Transform Lives in Madagascar with Silk and Raffia

GLOBAL GIVING REPORT : workshop activities

April 2024

Picture1: Group picture of the Sepali Madagascar team 2024

Dear Donors

On Behalf of the Sepali Madagascar, I am happy to say “HELLO” to all of you and thank you again for your support to our program in Madagascar during last year.

Due to your kind support, Sepali Madagascar has accomplished a step by step progress and improvement regarding to our creativity skills. 

A couple years ago, Sepali has started to experiment about the plant dyeing technics in order to reduce or even to substitute the use of the chemical dyes. So far, Sepali Madagascar has mastered the dyeing methods to make five traditional colors from the plant dye species that the team farmed at our garden.

This year, the Sepali team has decided to combine all of our efforts about the plant dyeing experiment as well as the wild silk research in order to create a” new mosaic wall hanging products  2024”.

We are happy to share with you the last product creation that the Sepali team accomplished during the last three months.

Sincerely

Mamy Ratsimbazafy

Sepali Madagascar Director

1-     Story of the new mosaic conception:

The idea was to create a geometrical form Mosaic that is made up with the seven species of silk cocoons that the team dye into five Malagasy traditional colors.

Our technic consists of cutting all the silk textiles into squares as well as circles and then sewing them a together.

All the squares are sewn  using a twisted raffia, card-woven raffia as well as woven Magnara fiber. Both of Raffia fiber and Magnara fibers are traditional fibers in the Betsimisaraka region to make clothing and hats. That is why, Sepali Madagascar team has decided to include them into our new products.

In addition to the material type, we also respect the traditional Malagasy color range which was “Dark brown, light brown, beige, white”.

The background of each square is doubled with woven raffia that the Sepali team wove.

Picture2: New silk and raffia mosaic conception by the Sepali team in February 2024

2-     Result of the mosaic creation:

After 15 days of brainstorming as well as product development, the team was able to bring all the squares in one piece of 45” width by 71” length. The piece was 50% sewn by hand and 50% sewn by sewing machine.

The new mosaic wall hanging consists of:

-         2 meter squares of non-spun textile from seven silk cocoon species

-        2 meter squares of woven raffia

-        6 meters of raffia card woven

-        1 kilos of raw raffia

-        1 kilo of magnara fiber.

-        5 species of  dye plant materials

-        5 bunch of bio char to boil the water for the dyeing process

Picture3: New mosaic product

3-     The Next step and future plan:

Sepali Madagascar application was approved to participate in the “MSA show” in Baltimore in May 2024. So this new mosaic product will be showcase at the show.

The future plan of Sepali Madagascar is to continue focusing on geometrical mosaic designs to build different sizes of products always with respect of the Malagasy traditional color.

Sepali Madagascar also aimsglobal  to transfer the knowledge about making this product to our women artisans in order to produce our next products by the Sepali women artisans.

Links:

• SEPALIM team site
• Sepalim market site
• CPALI site

 GLOBAL GIVING REPORT: Sepali Madagascar workshop

(December 2023)

-        Acknowledgment : 

On behalf of the Sepali Madagascar team members, I acknowledge all the donors for your kind support to our project during this year 2023.

Your support allow the Sepali Madagascar to continue processing the silk and raffia that farmers produce specifically for this project.

Now, Sepali Madagascar is setting up a new partnership with farmers to produce seven species of endemic wild silk cocoon in addition to the Malagasy plant fiber such as Raffia, and water hyacinth. 

The Sepali Madagascar team is struggling to combine the wild silk material with the native plant fibers to create unique products that inspire by the wildlife in the Makira protected.

This year, Sepali Madagascar had available time to brainstorm and create a few new products that are directly advertised by our partner organization, Tananasilk (tananasilk.com)

We aim to continue creating more products in 2024 with a goal of providing new livelihoods to both silk producers as well as the artisan villagers.

Again, thank you Donors for your support during 2023 and we hope that you are continuing to support us in 2024.

Sepali Madagascar wishes you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Sincerely

Mamy Ratsimbazafy

Sepali Madagascar Director

1-     Sepali Madagascar team at the workshop:

The Sepali Madagascar team consists of 16 fulltime workers in 2023. Among the team there are artisan weavers and sewers, a designer that oversees new design creations and the program is managed by a director. 

As we are working on the endemic wild silk cocoon that nowhere else has processed into finished products, the process from raw material into finished products is always challenging. Most of the wild silk cocoons cannot be spun therefore getting a silk thread is still an issue.  These difficulties demands collaboration between the Sepali Madagascar staff with the artisans and especially the input of knowledge and skill from our old farmers regarding the process that our ancestor used long ago.

The Sepali Madagascar team has learnt a lot of technical methods regarding the dyeing process using plants from the forest. 

Regarding to our weaving technic, Sepali Madagascar is  inspired by the traditional methods practiced by the Betsimisaraka ancestors (the ethnicity name of the people in our area)

 The Betsimisaraka weaving technic was transferred to Sepali Madagascar artisans by the learning from a few artisans that are still alive now ( they are about 90 years old now).

Picture1:  Sepali Madagascar team 2023

Picture2: Sepali team at work

2-     Sepali Madagascar design creation:

All the designs created by Sepali Madagascar are inspired from wildlife animals and plants that are endemic to Madagascar.  

2-1- The moth ornament:

For every single species of silk moth that Sepali Madagascar processed, there are farmers interested in rearing the larvae as well as farming their host plants.

We are working to match the colors of our finished products as close as the realistic wildlife using the plant dyes.

Picture3: Matching the realistic color of the comet moth ( Argema mittrei) with the silk ornaments.

2-2- Mosaic artwork:

 According to Sepali Madagascar, mosaic artwork is the opportunity of the Sepali artisans to create an interpretive art by combining diversity of colors of both silk and raffia materials that can be produced from dye plant.

The texture of the products is managed by the skill of combination of seven species of the wild silk. The result of the mosaic artwork are due the team brainstorming that is always inspired from everyday life in the area where the project takes place.

Picture4: New mosaic creation. First, this product express the sadness of the people in Maroantsetra who must face to 4 to 5 hurricanes every year and second, the joy and courage of people to stand up and celebrate for being alive (fireworks).

 Picture5: Madagascar dreaming mosaic conception

Links:

• SEPALIM home site
• Market site
• Project Mothership