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Rattan and the Hand of the Maker
In a village in the Ayeyarwady region of southwest Burma, everyone weaves. Rattan – which grows voraciously in the northern Burmese rainforests, regrows rapidly once harvested and is totally biodegradable – is piled up under the eaves of the villagers’ bamboo homes, ready to be woven, threaded, flexed and transformed into something beautiful. It’s a quiet, peaceful process, not tainted by the clicking and whirring of machines, but instead soundtracked by chatter amongst the weavers, or the odd light hammer tapping on the nails which keep the frames in place.
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