Cassidy has studied textiles since she left the US for Norway more than 20 years ago and she believes the Lao weaving culture to be the most complex in the world. Different techniques which she and her team of 25 weavers still practise include intricate brocade (which produces a double- layered fabric) with both a continuous and discontinuous warp and weft, tapestry where the weft threads are interlocked from either side and tied by hand, and the ikat, woven traditionally but whose pattern is determined in the resist-dying process of the silk. While Cassidy and her team produce upholstery and accessories they also do museum-quality work which can incorporate up to 345 design rows in one single piece, taking up to six months to complete.
Cassidy's commitment connoisseurship and on-going development has her interpreting and modifying designs and color combinations on her Apple computer so that Lao Textiles, in her words, "go beyond tradition". On the other hand she has had to go back to traditional communities in search of people to tend the silk worms, prepare, dye and weave the thread - difficult when young people often opt to work in the growing tourist and leisure industries. "Everyone weaves a piece from start to finish. In all areas, people get a certain sense of pride," she says.
She herself has a lot to be proud of, both in sheer expertise in textiles and for salvaging one of Asia's little-known but beautiful weaving traditions.
Words and Pictures by Sophie Benge
Next page: Sophisticated Weavings from Northern Laos 
Issue No. 1
