Saturday, November 18, 2017 L02,**+ C)*&4H 'L0,**+ DH"0342K)C1'3101*+0(&4H0) 'L)0C'(3410L34Ck(+C)-0' 01*4*+"LC(C110,0)C'0H 34)0104'H01CH0( COVERPG STORY 2&3 3%34240C)$**H(+C"1&'(')0((Y+C-0 C4"*&H)C$'L0'C)I&1-(,*2*$3'L*&' I)C34L0C,'L" 1L0C'342| C'&)HC"Y *%0+I0)Y *%0)('*)" Yang Xiukui prepares indigo fabric in the village of Dali, in China’s Guizhou province. It takes Dong women about two weeks to colour a single bolt of cloth into the desired rich shade of indigo. Yang Zhengxian and her daughter collect indigo in the village of Dali. D/CH342')CH3'3*4*/$**H04 ,**+(C4H34H32*@('C340HLC4H( L04'L0"$0C)'L03)LC4H+CH034H32*1,*'L0(/*)L*,3HC"( C4H/0('3%C,(Y'L0$*+04$3,,34(K01''L0(L004*/*40 C4*'L0)k(LC4H3$*)-34'L0(K3)3'*//)304H,"1*+K0'3'3*4 AMY QIN a bolt of gleaming indigo-coloured cloth NYT SYNDICATE with her wrinkled, navy-stained hands. Here in Dali, an ancient village HE young woman sat at the nestled in verdant hills, making indigo foot of the wooden loom and cloth has long been a part of life, no less began to weave. As her fingers important to the Dong than farming rice passed the orange shuttle back or fermenting fish. and forth through the delicate Even in this era of fast fashion, many cotton threads, the creaky contraption Dong women still devote countless hours sprang to life. to making the dark, glossy cloth. The Yang Xiuying — a plucky woman no fabric must be woven, wrung, scrubbed taller than the loom — peered over her and pounded before it can be used to granddaughter’s shoulder, inspecting create traditional Dong cotton garments the newly emerging fabric for flaws. Ever — dark navy costumes with colourful since she was a young girl, Yang, 74, has flower trim for the women and plain been weaving and dyeing indigo textiles indigo for the men. using techniques that the ethnic Dong “For a Dong family, having a loom in the southern Chinese province of is just as important as having a cow,” Guizhou have passed down from mother said Lai Lei, the founder of a weaving to daughter over generations. and dyeing co-op in a nearby village. “You can’t buy this type of handmade “As children, we grow up listening to the cloth at the market,” Yang said, patting sound of the loom.” The village of Dali. *%0)('*)" C'&)HC"Y *%0+I0)Y Dyeing is so woven into Dali’s culture that the practice even survived the Cul- tural Revolution, when many other Dong traditions, such as shamanism, were stamped out by communists trying to destroy what they saw as a feudal past. But the traditions have come under a different threat since China’s mar- ket economy has accelerated in recent decades. As the lure of work and educa- tion has drawn youth to China’s growing cities, few young Dong women are left in villages like this one. Of those who remain, even fewer show interest in learning the labour- intensive techniques of indigo dyeing. “I want to teach my daughters, but they don’t want to learn,” said Zhang Yuyuan, 75, as she stepped back from plunging fabric into a navy-blue bath. “They say, ‘We’ll just mess it up, so you should just do it.’” Hoping to save Dali’s folk traditions, provincial officials in 2011 invited in the Global Heritage Fund, a preservation organisation based in California. The Global Heritage Fund has begun working with Atlas Studio, a Beijing- based design studio, to set up a weaving and dyeing co-op in Dali. The aim is twofold: to create opportunities to work closer to home and to persuade young Rice is dried on the roof of a home in the village of Dali. The accelerating flight of young villagers to find work or education in cities has imperilled a folk Dong women to learn their traditions. tradition the Dong people have kept alive for centuries: the weaving and dying of indigo textiles by hand. “For a long time, Guizhou has known that one of its strongest cultural re- Almost every Dong woman over 40 sources is the ethnic minority villages,” has a plastic tub to hold indigo dye bath. said Kuanghan Li, the China programme By tradition, the placement of the tub director of the Global Heritage Fund. within the house is crucial, and must “Now rural villages are a hot topic in be made according to principles of feng China.” shui, the ancient practice of arranging Tourism has yet to take off in Dali, objects to improve one’s luck. though it may only be a matter of time. Yang plunged the fabric into the dye Unlike many villages in China where bath, making sure to soak each section preservation has been undertaken with a thoroughly. Several rounds of soak- heavy hand, the village has the feel of an ing and drip-drying later, she hung the untouched oasis, in part because of its heavy cloth on a wooden pole to dry. remote location. After a quick meal of chili fermented Even today, it is accessible only by fish, sautéed vegetables and rice, she a narrow mountain road that winds hopped onto the back of her husband’s through lush bamboo forests before motorbike and headed out for a full day descending into a valley where sloping of harvesting rice in the fields. It was gray-tiled rooftops huddle closely to- only 9 am. gether. The next morning, Yang repeated the A recent visit to the village found entire process. In total, it takes Dong the few hundred or so residents hard at women about two weeks to colour a work. Nearly every family grows its own single bolt of cloth into the desired rich rice and indigo, and both were ready for shade of indigo. harvest. “They say whoever has the dark- In the busy autumn mornings, it is est stains on her hands makes the best the Dong women who wake first. The cloth,” Yang said proudly, as she held roosters were still asleep and the sky out her purple-streaked hands. dark when Yang Xiukui stepped outside to start her day’s work. She folded a long length of indigo cloth and lay it onto a A woman dries indigo cloth in the village of Dali. flat stone surface. Using a heavy wooden mallet, Yang, for holidays and festivals, the women older people chatted on doorsteps of 55, began to pound the fabric. With each will inspect the sheen of one another’s traditional wooden homes. thump, the cloth grew brighter, acquir- handiwork in the spirit of friendly com- Yang brought the now-gleaming ing a shiny gloss. That lustre — achieved petition. indigo cloth to a covered plastic tub in through the application of cowhide As Yang worked, a chorus of roosters the corner of her still dark kitchen. She extract and, at times, egg whites — is joined the plinking of mallets to awaken removed the lid, releasing a pungent, prized by Dong women. When they the village. Sleepy children stumbled to fermented odour. Inside was a dark blue, wear their handmade indigo clothes school along stone-paved paths while frothy liquid. C'&)HC"Y *%0+I0)Y 3'"13)1&3' LC%C4k(L*,H(1304'3C TRIBUNE NEWS NETWORK DOHA HAVAN’S Public School organised the annual science exhibi- tion Scientia recently on the school’s Matar Qadeem Campus. Principal MP Philip urged the students to maintain a scien- tific and creative outlook in the quest for knowledge. EduBrisk Knowledge Solutions Pvt Ltd founder and CEO Saiju Aravind motivated students to focus on problem-solving and decision- making skills and enjoy learning commendation and set the crea- na Menon, General Secretary KM experiences. He and a panel of tive ambience. Anil, Board Director Hameed, judges applauded the ideas of the The preliminary round of the Headmistresses Shailaja Krishna- students. exhibition was carried out on all Kumar and Asha Shiju, and the The guests enjoyed the mime the three campuses. The event academic and activity coordina- and robotic dance in which the saw young scientists putting up tors attended the event. They ap- students portrayed the journey exhibits comprising innovative preciated the efforts the students. of science through the ages. The work and still models related to The programme was compered simulation of artificial intel- Science, Mathematics and Com- by Remya Nandakumar while ligence, in which the robot was puter Science. Science Department Head Gisha brought alive, earned everybody’s Administration Director Anja- Anil proposed the vote of thanks. D)*&4H'*$4 C'&)HC"Y *%0+I0)Y L*,H(+*'3%C'3*4C,K)*2)C++0 '*I0C'0#C+34C'3*4I,&0( TRIBUNE NEWS NETWORK DOHA ES Indian School conduct- ed a motivational session for the Classes X and XII students on ‘Defeating the Fear of Exam’. The session aimed to help the students manage exam-related fears and prepare them for the board examinations with confi- dence. Qatar Foundation Head of Business Planning Dr Rajeev Thomas was the resource person. The session covered the topics ‘The Power of Focus’, ‘From Fear to Confidence’, ‘Achieving a Peak Performance-Mindset’ and ‘Ex- ams – a Stepping Stone to Your Success’. The programme was coordi- nated by the Department of Guid- ance and Counselling. N('&H04'(C''04H,01'&)0*4/&423 TRIBUNE NEWS NETWORK and PISQ staff were also present at the a degree in Veterinary Medicine and a morphological and molecular identifi- DOHA programme.