| Rong Wai - Bolero and Skinny Silk scarves |
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The women buy silk from a neighboring village that farms silk worms, and once the thread is dyed and the loom is strung, each woman can weave about two scarves per day. Khun Nong, who coordinates the group’s work and specializes in dyeing the threads, says that weaving has become something that only older women do – in part because younger family members are needed in the fields, but also because the younger generation doesn’t appear interested in this ancient and intricate art. Khun Nong lives with her aging mother, and is happy to report that her two children have both been able to attend university – her daughter is now working in Bangkok, and her son is a soldier. |
The 400 families in the village of Rong Wai are all from Isan, a particularly impoverished and drought-prone region in northeastern Thailand whose people speak a hybrid local dialect that resembles Laotian. Of the fifty women in Rong Wai who work with silk, fifteen weave scarves using the tri-colored “skinny” technique for Izara Arts.
