5 September 2020, 2:30-3:30pm BST, Cross Cultural Collaborations with Access Links

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CROSS CULTURAL COLLABORATIONS

Cross Cultural Collaborations will be led by presentations from Tamay & Me, Studio Bagru and Ock Pop Tok who will give us insights into their experiences setting up textile businesses using expertise across cultures. The presentations will be followed by a discussion and questions.

Saturday 5 September 2020, 2:30-3:30pm BST (British Summer Time, London, UK)

Virtual event, hosted on Zoom

Zoom link for the event:
https://zoom.us/j/93775615505?pwd=WXMwelI1RVV0TnZZZnV3ekhwNUZLQT09
Passcode: 065130

Presentations and discussion with Tamay & Me (Vietnam), Studio Bagru (India) and Ock Pop Tok (Laos)

Tamay & Me
Tamay has been making her own intricately embroidered clothes her whole life, a fundamental part of her Mien culture. Twelve years ago Tamay taught Hannah how to make Mien embroidery, just as her mother had taught her and she had taught her own daughter. She and Hannah worked together on one piece of embroidery for three months and then, in 2014, they started Tamay & Me, a Vietnam-based clothing company dedicated to raise awareness of Mien skills and help women earn a sustainable living and to maintain their textile heritage, and to support this traditional way of life, whilst at the same time bringing choices and a sense of pride. By providing artisans in the community with flexible Mien embroidery work that fits around the other demands of life, Tamay and Hannah hope that the textile skills can be maintained and passed onto future generations. In creating their embroidered jackets, environmental impact is carefully considered and all materials, cotton and indigo specifically, are homegrown, without pesticides, in one village in North Vietnam. The process takes two years from start to finish, from growing the cotton to making cloth. The cloth is then dyed twelve times with natural indigo to create beautiful rich blue jackets and clothing. The detailed embroidery depicts village life: rice paddies, children, parents, grandparents, trees and plants and fertility. 

Studio Bagru
The mission of Studio Bagru is to foster grassroots entrepreneurial and design innovation across the world. Our vision is to educate consumers around the world about sustainable and ethical textiles and fashion through co-design workshops, collaborations, and popups. Our workshop is located in Bagru village, approximately 30km west of Jaipur, the capital of Rajasthan state in India. For nearly four centuries block printing artisans have been using processes passed from generation to generation, these communities of craftspeople have developed a way of working together to create textile masterpieces. These fabrics are used to adorn their abodes, bodies, and for use during momentous occasions. Each printed piece is cherished for generations.

Ock Pop Tok
Founded in 2000 by Joanna Smith and Veomanee Douangdala, Ock Pop Tok is an artisan social enterprise based in Luang Prabang, Laos. Over the years we have grown from a small shop selling only a few designs, to becoming one of the most important textile and artisanal institutions in all of Laos and South East Asia. Ock Pop Tok is now a team of over 90 employees.

Ock Pop Tok (meaning “East Meets West” in Lao) was founded on the principles of fair trade and sustainable business practices and the original concept was to bring people together through textiles to exchange knowledge and ideas. The company was pioneering social business and ethical fashion before these terms were even a part of our cultural lexicon.