The brunt of my research for Week 1 has been something of a process of getting a feel for the niche areas that I am going to focus most of my studies. I’ve spent the week diving into textile traditions from three different regions: India, the British Isles, and the Andes.
I found a tradition/economy/history comparison most easily when researching the khadi cotton industry in India and found the book Cotton Khadi in Indian Economy to be particularly helpful when examining the impact of craftwork on rural economies. One of the most interesting finds in that book was a comparison that Gandhi made between the unemployed of India picking up the work of spinning and the island people of the Hebrides in Scotland. Both are rurally-based, colonized peoples who had no other means to provide for themselves than to sell traditional crafts to both their own people and their colonizers.
I am still familiarizing myself with the geography of the indigenous cultures of South America, but after a bit of reading and researching this past week, I believe the region that I will be focusing my studies will be the Peruvian Andes. From my reading, I have gathered that the various different cultures situated in that region are diverse and teaming with not only pre-Colombian weaving practices that connect the people of that land with their past, but also is home to a rich culture of ever-evolving and shifting textile arts. I will be continuing my research on how craftsmen of that region are able to make a living off of the market for indigenous crafts in the Western world and how/if they are able to combat the knock-off products sold by fast fashion retailers.
In an attempt to trace the exact origins of Aran sweaters and their evolution into the tourist attraction known as Blarney Woolen Mills, I began to read Ireland’s Traditional Crafts by David Shaw-Smith. While, this particular book did not break down the history of this particular craft, it did mention mechanics behind not only Aran jumpers or “ganseys” but also the extensive work that goes into any hand-knit or woven product. The book also discussed the associations that hand-crafted products had with poverty, as well as their relatively recent transition into symbols of national pride and heritage. I also briefly researched the Irish Homespun Society as it was mentioned that they were largely responsible for encouraging the continuation of Irish products from Irish sheep. I found that what seems to be a large part of the reason hand-spinning and knitting has withstood the ages is the fact that the Irish Homespun Society promoted it as a largely social practice. Instead of relying on spinning and knitting as a source of income and slowing transitioning with the rest of the world into more profitable means of textile production, the craftspeople of Ireland (particularly of the islands off of counties Clare and Galway) continued to do what they had always done because it was done for the sake of community rather than productivity.