Yemi Awosile wrote: I'm working in the National College of Arts in Lahore with the Head of Textiles Iram and her two senior lecturers, Attya and Saima as part of the New Silk Road project, a cultural exchange organised through the British Council. I love their enthusiasm for their students and their own work. It's hard to believe that these women have full time jobs, work for other companies, work on their own projects and look after their families all at once. I guess they get their energy from the glorious Pakistani sun! Attya and Saima are two very talented women and I'm hoping to pick up some skills from them, specifically hand-embroidery and natural dying.So far I've had four workshops with textile students that have gone well. I introduced them to my work and research into cork and to the work of TED. I also introduced them to several UK designer/ makers such as Linda Florence, Margot Selby and Katherine May and I even picked up an extra student from the architecture department!
Lahore is an exciting and lively city and the people here are unbelievably accommodating. They have such a beautiful nature; it’s so different to what I'm used to in the UK and worlds apart from what we hear about in the UK media. If anything, the biggest thing I've learnt is that you can't judge others by our 'western' ideas and we're probably not as open minded as we think we are.
On Thursday, I visited the several textile factories in a town called Faisalabad, two and half hours outside Lahore. I had a tour around two factories that specialise in textile dyeing, printing and embroidery.
There is so much to see and do here and one month is not long enough!...I will write next time I have the chance.
Read more about Yemi's visit on her blog.
