BAMBOO MASTERY

Dalati WithLove
Jul 29, 2020
3 min read

The craft of cane and bamboo at Syntein Village, Meghalaya, India

The culture of a habitat and of a community encompasses diverse beliefs, values, rituals, and traditions through the medium of art, music, and craftsmanship of different kinds - textile, applique, inlay, crocheting, embroidery, knitting, macrame, quilting, tapestry art, weaving, woodcraft, pottery, bamboo and cane craft and many more - all of which portrays the range of skills and creativity manifested by each society and its ethnic ancestry.

Each culture's crafts expresses the ideas, customs, and social behavior of its particular society. As culture evolves, it begins to acquire its own lexicon, consisting of symbols, language, beliefs, values, and artifacts that come to define a society.

The Khasi-Jaintia and Garo culture and others of North East India use bamboo and cane as raw materials for goods and for most it's a source of family income. MAWSYNRAM is one such cluster that has contributed considerably to the art of bamboo weaving.

ree — Trip down to Mawsynram Bamboo Cluster

Being one of the world's wettest places, it is home to the most intricate bamboo weaving society. Syntein Village, under the Mawsynram cluster, is a village in the East Khasi Hills, Meghalaya, India which has been involved in the art of bamboo weaving for generations; they know which bamboo type to use in which way - when to sow and when it's mature.

The village is populated with over 400 households and with more than 500 artisans practicing the art - of which most are women.

The road to the village is rugged and with many turns and cliffs. Oh! and the overhead waterfall gushing beneath en route to the village - what a beautiful sight.

The forest of Syntein Village is large and vast with different kinds of fruits, wild plants, and also rich in bamboo varieties. Since its raining almost throughout the year they scour through the forest to find a good bamboo species to weave with a headcover locally called the 'Knup''.

The artisans - traditionally, only weaved during the summer where it mostly pours and damped, good weather for weaving activities as in the winter they are crips and difficult to twist and turn the slivers. But with the growth of product demands artisans now weave throughout the year.

The artisans of Syntein village are reckoned to be the best in the state of Meghalaya and has the most quality finish. They mostly weaved variations of baskets for kitchenware, home decor, flower vase, lampshades, decorative, and much more.

One of the most astonishing in the process of bamboo weaving is they do not use any kind of artificial preservatives or colors to increase the shelf life. Another uniqueness of these wonderfully made products is the natural green tint in the bamboo slivers that dries off with time to a subtle beige color and turning darker with exposure to smoke developing a beautiful black shade. What's even more impressive is that the entire community generates zero waste in making these products. The scraps are mostly used as firewood and manure.

With time and help from the different organizations, they are able to explore with current and improved machines and tools, further enabling them to create new products with new designs and techniques.

Recognizing that innovation is the bridge to the future and that, in tandem, we need to propagate a sustainable consciousness within ourselves our objective should be to contribute new ideas in the emergence and evolution of eco-friendly products with the ideal aim of generating zero waste and pollution.

Let us celebrate the craftsmanship and skillfulness of the artisans embracing artisanal creativity.