DHAKA WEAVING

FRESH AIR FOR OLD HANDICRAFT METHODS

At Shanti, an old handicraft art is kept alive that is found increasingly rarely in Nepal: Dhaka weaving. It's name comes from the capital of Bangladesh, where many spinning mills and weaving mills were located decades ago.

The patterns have been popular for many years and are always being varied in new ways. Usually the shawls are made of cotton, but at Shanti, Phul Maya, the weaving artist, uses only silk threads. The shawls are silkier as a result, and the fine silk more closely reflects the value of this painstakingly intricate work. Phul Maya sits at work for almost three weeks for a single shawl!

These patterns are still woven today, especially in East Nepal.

Phul Maya also contracted leprosy, but she took such good care of her extremities that she suffered no contortions. Despite the fact that she has no feeling from her fingertips to her elbows, she can still weave beautiful and one-of-a-kind shawls – amazing!

Even more so because she needs no template, but works out the pattern in her head after seeing a photo or painting just once. Each shawl is a one-of-a-kind – a work of art in and of itself. Phul Maya is always coming up with new colour combinations. She has a unique capability in this field.