By Mamy Ratsimbazafy | Project leader
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
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