Weaving in the young
Something old and lots of new as Selyn marks World Handloom Day
World Handloom Day that falls today – August 7, has been celebrated in recent years by Selyn, a company synonymous with handloom and this weekend sees many activities taking place at their flagship store on Fife Road, Colombo 5.
The only fair-trade certified handloom exporter in the country, Selyn was formed by Sandra Wanduragala 31 years ago in Kurunegala. Starting with only 15 weavers, they now have more than 1,000 artisans in their employ, 90% of them women.
In a workshop held yesterday, Vajira Peiris, a trained weaver herself and former senior lecturer at Nottingham-Trent University in London, introduced a tabletop loom which can be used by anyone to start a home business, demonstrating how it can be used and how to create a fabric that is handloom. An entrepreneur seeking creative engineering solutions to the craft industry, Vajira produces modern looms for design students and trains weavers across the country in new techniques and the use of colour.
“I want to let people create something interesting by themselves. To introduce textiles to a younger crowd and try to get new people and introduce this to them because apart from university, not many people see how a fabric is made.”
This year, Selyn has also collaborated with Hash & Manga, co-founders of King Coconut Design Studios to release a video with a timely message. Featuring young people wearing handloom sarees, lungis and sarongs and skating through the streets of Colombo, the concept of the video stems from the perseverance of skateboarders who don’t give up when they fall, instead choose to get up and try again until they can perfectly execute the ‘trick’.
“The concept is that the entire country is asking for change and as young people, for years we have been rooting for change and this crisis gives us a better opportunity to create that change and make an impact because people are now a little more open to change than what they used to be,” says Hash.
The underlying message is that at this juncture in our history if we don’t protect what is ours, but innovate and let young people skate through, we aren’t going to save this country, notes Selyna Peiris, Business Development Director and nextgeneration lead of Selyn. “It’s a message we want to give in our own handloom way. There has to be a revolution that innovates and challenges tradition but builds on it so it’s something that we can be proud of.”
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, there were approximately 10,000 weavers in the island but the number has reduced with regular work hard to find. The drop in tourism was mostly responsible as the craft and handloom industry is closely linked with the tourist industry.
Selyn was no exception to this rough patch as they were unable to provide the volume of work needed to sustain the livelihoods of many of the weavers. But strategising and restructuring their operation, they were able to reposition themselves with a grant from USAID.
The key was identifying the need to shift the balance from a low value-high volume market to high value-low volume and go in the direction of luxury markets and premium design markets worldwide as ethical manufacturers of textiles, working with major design houses and universities and young designers who are focused on sustainability, Selyna said.
This way, they seek to be able to double the salaries of their weavers in two years, and also attract the younger generation to join the industry. Innovation is crucial in keeping the industry afloat and the strategy is to use cutting-edge technology and combine it with the world’s oldest - the loom.