{"id":2793,"date":"2013-08-08T23:28:58","date_gmt":"2013-08-08T22:28:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tissusetartisansdumonde.fr\/?p=2793"},"modified":"2016-11-30T03:08:17","modified_gmt":"2016-11-30T02:08:17","slug":"zu-xiong-hmong-batik-master","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tissusetartisansdumonde.fr\/en\/zu-xiong-hmong-batik-master\/","title":{"rendered":"Zu Xiong, Hmong batik master"},"content":{"rendered":"

In Luang Prabang<\/strong>, I have spent the day with Zu Xiong<\/strong>, a true expert in the batik technique<\/strong>, who teaches her craft and practices at the Ock Pop Tok<\/a>\u00a0workshops.<\/p>\n

Coming from a village located 50 kilometers away from the Cultural Heritage city, Zu Xiong belongs to the Hmong community. She grew up in the countryside and was introduced to this traditional textile skills at twelve. With her beautiful traditional costume : round and graphic cap, embroidered indigo jacket, appliqu\u00e9 ribbons on the collar and armholes, bright\u00a0pink silky belt with sinuous patterns, this little lady wears with such dignity the signs of her ethnic group.<\/p>\n

Sitting quietly at a table, she gave me a demonstration of drawing using the batik technique. On a natural and rustic hemp roll, Zu Xiong patiently draws with a bamboo and metal\u00a0stylus and black ink, a mixture of beeswax and indigo. She gradually covers the entire surface of the fabric, symmetrically,\u00a0starting from the edges. These motifs give the fabric its structure and boldness. At 59, Zu Xiong knows her repertoire by heart. Her stylized drawings depict animals such as a snail, plants and leaves, cucumber or squash\u00a0seeds… The everyday Hmong\u00a0rural world symbolized in a few lines. The wax will be embedded in the fibers of the fabric to repell the dyeing.<\/p>\n

It is only the first step in achieving a batik. This is a long process which Zu Xiong is detailing to\u00a0me. To prepare the pigment that gives color to the hemp\u00a0fabric, you must put indigo leaves in a jar for four days. The leaves are then removed and you only keep pigments to ferment for an additional seven days, in order to cold soak the patterned fabric and dry it under the sun. To obtain this color from intense blue to deep black, you need to repeat the dipping and dyeing\u00a0process three to four times a day minimum, and ideally up to forty times a month.<\/p>\n

Finally, the fabric is boiled to melt the wax. The drawings then appear in white. Batik is finished. This piece is the basis of all Hmong women\u00a0textile designs. They embroider red appliqu\u00e9 ribbons or geometric points, assemble several pieces of fabrics to create curtains or large pleated skirts, just like the one worn gracefully by Zu Xiong the day we met.<\/p>\n

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In Luang Prabang, I have spent the day with Zu Xiong, a true expert in the batik technique, who teaches\u2026
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