGAsYHQ/w355-h430/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-12-04%2Bat%2B14.23.54.png" width="355" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Batik work by Mbak Nia and Mas Ismoyo</td></tr></tbody></table><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif">I had the honour of being asked to offer my opinion (to be a ‘penganggap’) at the Art and Dialog event put on by BSG (Babaran Segorogunung) in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, on November 27, 2021. I was excited by the goals of the event and I have long admired the people involved. As I perceived it, the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/mja.nashir/videos/2013848975445195" target="_blank">Art and Dialog event </a>was gently exploring a healing response to the current turmoil in which our world finds itself -- specifically to the heartache caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has been very hard on Indonesian artists They have received little support, have no security, and don’t know what the future will hold. But I felt that the BSG strategy had much larger significance. Earlier in the same month COP26 concluded in Glasgow. I perceived it as a failure at a critical time – despite some positive groundwork having been laid. Both COVID and increasing global heating place Indonesia in a very difficult position. Indonesia is being thrown upon itself; economic dependence on the <br /></span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif">outside world is precarious. The tourism industry, uncertain anyway, was now no longer sustaining the artists at all. To where and what could they turn?</span></span></p></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">The important groundwork at COP 26 was precisely the ‘coming closer together’ of the parties which, during the course of the past century and longer, have been drastically separated by economic and political history. To solve global problems the globe <i>has to</i> come together. I perceived Art and Dialog as an opportunity to come together but not to just exchange sentences and opinions across formal and informal tables. It was about a more holistic coming together, and spectacularly, not about earnings, economic growth and social profile. It was about collaborative caring and authentic growth rooted in culture, history and being-in-the-world. You may be scratching your head and wondering why I am comparing a COP to Art and Dialog, but that is precisely the point. COP failed, and civil society has been thrown upon itself to forge solutions. A solution will not come from more of the same that got us into this existential pickle in the first place. It must come from the ground up. In fact, structurally, we are all in the position of the Indonesian artists. We have all lost our future security and we must all learn how to build it back wisely and sustainably. I read into the Art and Dialog event a profound response to the world’s problems<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">I was struck that mas Ismoyo’s intentions revolved around the dialogue between humans and nature as a wellspring for both art and life. I was also struck that mas Nashir, one of the designers of the exhibition, juxtaposed the artworks in such a way as to maximize wordless ‘dialogues’ among the pieces, and between them and the surrounding nature; that he included the ‘art’ of a neighbouring farmer in the assembly. Key here is mas Ismoyo’s word: ‘sensibility’. The dialogues going on were multi-layered and multi-intersecting, explicitly involving all of the senses. Art and Dialog was not just about the art pieces and the discussion that we ‘opinion givers’ were to offer. It was about our relationship to the past, to culture, to our world, to what it means to be alive, to each other, and to our future. The event embodied and enacted openness to values and people and regions and ideas, to enhance our sensibilities to each other and to our surroundings. I experienced it as an antidote-in-action to the world’s problems, the product rooted importantly in the process.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">I find the word ‘stuck’ evocative. It is so everyday, so earthy (wheels in mud); it so easily elicits memories, nothing highbrow. Yet it is being used to characterize our place in history. Authors David Graeber and David Wengrow make ‘stuckness’ a leitmotif of their already heralded new book, <u>The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity</u> (2021). We in the North have slammed into the limits of our ability to imagine other ways of organizing our society. How could this have happened when history and all the cultures of the world constitute a parade of experiments in social organization? And why did we get stuck in one that is killing the earth? We are caught in a vortex that reduces every diverse kind of value to monetary wealth. Where money is generated as a result of debt -- which is how our economic system works -- destruction can only be the result. The great monetary wealth in our world is paralleled only by the great collapse of its living systems.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">Stuckness is like being in a theatre when you want to escape a film and you can’t find the door; like being unable to awaken from a nightmare; like needing to slam on the breaks only to discover that they are failing. These are confrontations with tipping points, crucial moments of change that should be avoided. You end up in a landslide where you have lost the capacity to steer. We, in the North, are stuck. There have been about 30 COPs and still the CO2 emissions are going up. COVID-19 is mutating and still we have not got it together to sufficiently share the vaccine with the rest of the world.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">I decided to centre my remarks at the Art and Dialog event on a graphic that depicts our nightmarish proximity to a critical tipping point. I badly wanted to share my perception of the profound importance of the Art and Dialog event from this perspective. After I spoke, mas Harjuno, among those assembled, expressed his confidence in the track record of humankind to find new paths and new ways. His comment was key. That is precisely what is needed, and precisely what we, in the North, cannot find. Graeber and Wengrow also turned to the parade of other cultures to highlight pathways out of stuckness. This was the stock that I was placing in the Art and Dialog explorations. The event would not find a solution to world problems, but it was a forum to explore avenues to get unstuck. I put my faith in the intention of the event: the focus on relationships, on full-rounded, respectful dialogue, on including nature in everything. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">This is the nightmarish graphic showing the trajectory in which we are stuck:<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p></o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-M3W3LIl1xuI/YatpVFCYJAI/AAAAAAAADTg/diVvOx0OBgc0uLsIa7MMW9A42CSZssElACNcBGAsYHQ/Slide%2B1.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1142" data-original-width="2048" height="300" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-M3W3LIl1xuI/YatpVFCYJAI/AAAAAAAADTg/diVvOx0OBgc0uLsIa7MMW9A42CSZssElACNcBGAsYHQ/w540-h300/Slide%2B1.png" width="540" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">This is a screenshot of a webinar slide shown by Dr. William Rees last May at a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnEXEIp5vB8" target="_blank">Canadian Club of Rome meeting, entitled “Too Clever by Half, but Not Smart Enough</a>”. The slide shows the impact of fossil fuels on human population and economic growth. It is both a demonstration and an explanation of the global addiction to the stuff. The fuels have enabled a century of growth unlike any other in the history of the world. Common sense alone tells us that this trajectory cannot continue. In Rees’s terms (<a href="https://www.footprintnetwork.org/our-work/ecological-footprint/" target="_blank">ecological footprint analysis</a>), we already need 5 earths to support current levels of production/consumption. However, some 30 COPs have not been able to avert our course, even when there is no doubt that the future of life as we know it is hanging in the balance. Many now believe that collapse is inevitable. Others continue to fight for a swift and controlled reduction in the mining and use of fossil fuels, and of production and consumption. Will the future overtake us or will we determine our own fate? In either scenario, the upward line will turn down. William Rees depicted the familiar rapid decline that has been documented when other species run out of enabling factors for continued expansion. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p></o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-8AMtX9h9FVE/Yat_WIQNi-I/AAAAAAAADTw/u8-X6ZIy0eIT9i4uDDmxdzKSRgTOE9zfwCNcBGAsYHQ/slide%2B2.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1189" data-original-width="2048" height="312" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-8AMtX9h9FVE/Yat_WIQNi-I/AAAAAAAADTw/u8-X6ZIy0eIT9i4uDDmxdzKSRgTOE9zfwCNcBGAsYHQ/w536-h312/slide%2B2.png" width="536" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">Our ‘stuckness’ in the North is spelling doom for the whole planet. That is unfair, as it is the ‘fault’ of the North. ‘We’ developed the dependency on fossil fuels and, for the sake of continuing growth, imposed it on every corner of the globe. Many suspect that COVID-19 is symptomatic of human encroachment on wilderness.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-SqMj8iQ1GU8/YauJc9NhgCI/AAAAAAAADUI/S9kQllX5CKUihP4GVNAfneBVLNdQzcbVwCNcBGAsYHQ/slide%2B3.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="754" data-original-width="1928" height="207" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-SqMj8iQ1GU8/YauJc9NhgCI/AAAAAAAADUI/S9kQllX5CKUihP4GVNAfneBVLNdQzcbVwCNcBGAsYHQ/w532-h207/slide%2B3.png" width="532" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">How does Art and Dialog relate to this? Specifically it does not, but in spirit it might very well be central. Mas Ismoyo and mbak Nia, the initiators of the event, have been profoundly influenced by the ancient, spiritual core of the art of batik, <i><span lang="EN" style="color: #202124; font-size: 11pt;">Memeyu Hayuning Bawana, </span></i><span lang="EN" style="color: #202124; font-size: 11pt;">making the beautiful earth more beautiful. <span style="background-color: white;">[<a href="http://bataktextiles.blogspot.com/2021/10/batik-day-2021-leading-world-of-fashion.html" target="_blank">I have blogged about this before</a>.]</span></span><span lang="EN" style="background-color: white;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 42.75pt 0.0001pt 35.45pt;"><i><a href="https://www.facebook.com/mja.nashir/posts/10159772376069712" target="_blank">In the midst of rapid technological developments, there is still a spirit to re-examine the fragments of life or the philosophy of the creative process in traditional societies to complete the balance of life in today's era with the aim to achieve a holistic creative expression that builds intimacy that is one with nature. With the goal that artists can achieve harmony, balance, serenity in a process of creating with aesthetics rooted in ethics. There seems to be a tendency that the deeper our intimacy with progress, the more fertile the desire for belonging, maintaining gratitude and devotion to a natural lifestyle that could hold an integral connection between the human mind and natural ecology and the source of creativity. </a><o:p></o:p></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">I perceived that by sharing this scientific perception of the current state of the world and history, it might be possible to facilitate more communication between North and South. I wanted to convey my conviction to these artists, whose underpinnings have been knocked out from under them by the impacts of COVID, that their work is at the core of what the world needs today. I perceived it not so much as a search for solutions, but rather being the solution through their search, dedication to making the beautiful world more beautiful (<i><span lang="EN" style="color: #202124; font-size: 11pt;">Memeyu Hayuning Bawana) </span></i><span lang="EN" style="color: #202124; font-size: 11pt;">being central</span>. I was touched when time was taken at the opening of the event to pray for its smooth execution. This was conducted in traditional ceremonial form (Pengawikan) with chanting, incense and holy water to bless all. It situated us a sacred space together. It was moving and it kindled hope.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">I am a specialist in the textiles of the Batak peoples of North Sumatra and a <a href="https://www.fashionactnow.org" target="_blank">Defashion</a> activist. Western fashion is ‘stuck’. Industrial clothing is being produced ever faster; is worn ever less; is tossed away in all its toxicity to pollute the earth and clog waterways. And the industry remains hell bent on greater expansion. It is unable to self-regulate and the parameters of nature never figure in its calculations. It is engaged in a frenzy of production and does all that is within its power to expand consumption and thereby enable its continuing madness.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">Against this backdrop the original handwoven garments of the Batak have become increasingly precious to me. Fieldwork in North Sumatra has made me privy to the life and thought of many weavers; they and their woven cloths have introduced me to the complexity of the art. I am awestruck. And that awe translates into a dull awareness of the superficiality of commercially produced clothing. It is naked speed, exploitation, competition and clock-punching combined with mythical delusions about dressing to enable becoming ‘whoever we want to be’ – all facilitated by the fossil fuel industry that provides synthetic fibres, synthetic dyes, extensive supply chains, industrial agriculture and so on. We are stuck in that, and with every item of clothing that we buy, we support it. Since the globalization of fashion, the whole world is stuck in that. Modernday Batak have also been sucked into the vortex. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">I cannot imagine that the human spirit will allow itself to remain in these shackles. Surely we will demand a way out. I choose, however impractical and irrational it may seem in the eyes of others and even, at times, myself, to treat the remaining precious, thoughtful, heritage-conscious weavers in the Batak region as a possible bridge to a better future. I have long cherished the conviction that the depth of thought that I have discovered in indigenous wisdom is the precious, precious antidote to our stuckness in the heedless suicide of over-production and over-consumption. The traditional Batak weaving arts and clothing system are a kind of lifeline; a testimony; a source of inspiration; a proof of possibilities. Like the Borobudur ruins rising majestically out of the plain offering mysterious direction and hope. A Batak weaver, and weavers from every other indigenous culture, belonged fully in our midst at Art and Dialog. I felt I was among friends there; we shared the same spirit. I may have been there as a ‘penganggap’, someone to share my opinion, but I was also a member of the same world, the same dialogue. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">Mas Ismoyo and mbak Nia did not use the word ‘stuck/mentok’ in their <a href="https://www.facebook.com/565934711/videos/2013848975445195/">Art and Dialog proposal</a>, but I realized that the Art and Dialog event emerged out of a recognition of stuckness combined with a longing to celebrate the precious expressions of human possibility, and the will to pass them on to the youth. The Art and Dialog event was like the flower whose beauty and freshness we were thankful for in mas Miko’s art piece. His piece, as I understand it, was a cry of hope in the midst of the pandemic, but the symbol he constructed is universal.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"> </p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7-lQybHua9Q/YauFD7zRVBI/AAAAAAAADT4/Z5WKrqfSUCoV_WrT7q796vK5m8VnaMH7QCNcBGAsYHQ/s1126/Miko.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1126" data-original-width="1080" height="574" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7-lQybHua9Q/YauFD7zRVBI/AAAAAAAADT4/Z5WKrqfSUCoV_WrT7q796vK5m8VnaMH7QCNcBGAsYHQ/w550-h574/Miko.jpg" width="550" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kerapuhan yang Membangkitkan (Fragility that Generates)<br />Miko Jatmiko, Borobudur 18 Novembr 2021</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">The meeting gave me hope because it referenced that solid, diverse, magnificent backgound that Indonesia has to fall back on: its rich history, and culture from times past, what mas Ismoyo calls the ‘cosmocentric time period’. Has COVID engendered an opportunity to pick up an ancient thread, to recover precious gems from a buried past, and allow newness to emerge? The possibility of greater self-determination? Is this the silver lining of the pandemic?<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-qkrYtqgzN_o/YauF7gtqSBI/AAAAAAAADUA/BzUmicUeVcsUHFCeEqrw7J-jTv22eENyACNcBGAsYHQ/Rusa%2Bbersayap.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" height="365" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-qkrYtqgzN_o/YauF7gtqSBI/AAAAAAAADUA/BzUmicUeVcsUHFCeEqrw7J-jTv22eENyACNcBGAsYHQ/w549-h365/Rusa%2Bbersayap.jpg" width="549" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rusa Bersayap (Winged Deer)<br />MJA Nashir, 2021</td></tr></tbody></table><br />MJA Nashir’s statue, the Winged Deer (Rusa Bersayap), resonated strongly with me. He resurrected it from forgotten, rotting wood buried in the ground behind his house, a symbol of revival that can both demonstrate and express the capacities of the human spirit. When he made it, he felt that he was freeing something alive and spiritual and for him it was the spirit of nature expressed in ancient cultural idiom. It was the hope that emerges from possibilities and a signpost. I particularly like the mythical and the mystical aspect of the winged deer. It is not just a likeness of a deer anymore than Ismoyo’s batik is just a dye technique applied to cloth. It references cultural wisdom, knowledge that has been passed down from one generation to the next, from one culture to the next. <o:p></o:p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">MJA Nashir stumbled across this buried wood while cultivating his garden. Organically. It has become the spirit of his garden. Automatically I think of Voltaire’s advice to cultivate one's garden. For Voltaire it represented retracting from the corruption of society to find and preserve the authentic self. For my Indonesian friends, cultivating the garden is about authentically reconnecting, entering dialogue. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p>Sandrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13817899796223662652noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9112370903337891682.post-36382594730281917492021-10-24T09:59:00.006+02:002021-10-24T14:53:27.286+02:00Ethics and Greed<p><span face="Calibri, sans-serif">When Budi died, his family was heart-broken. They are still in mourning. They tend his grave and spend time there with him. They put a roof on stilts above the grave to protect it from the elements. They suffer when they recall Budi’s slow and painful death. They miss him because he was the backbone of the family.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7FOHwMPfAn4/YXUqpqgGz-I/AAAAAAAADTE/1UwGZ0zyZJw354sr4l7DBhM1rPZ3q3bdgCLcBGAsYHQ/s314/Nagori%2Btongah.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="209" data-original-width="314" height="360" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7FOHwMPfAn4/YXUqpqgGz-I/AAAAAAAADTE/1UwGZ0zyZJw354sr4l7DBhM1rPZ3q3bdgCLcBGAsYHQ/w540-h360/Nagori%2Btongah.jpg" title="The only known photograph of the old village" width="540" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The only known photograph of the old village.<br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table>Budi’s village moved three decades ago from a self-contained spot beside running water to an open, windy place beside a new transportation artery. Like many villages. If the running water and the pond offered a bathing hole for humans and buffaloes, and a ready source of water for the gardens and every other need, the new road offered access to the market. And money. The old village had vernacular architecture, symbolism and history. The buildings were built in a cluster. The were no roads, only paths to neighbours, gardens, rice barns, water. The village had an intuitive, organic layout and the paths traced daily life. Its logic was local. Everybody in the village was related to each other either directly, or indirectly through marriage. It was a tightly woven community. The weavers shared their knowledge with each other; the twine-makers helped each other twist the fibre into long ropes; the water was communally owned and used; the surrounding woods as well. People helped each other in their gardens and there were rules about how to share the yields. Everybody had the same lifestyle. There was hierarchy, certainly. It related to birth order and relationship to the primary clan, also talent and character traits. But the hierarchy was local and not too stretched, its extremities still in view and under social control.<o:p></o:p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">People say that the village moved when the government refused to install electricity that far from the road. To have electric lights, the people had to move closer to the main thoroughfare. The new location is built on a grid, the village roads filled with potholes and mud when it rains, but nevertheless still usually accessible by trishaw. The shacks and bungalows line those pockmarked roads. They are built on privately-owned land. Most pieces were purchased at a premium from a local speculator. The owner of each plot must find his own source of groundwater and nobody goes back to the old stream and ponds except the occasional water buffalo herder Each family unit pays for its own electricity. The family unit has superseded the village unit and the communal forest has been chopped down. It’s every man for himself.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">That’s what Budi described. His home was one of the shacks along the new pockmarked road. He and his wife talked about life back at the old village and they missed it. “People were nicer,” they said. “They helped each other; there was trust. Now there is only jealousy.” When one person gets ahead, the whole villages hates them while plotting, at the same time, to either better them or bring them down a notch. Jealousy and resentment are the norm, the response to the other one’s success. It has become dog eat dog. Avoiding the shame of poverty and failure is a prime motivator, and dodging arrows the task when there is success. Social face has never been more important than in this dirt-poor village. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">The village is still the frame of reference for daily life but external factors have come into play: the church and its often corrupt access to village money, school fees, taxes. Locally-run shops, but especially the multinational chains with their modern, cool appearance, suck the money out of the village. The local land speculator amassed his initial capital from his hardware shop. Cigarettes are another suction strategy, plotted by some of the biggest multinationals in the world, insidiously hooking the hapless farmers to ensure a steady income for the state and the tobacco industry.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">Budi died recently from smoking. Not just his last cent was sucked out of him, and he left behind a wife and five children, the youngest still in grade school, as well as a smoking-related debt. He didn’t have an easy life. He was an orphan, so he never knew parental support and he inherited no land. He was condemned to poverty – and to face much shame, therefore, in the village. During the early years of his marriage he lived in a hut in a garden, not able to afford a home. He was proud to finally be able to inhabit a house, even though the roof leaked. He was always careful about how he presented himself. He taught his children important values: to respect the community, to be honest, to be respectable despite living in poverty. He could be heavy-handed to enforce these values.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">When he died, the family was stricken. His daughter told me about his goodness. "He never turned away a person in need." If there was only a single can of rice left in the sack and someone came by to ask for food, he would command his wife to give away the last bit that they had. The family often ate cheap tubers when their rice ran out. They knew hunger, too. They could identify. For Budi it was a source of pride as well as adherence to village ethics to give to those less fortunate. He did it above protests from his wife whose focus was on providing nutrition for her children. “How can we eat if somebody else is going hungry?” Budi would ask. He maintained the values of the old village. Life was better there, even if there was less cash. People were kinder; you had more security, you could trust your neighbour’s heart. I wonder how much reciprocity Budi’s values met after they moved to the road? “Life is not fair,” I say to Budi’s daughter who is negotiating her way in this world, “but we have to be true to ourselves; otherwise we have lost everything.”<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">Budi’s widow has only one piece of land. It is located far from the village, symptomatic of her family’s penury. To get to it, they have to cross the plots of others but right of passage has always been normal and unquestioned. There are worn paths skirting the boundaries of the gardens granting the access that everyone needs. And people tread those paths respectful of each other’s gardens. Budi’s widow’s plot has been farmed for generations and she feels attached to it. “I have harvested corn here with my mother,” she says. The significance of her words is self-explanatory for her. She is saying that her bond with the land is eternal and irreplaceable. She is also steeped in the values of the old village. She knows her heart. A woman of few words, she says what she knows, simply and directly. "I don't want to sell my land. Nothing could replace it." She herself knows no malice, but she feels the pain of malice deeply. It is incomprehensible to her.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">Now somebody wants the land far away from the village because it has a nice view. The government is pushing tourism as a local industry. It is supposed to generate modern wealth for this impoverished region. The local rich man, who garnered his wealth through his shop, and then made a killing by buying up and selling the land where the new village stands, smells new profits. Now he wants to play with even bigger boys: investors in the tourist industry. He has bought up all the land on the escarpment from the poor farmers and he can expect to rake in the profits when he resells to the developers. He has local police and politicians behind him, all expecting their ‘right’ of cut. He is not afraid to use pressure tactics to acquire his land.<b> </b>He has enough land now to be able to deny right of passage to farmers who want to reach their plot. He can secretly destroy their crops. He is rich and will get richer. The extremities of hierarchy are becoming more distant. He is a member of the village lineage but he compartmentalizes his values. “Business doesn’t know family,” he points out. “Business operates by different rules.” The old village is still dying.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">…<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">When I think about what is needed to create a sustainable world, to push back against the hand of capitalism, I feel discouraged recalling what has been tearing this village asunder for generations, and knowing who is holding the ‘apparently’ winning hand, a hand that entails suffering and decline of every kind for everyone else.<o:p></o:p></p>Sandrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13817899796223662652noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9112370903337891682.post-62512874301804875872021-10-02T10:56:00.008+02:002021-12-03T16:44:56.881+01:00Batik Day 2021: Leading the World of Fashion<br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UD_azSAG3e4/YVgbCjolY7I/AAAAAAAADSc/UhUZqODkYNo9zZR-DFKfxKKV3EmuRFcVgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1280/WhatsApp%2BImage%2B2021-10-02%2Bat%2B08.42.35.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="992" height="688" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UD_azSAG3e4/YVgbCjolY7I/AAAAAAAADSc/UhUZqODkYNo9zZR-DFKfxKKV3EmuRFcVgCLcBGAsYHQ/w533-h688/WhatsApp%2BImage%2B2021-10-02%2Bat%2B08.42.35.jpeg" width="533" /></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><o:p> </o:p>For awhile now I have engaged with various groups to work on ‘the problem of fashion’, an out-of-control industry that over-produces, pollutes, and emits life-threatening amounts of carbon dioxide. For decades I have argued for a more inclusive definition of fashion, or better said perhaps, for the recognition that the fashion behemoth that we currently know and reify, is just a culturally-specific narcissistic fat-cat that needs to be cut down to size to allow the clothing expressions of all other cultures to flourish once again. How to accomplish this goal?</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">This entails, on the one hand, helping people recognize that ‘fashion’ is not a ‘thing’ out there, but a creation of our own doing. The real human universal is not ‘fashion’, but <b>creativity in dressing, regardless of how you adorn your body, regardless of your cultural medium</b>. That is what we have in common with all other people, not a globalized industry.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">On the other hand, the task entails helping people to recognize that the clothing produced by the industrial system is an expression of deep psychic poverty and wafer thin superficiality, all in the interests, perhaps, of deflecting our thoughts away from the great harm that it is doing to our planet. It is a status commodity and pretends to help us construct dreams and myths about who we would <i>like to be</i> in this world, but in reality most is cheap, disposable junk. Coming from the West, where cheap, disposable clothing has been normalized, it is challenging to figure out how to convey to people just how deeply meaningful clothing in other cultures can be, has been, and sometimes still is. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Today I saw an image that captures the essence of what I would like to convey: a poster about Javanese batik inspired by the spiritual and philosophical essence of batik. My photographer and artist friend in Central Java, Mas MJA Nashir, sent the image to me in a chat this morning. <i>Memayu hayuning bawana</i> means <i>laku secara spiritual</i>, to perform in a spiritual way, he explained. Literally it means to ‘beautify this beautiful world’ (<i>mempercantik bumi yg cantik</i>). The beautifying that he meant runs so deep. It means to perform in a beautiful way towards the earth, towards nature and towards life (<i>terhadap Bumi, terhadap Alam, terhadap Kehidupan</i>). Life for the Javanese, for the batik maker, for the batik lover, is beauty. The root word in <i>memayu</i> and<i> hayuning</i>, is the same, he pointed out; it is <i>ayu</i>, ‘beautiful’. <i>Memayu</i> is ‘to make beautiful’ (<i>Hayu=Ayu=Cantik . Memayu = membuat cantic</i>). <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">“I always remember Mas Ismoyo saying that <i>memayu hayuning bawana</i> is the essence of batik for the Javanese,” Mas Nashir confides. Mas Ismoyo is a mutual friend and master batiker, living in Yogyakarta, whose studio has been an inspiration for Nashir and me for more than a decade, a place where we go for stimulating conversations and to get in touch with spiritual roots. I always leave that Eden in a spirit of peace and wonder. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I perceive their batik workshops as teaching the essence of the environmental movement: loving the earth and all creatures in it. This is what inspires all the batiks of Mas Ismoyo and his beautiful wife, a master batiker in her own right, Mbak Nia.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Mas Nashir has a small patio behind his house. During the corona lockdown he has been fixing it up and collecting plants to decorate it. “I made this photograph this morning and used it in my poster to celebrate Batik Day,” he wrote.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FxFtaYPY9jY/YVgcdycHkPI/AAAAAAAADSw/j1f4veWQ7XsJMmoxNpK64gXTIM7aG0DTgCLcBGAsYHQ/s925/to%2Buse.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="925" data-original-width="593" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FxFtaYPY9jY/YVgcdycHkPI/AAAAAAAADSw/j1f4veWQ7XsJMmoxNpK64gXTIM7aG0DTgCLcBGAsYHQ/w256-h400/to%2Buse.jpg" width="256" /></span></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">His poster is inspired by Mas Ismoyo’s words and the workshops that he gives with Mbak Nia, by the plants that Nashir tends, by Nashir's love for batik – both his mother and his brother are involved in the batik world – and not least, by his cultural activism. Nashir’s soul is dedicated to <i>memayu hayuning bawana</i>; it is what he longs for in this world of rapacious business, this Anthropocene. He knows that Anthropos can do the opposite, can beautify instead of making sacrifice zones of peoples, cultures, nature and even our future.</span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><o:p></o:p></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Suddenly tears prick my eyes. The penny drops. This poster shares what I would like to convey to people about indigenous clothing traditions of other cultures. Depth, beauty and going further than ‘doing no harm’: doing good to planet, nature and people; living a spiritually true life; aspiring to beauty. To wear beauty, to create beauty, to insist on beauty. That is when you have desirable clothing. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p><br /></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p>(blog dedicated to Sara Arnold, who understands)</o:p></p>Sandrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13817899796223662652noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9112370903337891682.post-92195166509055846352021-10-01T14:48:00.002+02:002021-10-11T18:33:36.248+02:00Why Racism in Fashion goes deeper than you think: An interview with Sandra Niessen by Safia Minney<p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">October 2021</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Safia Minney, MBE, is an award-winning social entrepreneur & recognised for the company she founded, People Tree, a pioneer of sustainable fashion. She led the business as Global CEO for 20+ years in Japan & Europe. </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Safia is an advisor, executive coach and author of many books including; ‘Slave to Fashion’, campaigning to eradicate modern day slavery in the fashion industry and ‘Slow Fashion - Aesthetics meets Ethics’.</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Safia recently launched </span><a href="http://www.realsustainability.org/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #0563c1; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">www.REALsustainability.org</span></a><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> to promote sustainable living and leadership and joined other business leaders inspired by XR to establish </span><a href="http://www.businessdeclares.org/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #0563c1; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">www.businessdeclares.org</span></a><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></p><p><b style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><br /></b></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #4472c4; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sandra Niessen (PhD) is a Canadian/Dutch anthropologist whose research on clothing and textiles among the Batak people of North Sumatra, Indonesia generated insights into the impact of global fashion and economics on indigenous dress. Since retiring from academia, she has become active in the Research Collective for Decoloniality and Fashion (RCDF) and Fashion Act Now (FAN). </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #4472c4; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-K8ZyrMogndk/YVcDOHSC4BI/AAAAAAAADSQ/6K8K6UBAzYoCUE1hyd35ZO3ZWsyKULoUACLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/Safia%2B.JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1812" data-original-width="2048" height="566" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-K8ZyrMogndk/YVcDOHSC4BI/AAAAAAAADSQ/6K8K6UBAzYoCUE1hyd35ZO3ZWsyKULoUACLcBGAsYHQ/w593-h566/Safia%2B.JPG" width="593" /></a></div><br /><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="color: #4472c4; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="color: #4472c4; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">1. </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What is the relationship between Western fashion and racism?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="color: #4472c4; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The colonial era cleaved the world in two; the substratum of diversity became colonizers on the one hand, and the colonized on the other. Throughout the history of the world there have always been power hierarchies, but with colonialism there was, for the first time, one that operated globally to create a single binary. Decolonial theorists refer to it as the </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="color: #4472c4; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">‘colonial difference’</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="color: #4472c4; font-size: 12pt; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Clothing, a powerful signifier of status and identity, became perhaps the most immediate expression of that colonial difference, to the extent that the first definitions of fashion slotted the phenomenon of ‘fashion’ and the practice of fashion on the ‘civilization’ side of the binary in contradistinction to what was considered ‘uncivilized’: ‘tribal’, ‘primitive’, ‘heathen’ and ‘lacking in’ history, fashion and so on. In short, the binary was constructed on a foundation of race, with the White race embodying the superior component. This binary has continued to operate in the fashion industry. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #4472c4; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #4472c4; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">While the absence of black, indigenous and people of colour in boardrooms and on runways today is usually pointed to as evidence of racism in fashion, the extent of fashion’s racism goes much, much deeper, and has become so normalized and expected that it is rarely consciously perceived. Nevertheless, all wearers of fashion currently support it, willfully or not. This conceptual blindness is evidence of a powerful capacity of the fashion industry to shape thought. Fashion places emphasis on visual products: style change, trends and seasonality all skillfully presented through fashion advertising including the catwalk. The behind-the-scenes of fashion are kept hidden and rarely seen by consumers, until egregious human rights abuses, of which the collapse of Rana Plaza is an example, make them visible for a moment. This happened again during the COVID-19 layoffs. The fact that millions of people are chained, through poverty, to a system to make garments that are not of their own culture should be proof enough of global injustice, based on race, regardless of the pay rate. It is also to the Southern Nations that the majority of fashion waste is increasingly being tossed</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #4472c4; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Racism in fashion is evident, through these examples, by its </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #4472c4; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">erasure</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #4472c4; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> from the face of fashion. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #4472c4; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #4472c4; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Fashion has also been highly successful at </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #4472c4; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">negating</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #4472c4; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> the importance of all other systems of clothing that are not integrated in the global fashion system. They are negated by language. The term ‘craft’, for example, situates the making of indigenous dress systems a grade below fashionable dress, which is made by ‘industry’ and ‘business’. The value of other dress systems is also negated by the normalization of their loss, awakening the expectation that indigenous peoples and their clothing systems are doomed to inevitable disappearance. Such is the hubris of Western superiority. Fashion functions on the momentum of racism. </span></p><p><b style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><br /></b></p><ol start="2" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-inline-start: 48px;"><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What can we do about it?</span></p></li></ol><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #4472c4; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In a nutshell, awareness of fashion’s colonial origins is the first step. A fashion practice rooted in fairness and respect is the second. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #4472c4; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #4472c4; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Fashion functions through lies, myths and erasures to hide from view that it maintains cultural hierarchies based on race and discrimination. These lies, myths and erasures need to be called out and exposed to end the complicity of fashion in global racism and unfairness. Fashion education needs to be restructured around the human universal of clothing rather than the culturally specific ‘Western fashion’, and the history of global dress systems needs to be recognized as the context of the history of Western fashion. Remediation can only occur when people, both makers and consumers, begin to connect the dots and refuse to be complicit in the strategies that the fashion industry uses to promote its global-scale hierarchies. Respect for living cultural and natural systems must become a limitation to expansion for the Western fashion business, and the ultimate rationale for it to radically scale down in size. Fashion Act Now points to the need for a diversity of equally respected clothing systems to supplant the current singular, globally dominant fashion system.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; text-align: right; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; text-align: right; white-space: pre-wrap;">3. You say that you can’t have capitalism without sacrifice zones, and these zones don’t exist, </span>without disposable people and disposable people without racism. Please tell us more….</p><p></p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #0b5394;">In his article, ‘Racism is Killing the Planet’ Hop Hopkins wrote memorably, evocatively and powerfully, that </span></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #0b5394;">“You can’t have climate change without sacrifice zones, and you can’t have sacrifice zones without disposable people, and you can't have disposable people without racism.”</span></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"> <span style="color: #0b5394;">Your question makes the connection with capitalism, and that is the correct inference. Capitalism is an economic system based on resource extraction and growth without restrictions, and therefore both creates, and depends on sacrifice zones: places on earth deemed dispensable and disposable for the furtherance of economic interests. Growth has become the holy grail of capitalism, a principle that our governments and business leaders have been unwilling to touch or to attempt to alter, despite overwhelming evidence that GDP growth is not equivalent to well being and is destroying the planet. Terms like ‘anthropocene’, ‘capitalocene’, and ‘plantationocene’ have been coined to designate the massive destruction of our planet through the doings of humans in the pursuit of economic growth. Wealth has become the focus, not need and not well-being. What Hop Hopkins was getting at is that destruction at this scale is only possible if there is disregard for humanity. He is pointing out that guardians of ecosystems are being denied their humanity, and this on racist grounds, in order to gain access to their lands and the resources therein. If there was respect for all races and peoples, and for all ecosystems, business interests would be ‘limited’ by the obligation to perform consistent with that respect. An ideology has been developed to make it not just thinkable, but also justifiable, to destroy the means of life-support of indigenous peoples, and all other peoples conveniently deemed ‘dispensable’ to prioritize the interests of GDP growth.</span><br /> <br /><span style="color: #0b5394;">I have argued that the fashion industry is involved with sacrifice zones in a variety of ways:</span></blockquote><ol style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-inline-start: 48px; text-align: left;"><li aria-level="1" style="background-color: transparent; color: #4472c4; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #4472c4; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #4472c4; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">utilizes the products from</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #4472c4; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> sacrifice zones. Examples are oil-based synthetic fibres and dyestuffs. It also heavily depends on the oil industry for the extensive transportation of goods entailed in the production, marketing, and disposal of clothing.</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" style="background-color: transparent; color: #4472c4; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #4472c4; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #4472c4; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">creates</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #4472c4; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> sacrifice zones. An obvious example is cotton grown on plantations, water-guzzling, green deserts of industrial agriculture.</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" style="background-color: transparent; color: #4472c4; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #4472c4; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The fashion industry </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #4472c4; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">lays waste</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #4472c4; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> to other cultures. I have expanded the use of the term ‘sacrifice zone’ to include indigenous cultures and people. Women whose lives are wasted on insufficiently compensated labour and tribal peoples forced to give up their culture when forcefully removed from their land are examples of human sacrifice for the sake of economic growth. Cultural sacrifice is huge and involves profound psychological and spiritual damage as well as knowledge and heritage loss. It is the loss of history and the psychic wealth of humanity.</span></p></li><li aria-level="1" style="background-color: transparent; color: #4472c4; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #4472c4; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Recently Sara Arnold pointed out that all of this adds up to a temporal sacrifice zone, namely the future of the planet. This is what the youth of today are calling out very loudly.</span></p></li></ol><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #4472c4; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The fashion industry benefits in sales from the production of sacrifice zones. The industry conceptually erases the destructive impacts of its own economic growth. Clearly the production and sale of clothing is no longer the goal of the industry, but rather a means or a strategy to expand their own interests and wealth. When indigenous peoples are forced to give up their clothing heritage because they are removed from their lands, they are simultaneously forced to buy clothing made available on the market. In this way, the sacrifice of their own, usually environmentally-friendly clothing systems, entails the expansion of the unsustainable global industry of fashion that is deeply dependent on fossil fuels.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #4472c4; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #4472c4; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Two final notes: </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #4472c4; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As pointed out by Naomi Klein, the ‘who’ making the decisions about what and who can be sacrificed has everything to do with white supremacy and global power relations. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #4472c4; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Second, any amelioration of this systemic problem must involve the regeneration of the land. To cease creating sacrifice zones and to permit people to pursue their own lifestyles on their land, will involve respect and limiting the growth of industry and consumption.</span></p><p><b style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><br /></b></p><ol start="4" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-inline-start: 48px;"><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The early fashion theorist, Georg Simmel, claimed that “Fashion exists in our society and not in tribal and classless society because of hierarchy, and that hierarchy drives style change?” Tell us your perspective on this.</span></p></li></ol><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #4472c4; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This early claim has been cited and repeated like a mantra of truth in schools of fashion for and by generation upon generation of students. From my perspective, this ‘accepted wisdom’ is an example of the ‘colonial difference’ (mentioned above). It can inspire no pride that it has become accepted in academe, while based only on preconception and bias and not on research. As I tried to point out in my answer to the previous question, this is a claim based on Western ethnocentrism and hubris.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #4472c4; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I propose something quite different, viz. that diverse clothing systems be understood in terms of their unique internal dynamics; each system is tailored to local circumstances, environments, cultures and histories. It doesn’t make much sense to say, “’They’ don’t have fashion because their clothing is not like ‘ours’”. It only leads to a circular argument based on an initial premise of Western superiority. More useful, in the interest of comparative study, is to examine similarities and differences among clothing systems. I fail to see that the dynamics of the Western fashion system are more or less unique, or intrinsically superior in any way, to the dynamics of other clothing systems. Alas, there has been little attention paid to other systems and therefore there is not much knowledge of them among students of fashion. The historical accidents of economics (colonialism and capitalism) and technology (the impact of the industrial revolution) have facilitated the global dominance of, and the huge attention paid to, the Western system. </span></p><p><b style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><br /></b></p><ol start="5" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-inline-start: 48px;"><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">How do we cut emissions and create a Just Transition, one where the 60 million people in the fashion industry can still feed themselves?</span></p></li></ol><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #4472c4; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There is no doubt that the fashion industry has to degrow by a significant amount. It must get to carbon neutral by 2030 (this goal is considerably more ambitious than 2050 and corresponds with a precautionary approach to the global emergency) and the only way to accomplish that is to shrink considerably in size, use renewable energy, support regenerative agriculture and start operating locally. If the fashion industry truly cared about the 60 million (or more) people in its labour and supply chains, they would not be so badly paid as they are now. Let us not use the ‘just transition’ as an excuse for a slow transition. The very best that the fashion industry can do for people is ensure they inherit a healthy planet. Governments, not just the fashion industry, must shoulder this responsibility. Money must be invested grassroots instead of flowing upward for ostentatious and rapacious consumption by rich power-holders.</span></p><p><b style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); color: black; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"><br /></b></p><ol start="6" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-inline-start: 48px;"><li aria-level="1" dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; list-style-type: decimal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"><p dir="ltr" role="presentation" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">How can regenerative fashion empower tribal and indigenous people and cultures?</span></p></li></ol><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 18pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: #4472c4; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What is ‘regenerative fashion’? Certainly all clothing systems, including Western fashion, need to be sustainable. That is beyond question. By now, however, it will have become clear that my interest is in clothing self-determination as a facet of cultural self-determination, global cultural diversity and cultural survival. I would like to see the regeneration of local and cultural clothing systems, many if not all of which have been compromised in some way by the globally dominant fashion system. I am interested in the revival of the commons in the development of local clothing systems. I am often impressed that ‘empowerment’ as an outside force is not needed because it implies that somehow the fashion industry knows better; this is hubris. What I perceive as necessary is allotting room for self-determination. The fashion industry has to take many steps back and allow other peoples the latitude and means to practise their own cultural traditions. In the spirit of reparation and good will the fashion industry can offer genuine, disinterested support to indigenous peoples and cultures where necessary to enable them to once again thrive in their own communities, on their own land and within their own cultural systems. Paying a living wage and reparations for past insufficient wages are a start. Offering support with no strings attached to indigenous efforts to rekindle their clothing systems is a further step. This may mean assisting in the re-acquisition of ancestral land, or offering courses in regenerative agriculture. Industry can show respect for indigenous design by not stealing it. It could celebrate and support indigenous ways, from a respectful distance. Reparation needs to occur with powerful motives, not for profit but for global well being. </span></p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br />Sandrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13817899796223662652noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9112370903337891682.post-72558052214124509102021-09-23T21:32:00.011+02:002021-10-31T14:43:35.928+01:00My career in a nutshell: an autobiographical piece focusing on the myths of fashion<p> <span face="Calibri, sans-serif"> </span></p><style class="WebKit-mso-list-quirks-style">
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</style><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; text-align: center;">5-minute Presentation to<o:p></o:p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; text-align: center;">a Seminar on Justice and Design<o:p></o:p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; text-align: center;">University of Southern Denmark<o:p></o:p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; text-align: center;">23 September 2021<o:p></o:p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; text-align: center;">with Dr. Kat Sark</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-left: 18pt;">To review my career, I will focus on the theme of <b>fashion’s myths</b>. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-left: 18pt;"><br /></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l3 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]-->1.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><!--[endif]--> The experience of ‘<b>bumping into myths</b>’ is something that I think we all share. Going to university we gain knowledge that changes our thinking. That is <i>why</i> we go to university. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 54pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l3 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]-->One of the most powerful moments during my undergrad in anthropology occurred when we were taught the definition of ‘<b>ethnocentrism’</b> and learned that knowledge, and what seems self-evident and logical, <i>may not be consistent with the facts</i>. Culture is defined by what is passed down generation after generation. Myths are guardians of the status quo. Confrontation with the idea that the truths that I grew up with could, in fact, be myths was hard – but also exciting. Barriers in my thinking crumbled and I saw options for new directions.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 54pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l3 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]-->I believe that we are living in a time when <b>we must explode myths</b> if we are to construct a sustainable future. We cannot continue with the status quo; there must be radical cultural change to bring us within the carrying capacity of our planet.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 54pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l3 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: grey; font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 128;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]-->In retrospect, exploding myths has been a prime motivation for all of my publications on fashion. <span style="color: grey;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 54pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l3 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><br /></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l3 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]-->2.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><!--[endif]-->As an anthropologist I do fieldwork among the Batak people of North Sumatra in Indonesia. Immersion in another culture has taught me to see my own culture through new eyes.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l3 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><br /></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l3 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]-->3.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><!--[endif]-->I learned that <b>colonialism split the world in two</b>. From a substratum of diverse cultures, we collectively became:<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 54pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l3 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]-->Either the colonizer or the colonized; <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 54pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l3 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]-->Either the Global North or the Global South; <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 54pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l3 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]-->Either the developed or the primitive/uncivilized/un(der)developed/developing – all pejoratives used at different times<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-left: 36pt;">We are all either Us or Them. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-left: 36pt;">During fieldwork I, from the Global North, came in close contact with ‘them’, in the Global South and even started, to a certain extent, to identify with ‘them’. I learned that we had much in common but that history had forced us into positions of difference, even opposition.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-left: 54pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l3 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]-->I also learned, gradually, that the “Us – Them” dichotomy was operating powerfully in fashion studies. For example, it was once standard fare in fashion studies that <b>style change through time</b> was what distinguished fashion from other forms of clothing expression. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 54pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l3 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]-->In my N. Sumatran village, I had a <b>EUREKA</b> moment when I saw a creative weaver search for design inspiration from foreign textiles that she found on the markekt, and then invent new designs. Hey! <b>Here was style change through time in an indigenous weaving tradition!</b> Change was even a <b>hallmark</b> of that tradition! We had style change through time <i>in common</i> in our respective clothing traditions!</p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 54pt; text-align: left; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-indent: -101.2pt;"> In this way I learned that fashion studies have not always been objective; and the understanding of non-fashion has been based on biased preconceptions and not research.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; text-indent: -101.2pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 101.2pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l3 level3 lfo1; mso-text-indent-alt: -9.0pt; text-indent: -101.2pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 54pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l3 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]-->In 1993 I published <i>Batak Cloth and Clothing, A Dynamic Indonesian Tradition</i>, a history of dress of the Batak peoples. Through this book, I was saying that dress history is not exclusive to the West. Fashion History should be <b>histor<i>ies</i></b><i> </i>of dress: plural and diverse, one for each culture of the world.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 54pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l3 level2 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]-->In ‘Reorienting Fashion Theory’ my 2004 publication, I explored the pervasiveness of the us vs. them binary in fashion and fashion studies. <b>Why would we want to perpetuate this myth of difference? Why is it so stubborn? </b>I perceived that it has much to do with <b>power</b> and bolstering the sense of <b>Western superiority</b>.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 101.2pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l3 level3 lfo1; mso-text-indent-alt: -9.0pt; text-indent: -101.2pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span>i.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><!--[endif]-->Note how the designation ‘fashion’ implies that there is non-fashion, but at the same time conceptually ‘erases’ the relevance of the clothing systems of other peoples. This supports our sense of Western superiority – we ‘<b>erase’</b> the evidence to the contrary. <b>Think about that; it is a pernicious form of racism</b>.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 72pt; text-align: left; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]-->Racism in the fashion system goes much, much, much deeper than whether or not people with dark skin are represented in board rooms and on runways. It is bound up <b>in the very definition of fashion</b>. The essential divide between ‘us’ and ‘them’ is the fundamental myth on which all other myths are built. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l2 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]-->In <b>my most recent publication</b>: ‘Regenerative Fashion: There can be no Other’ I <b>revisited </b>the mythical dichotomy of West vs non-West in fashion because I perceived that this colonial-era dualism is even informing how we approach ‘sustainability’. <b>We have been accepting the status quo, looking at material issues, and leaving out the matter of social justice, which, to my mind, should be absolutely central</b>. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l2 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]-->I am so pleased that this seminar is highlighting this theme of social justice in design and offer my compliments to the instructors! <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l2 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]-->It boils down to this: <o:p></o:p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-left: 36pt; text-align: center;"><b><i>Where there is respect for other living beings, we will tread gently on the earth</i></b><i>.</i><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-left: 36pt;">It is very simple, really: where we dehumanize and exploit, we will harm other beings and the planet. Hence I believe that <b>respect is key</b>. That means relinquishing dualistic thinking and learning to communicate across the reified divide.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-left: 36pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-left: 72pt;">My message to students today: It may be confusing and disorienting to bump up against societal and conceptual myths, but it is crucial to recognize them and to move forward on new understandings. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-left: 72pt;"><br /></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l3 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="color: grey; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: background1; mso-themeshade: 128;">4.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]-->Hence my question inviting you to share the kinds of fashion myths or social myths that you have run up against. I believe that the uncomfortable discovery of these myths is an engine of both change and empowerment: <span style="color: grey;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l3 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><br /></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 54pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 11pt;">The anthropologist, Ruth Benedict, once pointed out that </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 11pt;">“…no civilization has in it any element which in the last analysis is not the contribution of an individual.” </span>Society – and the fashion industry -- run on the momentum of beliefs and norms. <span style="font-size: 11pt;">During the course of your study and life experience, have you ever been confronted with a conceptual ‘myth’ being perpetuated by the fashion industry? What is a good reaction to that discovery? In the end, we are not ‘trained employees’ and cogs in economic and social wheels; collectively we are the wheel, an insight that is empowering because it gives licence.</span><o:p style="text-align: right; text-indent: -18pt;"> </o:p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 54pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -18pt;"><o:p style="text-align: right; text-indent: -18pt;"> 5. </o:p><o:p style="text-align: right; text-indent: -18pt;"> </o:p><span style="text-align: right; text-indent: -18pt;">That is why I am now a member of Fashion Act Now, and have chosen to become an activist at this stage in my career.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-right: 36pt;"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-right: 72pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-right: 72pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-right: 72pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-right: 36pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><style class="WebKit-mso-list-quirks-style">
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</style>Sandrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13817899796223662652noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9112370903337891682.post-27852190314413790062021-08-30T11:43:00.009+02:002021-11-29T12:43:27.903+01:00Indigenous Craft as Climate Adaptation and Mitigation<p>On Wednesday 25 August 2021, I presented a webinar for the PanSumatra Network for Heritage Conservation (<a href="https://heritagecorner.blogspot.com/2021/08/heritage-and-climate-change.html" target="_blank">PANSUMNET</a>), an informal group coordinated by Hasti Tarekat within the Sumatra Heritage Trust / <a href="http://berandawarisansumatra.or.id/en/home/" target="_blank">Beranda Warisan Sumatra</a> (BWS). The event was moderated by arts and culture activist, Desmond W.S. Anabrang.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aBU4ZdPgAjA/YSyi2moZ01I/AAAAAAAADRQ/rWXW0tUHJqkH8dc4ZIK_LmNW4Il4_tZqwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1080/Pansumnet.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aBU4ZdPgAjA/YSyi2moZ01I/AAAAAAAADRQ/rWXW0tUHJqkH8dc4ZIK_LmNW4Il4_tZqwCLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h640/Pansumnet.jpg" title="Webinar Poster" width="640" /></a></div><p>My goal was to bring the topic of global warming into focus relative to craft and heritage. On August 9 of this month, the 6th report of the IPCC report came out and was heralded as a 'Code Red for Humanity'. My talk was based on the comment made by Helen Clarkson, CEO of the Climate Group, that from now on,</p><p><span style="font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 32pt;">“</span><span style="font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 32pt; font-style: italic;">Every decision, every investment, every target, needs to have the climate at its core.</span><span style="font-family: "Century Gothic"; font-size: 32pt;">”</span></p><p>So what does this climate 'code red' mean for heritage and craft? I proposed that this should become a focus of conversation and that it is incumbent on each aspect of heritage to work this out. UNESCO has already done significant work in this direction. It is all hands on deck. While the Northern Nations shoulder the burden of reducing greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), I pointed out that there was a leadership role that could be assumed within Indonesia because of the wealth of Indigenous Knowledge that is found in the country -- and that this wealth should be treasured and encouraged, that this incredible asset is undermined by so-called 'development' and 'capitalist growth'.</p><p>My example was traditional Batak textiles, which I likened to honey: a valuable product collectively produced from the local environment, healthy and dependent on a <i>healthy</i> local environment. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-So1_8HMkwMo/YSylwHUJfnI/AAAAAAAADRY/Bf0W4r6DbFgcggJhrBQieJVX9oeqxGakACLcBGAsYHQ/s920/bee.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="613" data-original-width="920" height="266" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-So1_8HMkwMo/YSylwHUJfnI/AAAAAAAADRY/Bf0W4r6DbFgcggJhrBQieJVX9oeqxGakACLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h266/bee.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p>I showed the modernization of Batak textiles in the light of CO2 emissions and fossil hydrocarbons. If the traditional textiles were carbon negative (they stored CO2 in their materials and the weaving equipment), the modern textiles have been entirely transformed by the availability and prevalence of fossil hydrocarbons, through the use of synthetic dyes, yarns, and fossil fuel-based transportation. In the end, this has meant that the only 'heritage' that has been preserved is the <i>appearance</i> (design) of the textiles, not the material and not the systems which infused them with meaning before they became a 'cultural commodity'.</p><p>I placed the blame squarely on the shoulders of social changes that have occurred since colonialism and pointed out that the reliance on fossil fuels will have to be relinquished. </p><p><i>There will be no choice.</i></p><p>The Webinar was live streamed on Facebook but the link cannot be used in this environment. </p><p>A copy of the presentation will be made available on the BWS website.</p><p>Thanks to the talented MJA Nashir for the poster image and to the dynamic BWS and PANSUMNET for organizing and hosting the event. Thanks also to the warm, enthusiastic and very engaged Indonesian audience. </p><p>You may access the zoom r<a href="https://www.facebook.com/100010403358245/videos/683423203054454/" target="_blank">ecording</a> here.</p><p><b>Postscript, November 2021</b></p><p>I have just watched the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnEXEIp5vB8">recording of a webinar</a> by Bill Rees to the Canadian Club of Rome, entitled 'Too Clever by Half, but not nearly smart enough: why societal collapse is increasingly probable'. William E. Rees is the brain behind the <a href="https://www.footprintnetwork.org/our-work/ecological-footprint/">Ecological Footprint</a> model that has caught on around the world as a way of measuring our impact on the earth. He showed a remarkable slide, which I screenshot and present here: </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-U_ffuYaBQiw/YaSz1d_ErSI/AAAAAAAADTU/UHzvQw1thlMu3HTT7eDZufr6I4fxDmVDwCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/Slide%2B1.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1142" data-original-width="2048" height="302" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-U_ffuYaBQiw/YaSz1d_ErSI/AAAAAAAADTU/UHzvQw1thlMu3HTT7eDZufr6I4fxDmVDwCLcBGAsYHQ/w542-h302/Slide%2B1.png" width="542" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>If I have discussed the impact of the availability of fossil fuels on Batak textiles, this slide shows the macro impact on world population and economic growth. No graphic could have better revealed that Batak textiles are in step with the world trajectory and out of step with the carrying capacity of the earth. </p><p>This slide, if you can read the small print at the bottom, is "Based on estimates by the History Database of the Global Environment (HYDE) and the United Nations. On OurWorldinData.org you can download the annual data. This is a visualization from OurWorldinData.org where you can find data and research on how the world is changing."</p>Sandrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13817899796223662652noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9112370903337891682.post-24374636088223518692021-08-08T11:30:00.006+02:002021-08-12T18:28:47.205+02:00I completed the Zuiderzee Route<p> <span face="Calibri, sans-serif">On Wednesday night I completed the Zuyderzee Route on my trusty bicycle. I spent 14 days at it and cycled 820 km. Starting and finishing in Nijkerk, traveling counter clockwise, I rode up around the East side of the lake, over the dike by bike-bus (alas, the dike is being renovated) and down the West side to Amsterdam, then skirted the South shore back to Nijkerk.</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">I can’t complain about the weather. The skies were photogenically Dutch with scudding clouds topping the greenest of pastures studded with black and white cows and woolly sheep. The cool temperatures meant that I could keep covered up and safe from the sun. Only a few brief showers. Every day was more-or-less ideal cycling weather.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">I think I experienced The Netherlands at her best. Physically, she is made for cyclists: compellingly flat with endless rivers, streams, tributaries, canals, (cantilever) bridges, dikes, ferries, lakes, and even open seas (on the day I cycled beyond the route to Harlingen). Church steeples in the panoramic distances, colourful fields, lots of ducks, geese and other water fowl, history at every node. I could do the route ten times, no: fifty times, slowly, and still glean new insights. There were castles and museums, majestic VOC buildings, forts and moats, every kind of gable, local styles of water craft and marinas stuffed with yachts. There were patios where there was food and people made enthusiastic use of them. It was friendly, human-scale, carefree, and all were accepting of cyclists and understanding of our needs.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">One of the things I liked most was plugging into the “Friends on Bikes” network. For a nominal fee, just to cover costs, kind bike-enthusiasts put up cyclists for the night. It makes bike travel simple and possible. Most of us are minimalist, independent types, with almost no baggage. Cycle, wash out the underwear, sleep, have breakfast and cycle on. The hosts know the routine from their own bicycle journeys. Six different hosts put me up in their homes. I spent more than one night in most so that I could dally and see the sights, and that made my trip delightfully sociable. Often there were animated discussions in the evening, and again over breakfast with other cyclists at the same address. Convivial and congenial. Many hosts were single women enjoying the company of cyclists just as much as I enjoyed the company of my hosts. I was struck by how gracious and kind they were. It wasn’t until I headed back in the train on that last night that I ran into mask-refusing grumblers and an obstreperous drunk. Maybe cyclists are just plain sane salt of the earth. This was community, trusting and kind. No bad apples on my journey.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">During a rain shower, I discovered another network, that of ‘Rest Spots’ (https://www.rustpunt.nu). Run on the honour system, they are a commons, built on empathy. Places to have a drink, take a pee, charge up a battery, hide from a shower, or just be languid for a bit. Set up and cared for by volunteers and on their property. Absolutely endearing. This is what life everywhere should be like. Let’s expand the commons, share and trust each other! It generated such a good mood, such a sense of well-being, of belonging, of the world being our oyster. Who needs bitcoin? Give me this incomparable wealth, of ultimate value when the rubber hits the road. This is the Netherlands that one can’t help but love; I didn’t know that it was there all the time, ubiquitously between the lines!<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: center;"><span lang="NL">Itinerary<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="NL"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="NL">Day 1: Oosterbeek to Zeewolde via Otterlo and Nijkerk <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="NL"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="NL">Day 2: Zeewolde to Ketel Haven via Harderwijk, Nunspeet, and Kampen<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="NL"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">Day 3: Ketel Haven to Ketel Haven via Kampen and the Ketelbrug<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">Day 4: Ketel Haven to Creil via the Ketelbrug, Urk and Lemmer over the dike<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">Day 5: Creil to Creil via Lemmer and Oosterzee – a day on the water <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">Day 6: Creil to Makkum via all the little Fresian towns en route, including Stavoren and Hindeloopen<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">Day 7: Makkum to Makkum via Harlingen (seashore there, inland back)<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="NL">Day 8: Makkum to Enkhuizen – via the Afsluitdijk, then Den Oever and Medemblik<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="NL"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="NL">Day 9: Enkhuizen to Enkhuizen – via Urk by sailboat<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="NL"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">Day 10: Enkhuizen – a day at the ZuiderzeeMuseum<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">Day 11: Enkhuizen to Warder via Hoorn and Edam<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">Day 12: Warder to Warder via Purmerend, Monnickendam, Marken, Volendam and Edam<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="NL">Day 13: Warder to Hoofddorp via Amsterdam (Vondelpark, Sloten and Schiphol)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="NL"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span lang="NL">Day 14: Hoofddorp to Nijkerk via Amsterdam, Muider, Naarden, Bussum and Bunschoten/Spakenburg<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; 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text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-kUkhTwETI8Y/YQ-YfOvKClI/AAAAAAAADL0/cai2D3-eb_YaCV1QYvumL1iZAgrltI-pQCLcBGAsYHQ/XUPL4945.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /><img alt="" data-original-height="1152" data-original-width="2048" height="181" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-kUkhTwETI8Y/YQ-YfOvKClI/AAAAAAAADL0/cai2D3-eb_YaCV1QYvumL1iZAgrltI-pQCLcBGAsYHQ/w320-h181/XUPL4945.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div> <br /><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" dir="rtl" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: right;"><span lang="NL"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" dir="rtl" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: right;"><span lang="NL"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" dir="rtl" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: right;"><span lang="NL"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" dir="rtl" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: right;"><span lang="NL"><br /></span></p>Sandrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13817899796223662652noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9112370903337891682.post-13625297336601430962021-06-07T15:20:00.021+02:002021-06-26T12:05:33.956+02:00Decolonial Fashion Lament and the Call to Action<p> <span face="Calibri, sans-serif">As a Canadian, as a citizen of the world, as a person who went to school beside a Residential School, as an anthropologist, as a sentient person with a heart and social responsibility, I am feeling the pain of the indescribable discovery of so many unmarked indigenous children’s graves in Kamloops British Columbia.</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2021/05/28/world/children-remains-discovered-canada-kamloops-school/index.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">The remains of 215 children were found in unmarked graves outside one of Canada’s largest Residential Schools.</span></a> The First Nations children were essentially abducted from their homes and subjected to abuse, hunger and neglect at the residential schools. <a href="https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/residential-schools" target="_blank"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">An estimated 150,000 children attended these schools across the country and thousands died there</span></a>. The precise number will never be known. <a href="https://indigenouspeoplesatlasofcanada.ca/article/history-of-residential-schools/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">The residential school system, a collaboration between Government and Churches, was set up to educate, convert, and assimilate the indigenous population.</span></a><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">I feel the pain of this discovery increasingly intensely. It was institutional murder: planned, condoned and silenced. The schools were a form of genocide. If you think about this long enough, it is unbearable. <a href="https://fb.watch/5ZMtFiZ_Fj/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">And the indigenous peoples of Canada have had to bear this knowledge for so long</span></a>. It has been denied, misunderstood and ignored. Many reactions to the news of the unmarked graves also constitute denial. Such violence is excruciating to think; denial is an escape route. But we are learning, with dread and regret, that these will not be the only covered-up graves that will come to light. It is only the beginning of the discoveries. People are talking about the tip of the iceberg. The symptom of a much larger, red pool.<b><o:p></o:p></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">The discovery of the graves in Kamloops is a confrontation with “coloniality.”<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">The confrontation is hard. It is also necessary. This is what ‘decolonizing’ is about: confronting ourselves with the pain of coloniality. Exposing what has been erased. Airing the facts. Acknowledging the facts. <a href="https://www.barrietoday.com/around-ontario/canada-convenient-ignorance-peoples-knowledge-of-residential-schools-woefully-lacking-3849788?fbclid=IwAR2TJY5mEKgDxbxVMizbKhTb0YT5Km17TWubREFR6triX3dpX541qvfWD0Q" target="_blank"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Letting the silence turn into voices</span></a>. Listening with compassion and empathy. Only this can open the door to repair, restitution, solidarity. This is the only true escape route, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/06/03/slavery-us-germany-holocaust-reckoning/?fbclid=IwAR0h2XsDuy9gDaYOrSVyGV5d1OMDFxTwY4FJUk7hhjZ_pk-4l__fK_MogWs" target="_blank"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">the only way to put the past behind us</span></a>. Because otherwise it will live on, and the wrongs will continue to compound. Facilitating the silence is on-going complicity. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">What, you may ask, does this have to do with decolonizing fashion? <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">I notice that many of the images used to depict the Kamloops discovery utilize <a href="https://you.leadnow.ca/petitions/kamloops-indian-residential-school-215-bodies-found-call-for-urgent-action?utm_source=leadnow&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=blast2021-06-04&fbclid=IwAR2JQs6lL0GHHu2Z5vEDEOiH6pjy_7f09_U-I1ELZ0X6swj-akZ5r4mdiTU" target="_blank"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">the imagery of dress</span></a>: photos of those children before and after their attendance at the schools. The ‘befores’ are indigenous dress, the ‘afters’ are Western dress. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p></o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-xN34TofSXUY/YNaxn-qR1XI/AAAAAAAADLI/MhE257Pz55U185GbJTf72638qXb4sUO4gCLcBGAsYHQ/IMG_2524.JPG" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-xN34TofSXUY/YNaxn-qR1XI/AAAAAAAADLI/MhE257Pz55U185GbJTf72638qXb4sUO4gCLcBGAsYHQ/w291-h400/IMG_2524.JPG" width="291" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Beaded gloves</td></tr></tbody></table><span face="Calibri, sans-serif">It is no surprise, no secret, that Western dress was used as a primary image of ‘civilization’. This was done throughout the world; it is one of the hallmarks of colonialism. Dress is perhaps the most obvious symbol of cultural difference. Suppression of indigenous dress is not unlike the suppression of indigenous languages. At the Canadian residential schools both were forbidden. The children were alienated from their cultural roots by having these two things, both so intimate to a person’s identity, stigmatized and forbidden. ‘Fashion’ was deployed as a tool of suppression, a facet of denial, a way to silence; it was denigration of authenticity. It was a way to ‘civilize’ the ‘savages’ – and there was even the hubris that clothing them in Western garb was a favour to them.</span></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">Many of the current memorials and vigils to the children involve items of indigenous dress: moccasins for their little feet, and people wearing ceremonial garb. Indigenous dress is being used to extoll the cultural identity of those children, to restore them to their culture. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jun/05/canada-indigenous-residential-schools-first-nations-children?fbclid=IwAR1CXNHkXOIWS9g_Q8elAfv_fmUOfOampexLUc7xAp_SjihMGDrbaS6ZcsE" target="_blank"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Finally they are able to return home</span></a> after having been torn away, often at gunpoint, so long ago. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">There are other responses on social media. One that hits home hardest for me, who has had a heartfelt need to abjectly apologize, is the reminder that these atrocities do not live in the past, but continue today in numerous forms. The struggle of Canada’s indigenous peoples is not over, not by a long shot. It continues in the form of trying to block oil pipelines from crossing their lands, of motivating the government to clean up their water poisoned by industry, of trying to obtain social and physical space to practice their culture, and airspace to speak their truths, break silences and recover their past. The list is long. And it is also related to fashion. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">In a recent <a href="https://www.stateoffashion.org/en/past-editions/intervention/longreads/long-read-titel/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">publication</span></a><span class="page_range" face=""Open Sans", sans-serif" style="box-sizing: border-box; caret-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); color: #333333; font-size: 16px;"> I pointed out that</span> fashion not only feeds off intersecting sacrifice zones, but constructs its own specific sacrifice zone. 'Sacrifice Zones' are areas of the earth's surface deemed expendable for the sake of profits for the few. Fashion is implicated in oil pipelines, poisoned water, land confiscation and soil degradation, all of which are linked in one way or another to industrial fashion production. Fashion practices are implicated in the the silencing of indigenous culture and the erosion of indigenous pride. The social hierarchy that fashion displays also carries messages about racial discrimination. Indigenous dress is another sacrifice zone of fashion -- witness its almost complete erasure from 'fashion studies'.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">There is a variant of ‘residential schools’ that has grown up in association with fashion production. They are called ‘<a href="https://fb.watch/5ZS8Lj10pW/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Factory Schools</span></a>’ (a petition against them is embedded in the link) where children are abused and their cultures obliterated. The misery that we all regret relative to Kamloops is on-going in the world. We, from the now dominant culture, are being told time and again by indigenous peoples that they don't need pity or apologies for what occurred in Kamloops (and by implication other sacrifice zones as well). They need solidarity to remove the policies and barriers that prevent them from flourishing. We need to stand with them to demand social justice.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">Decolonial fashion praxis has extensive scope. It is not restricted to the work of designers and the recognition of their creations. It also pertains to the erasures and sacrifice zones implicated in fashion production and practice. Including the expendable little bodies dumped into the Kamloops graves. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"> <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><br /></p>Sandrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13817899796223662652noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9112370903337891682.post-25768868557822830322021-05-22T18:44:00.008+02:002021-12-02T11:03:04.268+01:00The Batak Textile Heritage Saujana Conservation and Sustainable Development OR When Batak Textiles were Honey and How They can Change the World<div class="separator"><div style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;">I delivered the webinar 'The Batak Textile Heritage Saujana Conservation and Sustainable Development' on 21 May 2021 as part of the 4th International e-Public Forum on Intangible Cultural Heritage and Sustainable Development. This, in turn, was part of the 2021 INTERNATIONAL ONLINE SUMMER COURSE ON JOGJA WORLD BATIK CITY: Balancing Creative Economy and Heritage Saujana Conservation to Foster Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) <br /><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-h-8wsfkL_0o/YKk8zYXJlvI/AAAAAAAADH8/8GSTKA6bLSsgZGZf-qnaB0jvqOGcsJK0QCLcBGAsYHQ/s515/map.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="318" data-original-width="515" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-h-8wsfkL_0o/YKk8zYXJlvI/AAAAAAAADH8/8GSTKA6bLSsgZGZf-qnaB0jvqOGcsJK0QCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/map.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;">Why, you might wonder, is a seminar on Batak included in a webinar on batik?</div><div style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"> Batak and batik differ by only one letter, but there is a world of difference between the two. <br />o Batik is a textile decoration technique practised mainly on Java, and <br />o Batak is an ethnic group in the province of North Sumatra that weaves and does not make batik. <br /><br /> There is certainly difference between Batak textiles and batik textiles, but there is also similarity. <br />All of the hundreds of textile traditions in the island archipelago of Indonesia have similarities and differences; they relate to each other like variations on a theme.<br />To my mind, the entire Nusantara textile heritage deserves UNESCO recognition, because all these textile traditions are related to one another and reference each other like a single ‘set’ of material culture. They form a whole.<br />I applaud the wisdom of the organizers of this forum for including a comparative perspective on batik. <br /><br /><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AUKC_vXaEuw/YKk9X0Q-7bI/AAAAAAAADII/VKHhVLtDo4Y9ORTd_lty9Napn2yBEsL7ACLcBGAsYHQ/s576/SDGs.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="288" data-original-width="576" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AUKC_vXaEuw/YKk9X0Q-7bI/AAAAAAAADII/VKHhVLtDo4Y9ORTd_lty9Napn2yBEsL7ACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/SDGs.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />UN Sustainable Development Goals<br /><br />This seminar focuses on the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations. The Sustainable Development Goals represent a remarkable step in the history of global relations. In 2015 the United Nations agreed to a global partnership to improve human lives and at the same time to protect the environment, through sustainable development. The date for achieving the goals was set at 2030. I understand that today’s seminar is one initiative of a member country to explore how to achieve these goals. I applaud this intention.<br /><br /><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GcqGfyQ-L5o/YKk9sbZhHLI/AAAAAAAADIU/PjSYDqghrhMaX2pDu51lUIUjc_nY8EPgwCLcBGAsYHQ/s495/pinunsaan.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="371" data-original-width="495" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GcqGfyQ-L5o/YKk9sbZhHLI/AAAAAAAADIU/PjSYDqghrhMaX2pDu51lUIUjc_nY8EPgwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/pinunsaan.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />Detail of a Batak pinunsaan textile<br /><br />The textile crafts of Indonesia represent an extremely valuable resource in the global attempt to live within planetary ecological boundaries. <br /></div><div style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;">My position is that craft traditions present alternatives to the dominant global systems of production and capitalism, which have brought our planet into a precarious ecological position, with global warming, and over-exploitation of planetary resources and people.<br /></div><div><br /></div><br /><br /></div><div class="separator"><br /></div><div class="separator"><br /></div><div class="separator"><br /></div><div class="separator"><br /></div><div class="separator"><br /></div><div class="separator"><br /></div><div class="separator"><br /></div><div class="separator"><br /></div><div class="separator">Map of Indonesia</div><div class="separator"><br /></div><div class="separator"><div style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VbI1-K5PSD0/YKk-ggfwpUI/AAAAAAAADIc/6vf0dbACKPoTtw1N5LYaaiqRluh8D4j1QCLcBGAsYHQ/s986/Paris%2BClimate%2BAccord.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="555" data-original-width="986" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VbI1-K5PSD0/YKk-ggfwpUI/AAAAAAAADIc/6vf0dbACKPoTtw1N5LYaaiqRluh8D4j1QCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Paris%2BClimate%2BAccord.jpg" width="320" /></a><br /><br /><br />2017 Paris Climate Accord – a UN agreement</div><div style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><br />After the 2015 SDG agreement came the legally binding 2017 Paris Agreement to stay within 1.5 degrees of global warming, by peaking greenhouse gas emissions as soon as possible to achieve a climate neutral world by 2050. This agreement implies and demands rapid and revolutionary economic and social transformation in the Global North, where most of the emission are caused.<br /><br />Failure to meet the terms of this agreement are predicted to have dire climate consequences that will cost governments, including Indonesia, a great deal of money and will hurt most those who are least responsible for the CO2 emissions. Think of the cyclone earlier this year in Eastern Indonesia which threatened the lives of many weavers and the viability of their textile crafts. Think, too, of the corona pandemic which is believed to be a result of compromised ecosystems.<br /><br /><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jNY-0zoxo5s/YKk_KRm_AtI/AAAAAAAADIk/srm-pnmfj389rs3AMDU6mSYnB4tvitvLQCLcBGAsYHQ/s238/degrowth.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="184" data-original-width="238" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jNY-0zoxo5s/YKk_KRm_AtI/AAAAAAAADIk/srm-pnmfj389rs3AMDU6mSYnB4tvitvLQCLcBGAsYHQ/s0/degrowth.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://www.eoi.es/blogs/guidopreti/2014/01/10/if-continued-growth-is-not-sustainable-would-its-opposite-degrowth-be-the-right-alternative" target="_blank">Degrowth Movement</a><br /><br />The Degrowth movement has been building since the 1970s when scientists recognized the ecological limits to growth and it is becoming increasingly recognized and established.<br /><br />It centres on a complex problem:<br />1. Capitalism requires growth to function<br />2. The Exponential growth of capitalism means that the terms of the Paris Agreement will not and cannot be met<br />3. Sustainable development, when it is based on capitalist growth, might be growth but it is not sustainable. <br /><br />Simply put, there is a problem when the SDGs encourage capitalist growth because this, precisely, is what leads to environmental degradation and social inequality. <br /><br />Hence specialists are <a href="https://www.eoi.es/blogs/guidopreti/2014/01/10/if-continued-growth-is-not-sustainable-would-its-opposite-degrowth-be-the-right-alternative/" target="_blank">proposing degrowth as a way for the world to become more equitable</a> whereby production and consumption remain within the ecological carrying capacity of the earth. <a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-o2DEd9gfPno/YKk_sNcooUI/AAAAAAAADIs/ONQi5QNPKUY1pn03NY9MIghYcEHF4QlRgCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/upside-down-world-wall-map-political-without-flags_wm00626.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1265" data-original-width="2048" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-o2DEd9gfPno/YKk_sNcooUI/AAAAAAAADIs/ONQi5QNPKUY1pn03NY9MIghYcEHF4QlRgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/upside-down-world-wall-map-political-without-flags_wm00626.jpg" width="320" /></a><br /><br />In other words, it is time to see the world turned on its head.<br /><br />The word ‘development’, once a central, almost universal goal, has become problematic due to social consequences and the limited capacities of the planet.<br /><br />Since the colonial era, craft has been seen as a vehicle to enable the poor to climb out of poverty. Revising craft for income generation is currently a predominant economic model for so-called ‘craft development’. Also in Indonesia.<br /><br />However, recent research shows that <b>capitalist growth creates poverty; it does not relieve poverty</b>. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rGvz0ibPMI" target="_blank">Poverty in the world has never been as great as it is today</a>. Growth of GDP does not imply improved well-being. (see <a href="https://www.jasonhickel.org/blog/2021/3/28/extreme-poverty-isnt-natural-it-is-created" target="_blank">Jason Hickel</a>)<br />This means that the global economic system requires rehabilitation; the dominance of its economic and productions systems is currently <a href="https://bigthink.com/politics-current-affairs/economic-growth-is-killing-us" target="_blank">a most pressing global problem</a>. <br /><br /> <a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-V_NjjSCbTCo/YKj6hqlSsNI/AAAAAAAADHE/Sm2xLYZErNAXvjTJHXORjTYF-CTGIZUpwCLcBGAsYHQ/s2032/Elza.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1006" data-original-width="2032" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-V_NjjSCbTCo/YKj6hqlSsNI/AAAAAAAADHE/Sm2xLYZErNAXvjTJHXORjTYF-CTGIZUpwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Elza.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />Batak backstrap loom being manipulated by Ompu Elza, br. Sinaga. (2019)<br /><br />Because capitalist growth creates poverty, environmental destruction and is exploitative there is a serious problem when craft is transformed into a vehicle for economic growth: I am speaking of faster looms, greater production, hierarchical workshop settings with a boss, and independent craft makers being transformed into labourers.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YZtvz32sses/YKlAiEuurNI/AAAAAAAADI0/P8fyHo3ipGc0prxS8O1cUutxVL7xRV1pACLcBGAsYHQ/s308/atbm.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="308" data-original-width="232" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YZtvz32sses/YKlAiEuurNI/AAAAAAAADI0/P8fyHo3ipGc0prxS8O1cUutxVL7xRV1pACLcBGAsYHQ/s0/atbm.jpg" /></a></div><div style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;">ATBM (semi-mechanized) loom being manipulated by a Batak weaver in Pematang Siantar. (ca. 2010)</div><div style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;">Indigenous craft production systems are alternative models for business and industry. Indigenous production systems may offer strategies of sustainable production and social equality. Rather than conceptualizing craft as lagging in terms of global economic development, craft may be treasured for the kinds of models that it provides for alternative and sustainable economic and production systems. Then the challenge for craft activists becomes how to ensure that indigenous craft systems survive and thrive and are honoured rather than transformed into yet another capitalist activity. </div><div style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;">To explain this, I would like to speak briefly (given the short time available), about the position of Batak textiles, in the physical and social environments of the Batak people. <br /><br />The social role of hand-woven Batak textiles is an example of what industrial, post-colonial society is looking for -- and longing for -- when it aspires to become sustainable.<br /><br />Indonesian people I think would all agree that the textiles of their ethnic communities are flags of identity. Each community has unique and characteristic textile designs.<br /><br /> <a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cKp3f4YLZpY/YKkgPtfj-0I/AAAAAAAADHM/_qsF29e4pFY_-QL5P6Oqdq3jVm54e7eXACLcBGAsYHQ/s450/B%2BMaratur.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="338" data-original-width="450" height="251" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cKp3f4YLZpY/YKkgPtfj-0I/AAAAAAAADHM/_qsF29e4pFY_-QL5P6Oqdq3jVm54e7eXACLcBGAsYHQ/w334-h251/B%2BMaratur.jpg" width="334" /></a><br />detail of Batak Bintang Maratur textile</div><div style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;">In the Batak area the weaving arts are in severe decline and much textile knowledge has been lost. As a consequence, many Batak people are not aware that the identity-function of the cloth relates to much more than just how it looks. It also relates to how the cloth was made and used. Because time is short, I will restrict myself to brief aspects of how it used to be made.</div><div style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-geKVjLH5Frc/YKkho_fPKrI/AAAAAAAADHU/Y3kROUe3KKgKM9mPJL1Kir6WOJGvkMEigCLcBGAsYHQ/s608/Sihol.jpg" style="clear: left; display: inline; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="436" data-original-width="608" height="278" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-geKVjLH5Frc/YKkho_fPKrI/AAAAAAAADHU/Y3kROUe3KKgKM9mPJL1Kir6WOJGvkMEigCLcBGAsYHQ/w389-h278/Sihol.jpg" width="389" /></a></div><div style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;">Ompu ni Sihol, surrounded by her grandchildren, is making indigo dye. (1980)</div><div style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;">Batak textiles are like honey. A bee collects pollen from the flowers in the near vicinity and makes honey. A weaver, in this case Ompu ni Sihol, is like a bee. She assembles materials from the near environment and her honey is an ancient clothing tradition.</div><div style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;">Batak textiles originally represented the near environment including:</div><div style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;">1. Various kinds of wood to make the weaving equipment<br />2. Grasses used in weaving, dyeing and starching<br />3. Plants for dyes<br />4. Local fibres for the yarn, including banana and a kind of nettle as well as cotton<br />5. Water next to the village serving in all of the processes<br />The indigenous textiles were made using local materials and local knowledge, and stayed within local ecological capacities. <br /><br />Here Op ni Sihol is using local, wild indigo, dye pots made from local clay, and the water flowing beside her village. She has transported the indigo in handwoven mats made from local grasses. <br /><br />Her grandchildren are helping and learning. Call it capacity building, cultural survival, community building, valuing of the elderly, transmission of cultural heritage, or the indigenous education system.<br /><br />Currently, Batak textiles are no longer like honey.<br />1. Fibres and yarns are imported from elsewhere; dyes are imported from elsewhere; equipment is imported from elsewhere. All of these Imports imply CO2 emissions for transportation and they put the Batak people out of work. They therefore also imply loss of skills.<br />2. The imported synthetic dyes and yarns are made of hydrocarbons, and these hydrocarbons are obtained from sacrifice zones, areas that are destroyed for the sake of economic growth. <br />Once ecologically sound, Batak weavings today represent the opposite of what they once were. <br />They no longer represent the homelands/local environment. <br />They represent pollution because they do not biodegrade.<br />They no longer support the community, and no longer use local equipment and heritage know-how.<br /><br />Furthermore, the semi-mechanical loom is utilized in a different system of production. Weaving on a backstrap loom in the village helped to create an integrated social life. Local know-how is activated and shared when weaving was done. Precisely this kind of community integration is being lost due to industrial style production. There is loss of skill, knowledge of local environment falls into decline, local wisdom is lost, and the position of the elderly in society declines and there is the attendant gap between generations.<br />3. a production hierarchy occurs whereby the weavers become labourers in an owner’s or a designer’s set-up, instead of continuing as the independent artisans they once were. The new loom constructs inequality instead of community. When weaving produced integrated community life, cultural and historical identity were also produced.<br /><br />The kind of cultural integration that I am describing runs very, very deep. If we look at what the Batak weaver makes, she is also demonstrating, through her cloth, her view of the universe.<br /></div><div style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XIGEBEaQxwU/YKkmAGziOqI/AAAAAAAADHc/yjUAip2liyID2kzYIKOHs6iY476_L2SFACLcBGAsYHQ/s414/tripartition.jpg" style="clear: left; display: inline; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"> <img border="0" data-original-height="414" data-original-width="344" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XIGEBEaQxwU/YKkmAGziOqI/AAAAAAAADHc/yjUAip2liyID2kzYIKOHs6iY476_L2SFACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/tripartition.jpg" /></a></div><div style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;">I have depicted here the basic structure of Batak textiles. Western education teaches us to emphasize the patterning of a textile when searching for its meaning, but this emphasis on motifs and the visual is a colonial legacy. For the Batak people, basic composition was important for the whole cloth and all of its component parts. Not just motifs, but their arrangement in the cloth. That basic structure had everything to do with how Bataks understood their universe was structured.<br /><br />Traditional Batak textiles were always divided into three parts if they had a role to play in adat, or ritual. A cloth had two similar sides and a centre. That same 2:1 relationship was found in all the parts of a cloth. Note how the supplementary warp and weft patterns have two similar sides and a centre that is different. The structure is expressed in colour, technique and patterning.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-COdhvluZF6k/YKkoFkQm33I/AAAAAAAADHk/B3DcJPjMMFogAfsInkpNhuSbs5RM5YwcACLcBGAsYHQ/s594/sibolang.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="594" data-original-width="323" height="340" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-COdhvluZF6k/YKkoFkQm33I/AAAAAAAADHk/B3DcJPjMMFogAfsInkpNhuSbs5RM5YwcACLcBGAsYHQ/w185-h340/sibolang.jpg" width="185" /></a></div><br /><div style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rnOsFqqLBv0/YKkofiAOkJI/AAAAAAAADHs/h8kS8cjS3RsuTtZvmvLIC0cGF7317j7ewCLcBGAsYHQ/s418/sup%2Bwarp%2Bcopy.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><img border="0" data-original-height="418" data-original-width="222" height="344" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rnOsFqqLBv0/YKkofiAOkJI/AAAAAAAADHs/h8kS8cjS3RsuTtZvmvLIC0cGF7317j7ewCLcBGAsYHQ/w170-h344/sup%2Bwarp%2Bcopy.jpg" width="170" /></a></div><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-J2_lnyvKADs/YKkozCKEaSI/AAAAAAAADH0/nLoV2mnBSrA9XAZ3tRWBvSKsATgVVY3GgCLcBGAsYHQ/s548/sup%2Bweft.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="548" data-original-width="357" height="289" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-J2_lnyvKADs/YKkozCKEaSI/AAAAAAAADH0/nLoV2mnBSrA9XAZ3tRWBvSKsATgVVY3GgCLcBGAsYHQ/w188-h289/sup%2Bweft.jpg" width="188" /></a><br />The Batak loved textiles that elaborated a single theme in a complex way, so that the smallest design feature was homologous with the largest design feature. That was the Batak aesthetic.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Supplementary warp pattern<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Supplementary weft and ikat patterns<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></div><div style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;">The understanding of the structure of the universe spilled over into daily life: </div><div style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>In the kinship system, there are three groups: Wife-Giver, Wife-taker, Ego Clan</li><li>The universe consisted of three layers: Upper World, Under World, the Middle World</li><li>The three Gods in the upper world were represented by the three Batak colours: red, white, black/blue.</li><li>Ritual, music, seating arrangements, village layout, house layout, house carving and colouring, all have that 3-part unity that is repeated and repeated. </li></ul></div><div style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: left;">Not only the recapitulation of basic structures was satisfying for the Batak, but also increasingly complex elaborations of that arrangement.</div><div style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;">The origins of this 3-part design unity can be found the culture history of the Batak, and appear to be rooted in early Austronesian influence, early connections with other parts of the archipelago (Timorese textiles are particularly striking for their similarity in general layout with Batak textiles), and early Hindu-Buddhist influence (still evident in sari layout). Their textile design, in other words, also reveals or reflects Batak culture history.<br /><br />Design is community in yet another sense. The textiles were designed for the community, by the community. The Batak did not have ‘specialized designers’. That is a colonial invention. They did have talented weavers, some more talented than others. Designs emerged, developed and changed through the collective activities of weavers within their community. Designs grew incrementally, which explains why each ethnic group has strongly characteristic designs. The whole community approved or rejected the innovations informally, so that when new designs were accepted, this was a community decision. Furthermore, the adat community decided when and how a design could be deployed ritually. And on top of that, the full range of textiles design types represented the full range of social categories within the community. So social organization was reflected in the full range of designs. Clearly, textile design represented the whole society and was the work of the whole society.<br /><br /><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-V_NjjSCbTCo/YKj6hqlSsNI/AAAAAAAADHE/Sm2xLYZErNAXvjTJHXORjTYF-CTGIZUpwCLcBGAsYHQ/s2032/Elza.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1006" data-original-width="2032" height="213" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-V_NjjSCbTCo/YKj6hqlSsNI/AAAAAAAADHE/Sm2xLYZErNAXvjTJHXORjTYF-CTGIZUpwCLcBGAsYHQ/w432-h213/Elza.jpg" width="432" /></a></div><div style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;">So, what is this weaver weaving? She is weaving life. She is weaving together her physical environment, reproducing her intellectual universe, constructing community, enacting and depicting her kinship system, displaying her culture history, learning and expanding and passing on ancient skills.... Her identity has many, many layers, variously and deeply significant. The complexity of her work is spectacular, far greater than the sum of its parts. <br /><br />It was therefore unthinkable that her work would become obsolete or ‘disposable’ like the commodities of industrial production. That would be throwing away her entire life, all that was precious and meaningful to her. There was no waste in her clothing system.<br /><br />These multiple layers of meaning disappear when a piece of craft becomes a commodity representing only a single value: money. Then, the only value it has for the maker is at the moment of exchange, or when she gets paid as a labourer. This represents a considerable loss of social integration, cohesion, pride, know-how, uniqueness and on and on.<br /><br />I would like to lay the goal of sustainable development beside the traditional Batak textile craft, when it was still like honey. I have intimated that traditional Batak textile production already meets the goal of sustainability. The definition of 'development' is problematic, however. Upon being used for capitalist development, that same tradition becomes unsustainable. And this is what we are currently facing. The word ‘development’ is problematic when it involves industrialization, and commoditization and all the consequences thereof for people, culture, communities and planet. <br /><br />Attempts to use the Batak weaving arts as a source of income generation have led to an expansion of CO2 emissions and waste, as well as poverty for weavers, loss of know-how and community, de-skilling – all the things that I have mentioned above. <br /><br />I propose that it would be prudent to safeguard the possibility of indigenous expressions of local genius. I propose that indigenous craft (clothing production) systems be recognized -- and also treasured – as models of sustainable production. The whole world, and certainly the Global North, needs these models. Craft can lead the world.<br /><br />Indigenous Batak textiles show: <br />o how goods can be valued socially (when they are not commoditized) <br />o how they can produce social harmony and justice (without the egregious exploitation that has resulted in the world from the capitalist system)<br />o how cultural pluriversality functions <br />o How local textile traditions embody alternative values whereby community well being rather than money occupies the central position.<br /><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>Some Resources</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">Degrowth Movement<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">https://www.degrowth.info/en/a-history-of-degrowth/<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">Hickel, Jason. 2021. ‘Extreme poverty isn’t natural, it’s created’ (Blog March 21)<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><a href="https://www.jasonhickel.org/blog/2021/3/28/extreme-poverty-isnt-natural-it-is-created" style="color: #954f72;">https://www.jasonhickel.org/blog/2021/3/28/extreme-poverty-isnt-natural-it-is-created</a><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">Hickel, Jason. Growth is Killing Us.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><a href="https://bigthink.com/politics-current-affairs/economic-growth-is-killing-us" style="color: #954f72;">https://bigthink.com/politics-current-affairs/economic-growth-is-killing-us</a><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">Hickel, Jason. 2018. The Divide: A Brief Guide to Global Inequality and it Solution. Windmill Books.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><a href="https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/111/1113531/the-divide/9781786090034.html" style="color: #954f72;">https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/111/1113531/the-divide/9781786090034.html</a><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">Hickell, Jason. 2020. The Great Unravelling: Inequality. Webinar: The Postcarbon Institute<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rGvz0ibPMI" style="color: #954f72;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rGvz0ibPMI</a><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><h1 style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 24pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://www.eoi.es/blogs/guidopreti/2014/01/10/if-continued-growth-is-not-sustainable-would-its-opposite-degrowth-be-the-right-alternative/" style="color: #954f72;" title="Permanent Link to If continued growth is not sustainable, would its opposite – degrowth – be the right alternative?"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; letter-spacing: -0.75pt;">If continued growth is not sustainable, would its opposite – degrowth – be the right alternative?</span></a><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; letter-spacing: -0.75pt;"> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="color: #333333; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: -0.75pt;">EOI (Escuela de organización industsrial) blog.<o:p></o:p></span></h1><span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt;"><a href="https://www.eoi.es/blogs/guidopreti/2014/01/10/if-continued-growth-is-not-sustainable-would-its-opposite-degrowth-be-the-right-alternative/" style="color: #954f72;">https://www.eoi.es/blogs/guidopreti/2014/01/10/if-continued-growth-is-not-sustainable-would-its-opposite-degrowth-be-the-right-alternative/</a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">Robra, Ben and Heikkurinen, Pasi. 2019. ‘Degrowth and the Sustainable Development Goals’ In <i>Decent Work and Economic Growth. Encyclopedia of the UN Sustainable Development Goals</i>. Springer, Cham<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">SDG Index Finds No European Country on Track, Green Deal Brings Potential<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><a href="http://sdg.iisd.org/news/sdg-index-finds-no-european-country-on-track-green-deal-brings-potential/" style="color: #954f72;">http://sdg.iisd.org/news/sdg-index-finds-no-european-country-on-track-green-deal-brings-potential/</a><span class="MsoHyperlink" style="color: #0563c1; text-decoration: underline;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">Sustainable Development, Poverty Eradication and Reducing Inequalities <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/site/assets/uploads/sites/2/2019/05/SR15_Chapter5_Low_Res.pdf" style="color: #954f72;">https://www.ipcc.ch/site/assets/uploads/sites/2/2019/05/SR15_Chapter5_Low_Res.pdf</a><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">United Nations Climate Change website<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><a href="https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-paris-agreement/the-paris-agreement" style="color: #954f72;">https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-paris-agreement/the-paris-agreement</a><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="color: #2e2e2e;">UN Sustainable Development Agenda 2030. – do the SDGs fit??</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><a href="https://sdgs.un.org/2030agenda" style="color: #954f72;">https://sdgs.un.org/2030agenda</a><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><a href="https://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/RES/70/1&Lang=E" style="color: #954f72;">https://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/RES/70/1&Lang=ETop</a> of Form<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p></div></div> <div><style class="WebKit-mso-list-quirks-style">
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</style></div>Sandrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13817899796223662652noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9112370903337891682.post-10277676118533798872021-05-16T07:04:00.001+02:002021-05-22T13:17:09.854+02:00More Webinars<p> <span face="Calibri, sans-serif">Here are additional webinars that I have given on the topic of sacrifice zones, related to my article, "Fashion, its Sacrifice Zone and Sustainability"</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span face="Times-Roman, serif" style="font-size: 18pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">Decolonizing Fast-Fashion: A Living Wage and Good Working Conditions for Women of the Global South<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">NGO CSW<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">Sponsoring Organization: Unitarian Universalist Association Office at the UN<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">24 March<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><a href="https://ngocsw65forum.us2.pathable.com/meetings/virtual/DGpWB6vxfvie2b8K2"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">https://ngocsw65forum.us2.pathable.com/meetings/virtual/DGpWB6vxfvie2b8K2</span></a><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">You’ll find my contribution here: 0:52:53 – 1:08:00<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p><br /></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p><br /></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p>Extinction Rebellion: Fashion Act Now </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">Fashion and Degrowth – Exploring the link between decolonisation and sustainability, May 11<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pkyf3IBgT0U"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pkyf3IBgT0U</span></a></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p><br /></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p>You can find more about Fashion Act Now on their informative web page</o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p><a href="https://www.fashionactnow.org/about"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">https://www.fashionactnow.org/about</span></a></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p><br /></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p><br /></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p><br /></o:p></p>Sandrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13817899796223662652noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9112370903337891682.post-10920287721523872682021-04-18T08:43:00.007+02:002021-12-02T11:08:53.872+01:00More on the Sacrifice Zones of Fashion<p><span style="background-color: white;"> <span face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size: medium;">On 3 April 2021 I had honour of being invited to answer a question about sacrifice zones of fashion in a ‘<a href="https://rcdfashion.wordpress.com/the-conversations/" target="_blank">Conversations</a>’ webinar series hosted in 2021 by the Research Collective for Decolonising Fashion. The event was built around my publication, </span></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #0433ff;">'<a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1362704X.2020.1800984" target="_blank">Fashion, its Sacrifice Zone, and Sustainability</a>' </span><span style="background-color: white;">published in Fashion Theory Vol 24, no. 6. </span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; font-size: medium;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif">The below is a recording of the event and a transcript of my answer.</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> <b>Recording</b>:</span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/kTAvITl_vDrT2YxenhBMoXRHgwbphRWqwGKoEDmVSs7oN9Hk19cFvngkKhp-mYuj.h-oNSQ8EhjCHnvSh" style="color: #954f72;" target="_blank">https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/kTAvITl_vDrT2YxenhBMoXRHgwbphRWqwGKoEDmVSs7oN9Hk19cFvngkKhp-mYuj.h-oNSQ8EhjCHnvSh</a> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p style="background-color: white;"></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Passcode: @s&e4ud@ </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Transcript</b>: </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: medium;">Hello, good day, and thank you, Erica and Angela, for this amazing opportunity to speak with colleagues all around the world. I feel very honoured to have my work included in this important series for re-visioning fashion through a decolonial lens. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: medium;">Thank you for your insightful question, Erica. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]-->A year and a half ago, we were all still thinking within the customary framework of fashion sustainability: materials used, energy used, and labour used and we hadn’t yet expanded that framework to include social justice. Your question asks me to dig down deep into myself to understand how this article emerged. For me it is not just a question of saying ‘this, this and this have been sacrificed’ -- although I could do that. But I think that it is important to also talk about the <b>process</b>. It wasn’t just writing up simple empirical observation. Empirical observation occurs within a conceptual framework and that is why I think it is necessary to talk, today, about the process of discovery of what is being sacrificed. </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-align: left; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]-->I invite everybody to think with me. I know that my <b>process</b> is unique but it is also common. We are learning together; we are exploring how decolonial theory works for us; we are all practitioners trying to build a better world together. We need a diversity of voices and not a dogma. For me right now, contributing to the construction of a more sustainable world is front and centre in my thinking.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: white; text-indent: -18pt;">Why writing this article, and articulating the sacrifice zones, was so challenging for me, had to do with what decolonial theorists call ‘<b>erasure</b>’. In a nutshell, I was attempting to go into conceptual territory that is usually erased from our thinking. Erasure is a conceptual trick that we play on ourselves to allow a </span><i style="background-color: white; text-indent: -18pt;">status quo</i><span style="background-color: white; text-indent: -18pt;"> to persist. Conceptual blinkers, entrenched habits of thought, vested interest in a standard conceptual framework: it is hard to break free of all of that.</span></span></li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p style="background-color: white;"> </o:p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="background-color: white; text-indent: -18pt;">Professor Rolando Vazquez has pointed to ‘<b>remembering</b>’ as an antidote to ‘erasure’. When we have pushed something out of our minds, ‘remembering’ is a radical act, a facilitator of change. It dredges up other ways of thinking and being, other processes and systems, other epistemologies. </span></span></li></ul><p></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b style="background-color: white; text-indent: -18pt;">Indigeneity</b><span style="background-color: white; text-indent: -18pt;">. My article was, in a sense, a proclamation of the value of the indigenous. In our previous meetings, we have talked about modernity incorporating a kind of temporality that demands forgetting. It places the past into a category of irrelevance. The past lies behind us, unable to be recovered. Modernity asks us to think of the indigenous as bound to disappear because it is a holdover from the past. The engine of unilinear time is assumed to be inevitable and unstoppable. By recognizing the importance of the indigenous, my article is challenging the amnesia that is built into modernity. It is especially radical in the context of fashion, because fashion is all about depicting modernity. Can our concept of fashion survive the recognition of the indigenous? I personally do not see how. In my article, I even go a step further and say that sustainability will depend, in part, on learning </span><i style="background-color: white; text-indent: -18pt;">from</i><span style="background-color: white; text-indent: -18pt;">indigenous systems of sustainable clothing. Of course, this is heresy in the customary framework of fashion, and it felt daring and risky to write it, especially for the leading Journal, </span><u style="background-color: white; text-indent: -18pt;">Fashion Theory</u><span style="background-color: white; text-indent: -18pt;">.</span></span></p><div><div style="text-indent: -24px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p style="background-color: white;"> </o:p><span style="background-color: white; text-indent: -18pt;"><b>Two Normals</b> - I sensed, while I was writing the piece, that I was connecting dots that are usually not connected. I felt a familiar sort of schizophrenia when I was writing: there is the usual way of perceiving the world, that is familiar in my day-to-day life here in the Global North, familiar, too, through accepted Fashion theory, and then there was my perception that resulted from my experience in Indonesia, that I didn’t really have a language framework to describe, nor even much hope that people here in the Global North will understand. The ‘normalcy’ of here in The Netherlands is so different from the ‘normalcy’ there. For a long time I have felt that the two are like two halves of a whole, and for me to understand the world, I have to go back and forth, and try to come to terms with these two different normals. They are contrasting but complementary realities. I am sure that what I am sensing is the upshot of that economic fact that our wealth in the Global North has much to do with exploitation of the Global South, something that we in the Global North are seldom aware of, except maybe theoretically. When I am in Indonesia, I experience how it plays out in day-to-day life for the people, in their thoughts and feelings, challenges and life choices and perceptions of the world that are prevalent there. I live there in an exceedingly poor village.</span></span><p></p><p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><b>Economic Apartheid</b> – In the google drive, I provided a link to a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IigLoIPMPkM&t=537s" target="_blank">podcast interview with Jason Hickel</a>, an economic anthropologist, who talked about what he called ‘economic apartheid’ in the world. The amnesia of modernity is related to keeping the fact of this apartheid hidden. That is the boundary that decolonial theorists know as the colonial difference. In previous writings I have referred to dualism in fashion: that fashion carves out an us and them, those with and those without fashion. In my article I was trying to pull this boundary into view. </span><span style="background-color: white;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><b>Showing what is being sacrificed, is showing what is being conceptually erased. </b> At the time of writing, it felt like an appeal to my readership to please recognize this boundary because it causes so much pain and waste at a thousand levels. I proposed that fashion cannot be sustainable unless there is fairness. Sustainability cannot co-exist with destruction. </span><span style="background-color: white;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]-->And let’s face it: the two halves are both engaged in the same struggle for sustainability on this planet! In this, <b>we are ONE!</b> Not two sides of a complementary whole! That binary pertains only to the current global economic system.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: medium;">So that was a lengthy backdrop. Now on to the question: <b><span style="color: red;">What</span></b><span style="color: red;"> is being Sacrificed?</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: medium;"><b>Sacrifice Zone</b> –I want to begin by looking at the expression ‘sacrifice zone’. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: medium;">Wikipedia tells us that the term <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacrifice_zone" target="_blank">Sacrifice Zone</a> was coined to refer to ‘regions’ of the world that may be dispensed with – initially it was a reference to regions that would undergo permanent destruction due to atomic fallout or chemical poisoning. Permissible destruction in the interests of industry, economy and power. </span></p><p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l3 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";">o<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]-->The concept and phenomenon of ‘Sacrifice Zone’ should give everybody pause. The term makes thinkable and even normalizes what is utterly scandalous. That somebody, or some group, has the ego and assumes the power to eradicate and destroy a part of life on earth for the sake of short-term financial gain in their own interest? Think about it. This is preposterous. Totally unconscionable. Absolutely ridiculous when you think about it. Incredible in the literal sense of the word. I would argue that this concept of ‘sacrifice zone’ is an expression of the kind of conceptual erasures that decolonial theorists discuss. </span><span style="background-color: white;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraph" style="mso-list: l5 level1 lfo3; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Courier New";">o<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]-->What are the erasures in Sacrifice Zones? By focusing exclusively on waste ‘regions’, the term ‘sacrifice <i>zone’</i> leaves out 1) the biological diversity in that region, 2) the people living there, and 3) their culture(s). All are conceptually erased and fully negated to the extent that they are totally expendable. Off the screen. I think of the Cree people who once lived on the Alberta tar sands, the most famous sacrifice zone on earth. When they resisted the total annihilation of their land, air, water, their source of food, their history, their culture, the Canadian government deemed their resistance illegal. And still does. Even in this time of climate emergency. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt;"></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: white; text-indent: -18pt;">This is the conceptual erasure of people and culture in a sacrifice zone. It is ‘</span><b style="background-color: white; text-indent: -18pt;">collateral damage’</b><span style="background-color: white; text-indent: -18pt;">, to use another war term, ignored and deemed irrelevant compared to the ‘greater good’ of profits and power. </span></span></li></ul><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p style="background-color: white;"> <b>H</b></o:p><span style="background-color: white;"><b>ow does Fashion intersect with Sacrifice Zones? </b>Almost all of our food, houses, cars, energy, mobile phones and computers, you name it, are currently produced by benefiting from sacrifice zones. Rolando Vazquez refers to the challenge of living an ethical life. Purchasing a simple chocolate bar for our own pleasure, brings harm to somebody someplace else.</span><span style="background-color: white;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: medium;"> A. Fast Fashion<b> benefits from </b>Sacrifice Zones<b>:</b><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-left: 18pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l4 level1 lfo7; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="background-color: white;">1.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><!--[endif]-->Materials: They are produced in sacrifice zones. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l6 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]-->Industrial agriculture, e.g. <b>production of cotton</b> through agri-business – think of how the cotton plantations in the USA made use of slave labour and expelled indigenous populations from the land; how cotton production in India expanded during the colonial era, destroying the local economy. Note that in the ‘customary framework’ of fashion sustainability, there is mention of the amount of water, the pesticides and herbicides used to produce cotton, etc. but nothing about the implication for peoples and cultures who once inhabited the land, or are brought in to do the work. Conceptual erasure.<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></span></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l6 level1 lfo4; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><b>production of synthetic fibres</b> made of fossil fuels – 7 billion barrels now needed to produce synthetic fibres – with enormous expansion planned for the future. <b><o:p></o:p></b></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: medium;">2. Labour: The Fast Fashion industry makes use of <b>‘displaced peoples’</b> for cheap labour.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="background-color: white; text-indent: -18pt;">In 2014, there were 60 million people working in the garment industry, most of them women in the Global South. I don’t know what percentage constitutes ‘displaced persons’, but it can only be extremely high. We need to ask, what has gone on in their lives that they are they willing to submit themselves to the slavery of garment manufacturing? </span></span></li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="background-color: white; font-size: medium; text-indent: -18pt;">The ranks of displaced peoples is swelling rapidly: climate change, war, sacrifice zones, land degradation in general. All of these are pushing people off their lands and the ranks of jobless in cities are swelling. See the global report on internal displacement. https://www.internal-displacement.org/global-report/grid2017/</span></li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: white; text-indent: -18pt;">The customary framework for examining ‘fashion labour’ focuses on wages and working conditions. But there is a much larger systemic whole that needs to come into view. </span><b style="background-color: white; text-indent: -18pt;">I argue that restricting the focus to pay and working conditions, is also a form of conceptual erasure.</b><span style="background-color: white; text-indent: -18pt;"> </span></span></li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="background-color: white; font-size: medium; text-indent: -18pt;">And the fast fashion industry is no benefactor, generously giving workers an income, which is how we often like to see it. In fact, it is taking advantage of the destruction of the local and of indigenous lives to produce cheap clothes.</span></li></ul><p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 38.7pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo6; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><!--[if !supportLists]--></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: medium;"><b>B. Fast fashion is thus complicit in the use, expansion and condoning of sacrifice zones,</b> and this is part and parcel of systemic capitalist exploitation. It benefits hugely from sacrifice zones, and their conceptual erasure.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: white; text-indent: -18pt;">The campaign by Fashion Revolution, “Who Made My Clothes tries, in good faith, to give a face to garment workers, but it <i>falls vastly short of really telling anything about garment workers</i> because the campaign is operating within the system of <b>conceptual erasures</b> characteristic of consumers in the Global North and our current thinking about fast fashion. ‘Garment workers’ are narrowed down to elements in an economic system, stripped of their other human features.</span><span style="background-color: white; text-indent: -18pt;"> </span></span></li></ul><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: medium;">Last, but not least, <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="background-color: white;">C. <b>Fast Fashion Industry </b></span><b style="background-color: white;">creates </b><span style="background-color: white;"><b>sacrifice zones.</b> This has been fully overlooked, until now, by fashion sustainability activists and theorists.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: medium;">I am hereby making the argument that the concept of ‘sacrifice zones’ is perceived far too narrowly. Furthermore, the sustainability framework has to broaden to include not just biodiversity but also humans and cultural diversity. The conceptual erasures within the sustainability framework, are related to the erasures built into customary fashion theory.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p style="background-color: white;"> </o:p><span style="background-color: white;">I don’t have time to get into all of the mechanics of how fast fashion results in the destruction of culture. But very briefly, throughout my anthropological fieldwork in Indonesia, I have witnessed the decline of indigenous cultures and their clothing systems. When young women leave their villages to go to work in factories, they leave behind their family, language, way of life, culture, rituals, customs, and clothing traditions. When you perceive the complexity of the making of clothing in their own culture, e.g. weaving work, it quickly becomes clear that age-old, extremely sophisticated, culturally embedded skills are being lost to do mind-numbing, unfulfilling work. As individuals, as ‘garment workers’, they become </span><b style="background-color: white;">de-skilled</b><span style="background-color: white;">. </span><b style="background-color: white;">Their cultural talents and skills are wasted. </b><span style="background-color: white;">They are preyed upon in factory settings by male bosses and management in general; poor pay and working conditions are symptomatic of that. Their </span><b style="background-color: white;">humanity is being dispensed with; they are being wasted and destroyed. </b><span style="background-color: white;">I would argue that these labourers are also a sacrifice zone.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p style="background-color: white;"> </o:p><b style="background-color: white;">Their cultures are also being drained. </b><span style="background-color: white;">The loss of ethnic diversity is a global crisis as well, but it is not receiving the attention that the environmental crisis receives. This is another facet of conceptual erasure. Cultural loss includes the disappearance of:</span></span></p></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="background-color: white; text-indent: -18pt;">epistemologies, ways of thinking and understanding the world </span></li><li><span style="background-color: white; text-indent: -18pt;">including indigenous and local clothing systems including designs, techniques, styles – intangible cultural heritage. </span></li><li><span style="background-color: white; text-indent: -18pt;">Including local knowledge about the physical environment</span></li><li><span style="background-color: white; text-indent: -18pt;">It involves the destruction of identity and simultaneously erodes social and political stability. The loss of culture creates social time bombs.</span></li><li><span style="background-color: white;">Think of the calls by cultural activists, that languages and cultures are disappearing. </span></li></ul></blockquote><div><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-left: 72pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level2 lfo5; text-align: left; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><!--[if !supportLists]--></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: medium;">Wikipedia tells us that of the 7,000 languages spoken worldwide, it is predicted that 90% will be extinct in the next 30 years. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 18pt;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: medium;">The process of that kind of death is what I have been witnessing in my own little corner in Indonesia. And Fast fashion is complicit in this. Until now fashion theorists have failed to connect those dots. That, I argue, is conceptual erasure. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: medium;">Fashion is like the forest industry. We chop down forests to make toothpicks and toilet paper, destroying them to make money. So we end up with lots of money and increasingly little of value.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: medium;">With fast fashion we make articles of clothing with no value, and in the process we destroy traditions and cultures in the world, including clothing traditions. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: medium;"><b>We have erased this awareness, conceptually, in the Global North</b>. And the Fashion system functions in such a way that the owners of the cultures being destroyed eventually believe that their culture has no value. Because it is not valued by ‘modern’ society. And so they flee or disregard their own culture as if it was inferior. But this is another huge discussion, so I will stop here.</span><o:p></o:p></p></div>Sandrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13817899796223662652noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9112370903337891682.post-987604314214298982021-04-08T15:50:00.004+02:002021-04-10T11:26:28.303+02:00The Light emitted by Urban Medley<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; text-align: center;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p>We are all searching for a better future for our planet and we know it is in our hands. There are activists chopping at the chair legs of big corporations. There are idealists striking out on their own. There are inventors trying out new ideas. They include logistical experts, scientists, school teachers, even some politicians. There are many of dots of light in the universe and I believe that when they finally coalesce a flood of light will shine onto a better path. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">One brave innovator is Shayonti Chatterji. She is making her contribution through her business acumen. She reached out to me because she thought there was synchronicity in our respective visions with respect to fashion and indigenous peoples. I have looked up her advertising on LinkedIn and her heartfelt messages promoting <a href="https://www.urbanmedley.com" target="_blank">Urban Medley</a>, “a curated platform for sustainable fashion”, which she initiated and founded. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium; margin-left: 1cm; margin-right: 28.55pt;"><i><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Roboto, serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">Urban Medley creates products specially for you, so that you can make sustainable fashion a part of your urban life. You stand out and give back. </span></i><i><span style="font-family: Roboto, serif; font-size: 10.5pt;"><br /><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">It is about sharing a style statement which proudly reflects tradition intercepted with modernity. It’s colorful, boundless, energetic and involves a lot of experimentation. Not bound by age, gender, race, colour and not even size, we choose accessories as our main focus point. We give you the opportunity to create your own style.</span></span></i><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">This is the face she shows to her consumers on her selling platform. Behind the storefront is her interface with the makers of her beautiful scarves and wraps back home in India. Her path is not an easy one to create or walk. She has a foot in two worlds and she is straddling the great divide as fairly as she can, using her entrepreneurship and her personal experience of both worlds. She has placed her limited resources in service of her ideals, so deep is her commitment. She is doing it for the makers, for the planet and for the future. And it will succeed if buyers are thoughtful, committed and enchanted – so she is educating them, too.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">I’m feeling a bit emotional from the sincerity and integrity shown by Shayonti Chatterji; it is rather moving. It is so easy to become jaded when you hear someone on the TV express a desire for government not to become sidetracked by ‘green measures’ and you know what a hard, steep climb we have ahead of us before we achieve a regenerative economy. While writing this blog I have decided to purchase some gifts from Urban Medley’s on-line shop for friends and family. There is no better way to support my own ideals. Her initiative represents an important step on the path to achieving a world that sustains cultural and biological diversity.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">Nevertheless, even Shayonti Chatterji’s best practices* cannot (yet) be sustainable to the extent of being regenerative. They constitute a buffer against the erosive power of big capital and big business in indigenous communities. They <i>do</i> keep artisans in their villages instead of being forced to throw their fate into the melee of big cities. They <i>do</i> foster pride and health. They <i>do</i> ensure that indigenous technical prowess, language, culture, heritage and connection with the land will continue. And where her best practices still can’t mitigate all the harm built into doing business (e.g. Chatterji has no recourse but to use current available modes of transport to get the products to the external market) she compensates for CO2 emissions by <a href="https://tree-nation.com" target="_blank">contributing to the development of an Indian forest</a>. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">One day we will go knocking at her door to learn about her best practices: what worked and what did not? What is the next step? That proverbial path can only be made by walking on it, and few are brave enough to take that first step. Shayonti Chatterji is courageous and sincere. I wish her and Urban Medley every success. When those brave lights in the universe coalesce, hers will be among them and we will be grateful because they show us the way.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p>Postscript 10 April</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">I have just received my order in the mail and I am blown away by the high quality of these gorgeous items. They are 'keepers for a lifetime'. Highly recommended. Exquisite to own and to give as gifts. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;">* Shayonti Chatterji’s strategies:<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]-->1.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><!--[endif]-->Work with designers who work with artisans so that they can obtain the income needed to have healthy families and live in dignity.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]-->2.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><!--[endif]-->Work with organic materials, including silk and cotton, using minimum water and no pesticides.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]-->3.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><!--[endif]-->Work ethically: fair pay, decent working conditions, support for artisans<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]-->4.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><!--[endif]-->Remember that packaging also has to be earth friendly<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]-->5.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><!--[endif]-->Offset CO2 emissions from transportation by contributing to Tree Nation.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p></p><style class="WebKit-mso-list-quirks-style">
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</style>Sandrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13817899796223662652noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9112370903337891682.post-45160656205014321772021-04-06T13:30:00.000+02:002021-04-06T13:30:02.557+02:00A Double Gestation!<div style="text-align: left;"> <span face="Calibri, sans-serif">Lasma br. Sitanggang, Ny. Damanik, Mak Sandi, has been busy with a great transition in her life. She has married and now she has two children. It has been a busy time for her and so she needed to place the matter of weaving on the back burner while she turned her attention to her role in her culture. Her son Sandi was born within a year after her marriage, so the changes that she went through were significant.</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"> </span></div><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jOkHulvysA4/YGw7o0429hI/AAAAAAAADFA/LSpgAT7zlHw2MUb9wBsd6tXckYwNOP0WACPcBGAYYCw/s2048/IMG_5531.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="406" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jOkHulvysA4/YGw7o0429hI/AAAAAAAADFA/LSpgAT7zlHw2MUb9wBsd6tXckYwNOP0WACPcBGAYYCw/w541-h406/IMG_5531.jpeg" width="541" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">About a year ago I learned that she was pregnant with a second son. And shortly afterwards, out of the blue, she sent me video clips of herself weaving a bulang. I just about fell off my chair! I hadn’t known that she had once again turned her focus to weaving! Being a perfectionist, she had been shy to divulge the news.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><br /><o:p><br /></o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dwGBXxa9AzcnfaUj75ED4z1ZOGL9N3JwZEVD9eH7Otcsj_GJIahRznZy5O69X8SXUpWo6lXe7nFoGyC8tPFZg' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p><br /></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p><br /></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">So she was having a double gestation! She was very anxious to get the cloth done first because she knew that after the birth there would be little time for weaving. It was slow going because her belly was swelling and because she was doing it entirely herself, although with her Mother’s expert guidance. “It is about counting and counting and counting,” she told me laughing. She had known that the bulang was complex numerically, but hadn’t realized quite the full extent of how extremely and meticulously arithmetic it was. “If you don’t get the count during warping right,” she said, “nothing after that works properly.” Each stage of weaving determines the success of the next stage, because each part of the cloth builds on the previous part. She is like her mother in being very careful and attentive to detail. I believe it shows in the cloth. I remember her father telling me that not everybody can weave a bulang. You have to have focus and precision and determination and patience. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">After the birth of her second son, I didn’t know whether to dare to ask her whether she had finished her bulang, but finally I did so with great trepidation. I knew that it would be hard on her if she hadn’t met her goal, and also how difficult it would be at a later stage for her to pick up where she had left off. To my surprise, pleasure and great relief, she didn’t hesitate for a moment and immediately sent me this video of her finished oeuvre. I was so proud of her the tears rolled down my cheeks.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dzLIDaH8jQUFA4jSBoRk-5etBIR_offmz90gM1Lm9C6SuXIZ0XuaqrIeLCgigP2tbO57dLhz7to-3-G-bJ0UQ' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br /><o:p><br /></o:p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt;">Mak Sandi is critical of her work. I see skill and focus, while she sees every tiny error. Nevertheless, she is also ambitious. She wants to weave another and make it even better. What a steadfast and determined young woman. Congratulations, Mak Sandi. This is a major accomplishment. I think about how proud her late father would have been. He passed away during the gestation period and didn’t get to see either finished product. He had been the one to encourage his wife and his daughters to weave so that they would be proud keepers of their culture. <o:p></o:p></p>Sandrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13817899796223662652noreply@blogger.com3