“The art of beautiful cloth… Patterns and colors from the past.”
Prae Pan, meaning “many kinds” of fabrics”, is a group consisting of 200 weavers in seven communities in the Khon Kaen province in Northeast Thailand. Encouragement to form the group came originally from the Handicraft Center for Northeast Women’s Development (NWD) which proposed the following objectives:
- To preserve and teach to others the techniques and traditional patterns of hand weaving to the Northeast.
- To provide a lasting career and steady income for the women. –
- To encourage the women’s participation in all aspects of community affairs while they cooperate with one another in the weaving project.
The NWD program continued for ten years. Beginning in 1997. NWD turned the management of the program over to a committee consisting of representatives of NWD and of each of the villages. The parent organization has gradually withdrawn as the village group has learned to take over its functions, until NWD now has only an advisory role.
Thai Handwoven Natural Dye Textiles 