Material Choices: Refashioning Bast and Leaf Fibers in Asia and the Pacific

by Hamilton, Roy W.

• ISBN13: 9780974872988
• ISBN10: 0974872989
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2008-02-01
• Publisher: Univ of Washington Pr

Summary

In a world awash in a global trade of industrially produced cottons and synthetic fabrics, it is easy to forget that all of the cloth needed in any community once had to be woven by hand and that much of it was made from bast (fibers found in plant stems) or leaf fibers. Material Choices features an unusual array of garments and other items made of these challenging fibers, exploring their significant use in the Pacific region where many bast and leaf fiber weaving traditions nearly became extinct in the mid-20th century but have now undergone a revival.

Table of Contents

Foreword	p. 6
Preface	p. 8
Introduction: Considering Bast and Leaf Fiber Textiles in a Globalized Context	p. 11
Bast and Leaf Fibers in the Asia-Pacific Region: An Overview	p. 25
Hemp Textiles of the Hmong in Vietnam	p. 41
Ulap Doyo: Woven Fibers of East Kalimantan	p. 63
Sambe: Korean Hemp Fabrics	p. 79
Stemming from the Lotus: Sacred Robes for Buddhist Monks	p. 93
Bashofu, The Mingei Movement, and the Creation of a New Okinawa	p. 105
Recrafting Tradition and Livelihood: Women and Bast Fiber Textiles in the Upland Philippines	p. 119
Preserving Echigo Jofu and Nara Sarashi: Issues in Contemporary Bast Fiber Textile Production	p. 133
Reviving the Sacred Machi: A Chiefly Weaving from Fais Island, Micronesia	p. 155
Notes to the Text	p. 167
References Cited	p. 173
Contributors	p. 181
Index	p. 182
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