10 Aug 2022

Crafts in Asia: Pathways to Sustainability | Publication launched!

ASEF culture360 is delighted to present Crafts in Asia: Pathways to Sustainability, a new Guide on sustainable textile practices and crafts in Asia addressing climate change, pollution and waste.

This Creative Resource Guide highlights the key role played by crafts in providing practical solutions to face the climate crisis at hand. It also brings attention to the designers, craftspeople and makers that through their knowledge and practice are contributing to finding new transformative solutions to the pressing climate crisis. This Guide follows on the series initiated in 2019 with The Creative Resource Guide: Crafting Laos and Cambodia, looking at crafts and innovation in Cambodia and Lao PDR.

Written by textile historian, freelance cultural writer and documentarist Magali An Berthon, the guide presents a directory of 12 case studies and 3 in-depth interviews from indigenous and local communities in China—Hong Kong SAR, India, Indonesia, Japan, Lao PDR, Myanmar, the Philippines, South Korea and Viet Nam. It unfolds around three thematic areas: Preserving Heritage, Fostering Community and Innovative Making. For each theme, the guide also features an in-depth interview with a key player in the sector. A series of 3 interactive maps visually documents the Indigo Production Cycle, the Artisanal Production Cycle and Innovative Plastic Waste techniques. The case studies and interviews are complimented by two perspectives on communities and innovation from two leading museums in Asia: The Asian Civilisations Museum (ACM) in Singapore and the Centre for Heritage, Arts and Textile (CHAT) in Hong Kong, China.

We invite you to discover new Pathways to Sustainability and we look forward to continuing this series with more exciting initiatives merging arts, crafts and design in Asia and Europe.

Credit: A female weaver inserting colourful threads onto the loom © Turquoise Mountain