Weaving a Story: Indigenous Perspectives and Slow Fashion

Day 1: Students arrive in the spectacular Kushok Bakula Rimpochee Airport in Leh, Ladakh. On most days, clear blue skies, brown and purple mountains and pockets of willow and poplar trees will greet us. We will travel to our orientation site in Phyang, a short half hour away by taxi. Here, we will begin to acclimatise, learn more about the unique history and culture of the region, and to get to know each other and our new surroundings.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Day 2: As we continue acclimatising, we will learn more about the traditional uses of textiles in the region and explore the Leh market to find local fabrics. We will also attend a workshop and discussion about fast fashion. 
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Day 3 - 5: On day three, we’ll make our way to Changthang. Tents will be our homes for the next few days. We will get to know our hosts, learning about their trade, their lives and the invaluable knowledge they have about their environment. We will dive head first into learning about the Changthangi, the goats from which Pashmina is harvested and the year round processes and systems that go into producing the wool that is used to weave the finest garments.

We will split our time between learning from our hosts when time permits and exploring questions like, “How does the ‘fast fashion’ industry work? In what ways is it harmful to the world? To environments, specifically like those of Ladakh? What are slow textiles?”
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Day 6-7: After saying goodbye to our hosts, we’ll return to Leh, armed with a new understanding of the origins of the textiles we wear every day. Here we will collaborate with Lena Ladakh, a slow textile label. We’ll get a tour of their headquarters and look into how slow textiles are manufactured. Students will also participate in a weaving workshop where they will get an opportunity to bring full circle all they have learned in the past week and create an art work of their own.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Day 8 - 9: We’ll spend our last couple of days together reflecting on what we have learned and thinking about how to take our knowledge forward, before heading back to the airport.