CRAFT FOR CONSERVATION

To find alternative income sources and reduce the forest dependancy of local communities in the
Chittagong Hill Tracts, Bengal Craft Society and Creative Conservation Alliance are working together with the ehtnic
people of Bangladesh to form a community-based organisation (CBO) to create and market their
traditional crafts.

The Mro people of Bandarban creating beautiful pieces for our jewellery line Aatong

Our Creative Director, Nawshin Khair, conducting a portion of the 3-day workshop

A Knowledge Exchange Workshop

Partnering with Creative Conservation Alliance, Bengal Craft Society successfully conducted a 3-day knowledge
exchange workshop to enhance the craft skills of the ethnic communities of the Chittagong Hill
Tracts. We are currently conducting a follow up to this in the Bandarbans.

Aatong

Bengal Craft Society and Creative Conservation Alliance have created a jewellery line called Aatong, which gives the
Mro people of Bandarban a chance to create and sell their craft. The Aatong line will be available as
of the 15th of January 2017 at Aranya, a major retailer of fair trade products in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Backstrap Loom

Weaving, like spinning and dyeing, is exclusively women’s work in the Mro community; however,
the men make the looms. While still a young girl, a Mro woman receives her first and prettiest loom
from her future husband. The loom, the sticks of which are decorated with ornamental incisions, is
given to the girl before the wedding and is considered to be a kind of wedding present. It is not a
large machine, but consists of a minimum of six separate bamboo rods and a wooden sword.
The pattern design is left up to each weaver. Patterns often consist, however, of rhomboid motifs and
meanders, which in a similar form are also woven by the men into some of the baskets. To embroider
a pattern into a skirt, one works colourful threads in between the lease while one is weaving. This is
done with the help of a holeless needle which customarily serves as a hairpin. Bengal Craft Society is creating
innovating ways of designing and producing products with backstrap loom textiles. These are natural
and sustainable methods, creating cotton and hand spun yarn, and we are set to develop special types
of fabric swatches for the future market.

Indigo Cultivation

Cultivation of Indigo for dyeing purposes has been a long standing tradition of the native Mro
tribe. Indigo is planted in the field, its seeds being mixed in with the paddy seeds. One pulls the
small leaves off the indigo plants by hand and soaks them overnight in an earthen pot; bamboo
ashes, which contain alkali, are added to the water as a mordant. (The ashes were prepared back in
February especially for this purpose and have been preserved until now.) On the following day
the yarn is punched down into the solution and boiled together with the leaves and ashes. After the yarn
has been dyed in this manner, the strands are hung up between the necks of two gourd bottles to dry.
With the help of CCA, we are encouraging the continuation of age-long traditions by providing
markets for this very special dye.

A Traditional Nakshikatha Sari

NAKSHIKATHA

Bangladeshi Traditional Hand Embroidery

Bengal Craft Society and Aranya are trying to establish and maintain a healthy eco-system for the existing
Nashikatha cluster of about one thousand village women artisans from Joshor, Bangladesh. The aim
is to attain the sustainable livelihood of marginalised underprivileged producers through the revival
of Nashikatha production and creating market access for these groups.

Bengal Craft Society is creating a system within the fair trade frame work additionally promoting the craft by
introducing incentive programs for the Nakshikatha artisans.

Naturally dyed sari, with handwoven Jamdani embroidery

JAMDANI

The traditional art of weaving Jamdani has been declared by UNESCO as a Intangible Cultural
Heritage of Humanity, and is one of the finest muslin textiles of Bengal, produced in Bangladesh for
centuries. The historic production of Jamdani was patronised by imperial warrants of the Mughal
emperors. Under British colonialism, the Bengali Jamdani and muslin industries rapidly declined
due to colonial import policies favouring industrially manufactured textiles. In more recent years, the
production of Jamdani has witnessed a revival in Bangladesh.

One of the biggest hurdles for the thriving Jamdani system is sourcing of quality yarn for weaving
this intricate fabric. Bengal Craft Society has partnered with Aranya to ensure quality yarn such as 100-count
thread for the producers to make a collection of Jamdani with its traditional motifs.

At the Bengal Classical Music Festival

EXHIBITIONS

We have had a tremendously positive response to our products and initiatives at fairs and exhibits
across Bangladesh. Our products were featured at the Bengal Classical Music Festival in Dhaka,
Bangladesh. The five day festival also enabled us to reveal our Aatong jewellery line to much
enthusiasm from our visitors.