Design & craft shopping in Myanmar

Posted on April 13, 2017 by Toothpicker

Inle heritage shop, Inle Lake

When I was in Myanmar, I was genuinely surprised by its diverse craft industry. Aside from traditional crafts, we were quite delighted to have come across some contemporary craft/design brands as well. My favourite shop of the trip was an accidental find in Inle Lake… We had hired a boat and helmsman for the day, and he kept taking us to the touristy factories despite us asking him not to. Luckily, the beautiful architecture of Inle heritage captured my attention and so we demanded him to stop and let us explore; and we eventually spent hours there because of its tranquil and relaxing setting.

Inle Heritage’s architecture, restaurant and U Saung’s room

While we were there, we found out that Inle Heritage is a not-for-profit organisation that preserves the cultural and natural wealth of the Inle region. Built from reclaimed wood and modelled on the former home of Inle Heritage’s founder, Inthar Heritage House contains a traditional restaurant, an area that hosts exhibitions of local artists’ works, recreation of U Saung’s room, a gift shop, and a cat village. The compound also houses a boutique hotel comprises six bungalows, a vocational centre, and an organic garden.

The gift shop sells many wonderful and well-curated locally made products, souvenir and fashion. The revenue from the shop is split between the craft producer and funding Inle Heritage’s work. Although the products here are more expensive than the ones on sale at the markets, the quality is higher and more unique.

A souvenir and food market in Inle lake

In Yangon, there are two shops that also focus on locally made crafts and designs: Hla Day and Pomelo. Hla Day (1st Floor, 81 Pansodan Street) is a social enterprise that works with 40 producer groups including Myanmar artisans, disadvantaged groups and small local businesses to design, develop and sell quality handmade products. Every product is sourced and made locally and using local materials. Sustainability and supporting the local communities is important the organisation’s ethos.

Hla Day

Pomelo ( 89 Thein Phyu Street) is another fair trade shop that offers quality and contemporary hand-made products. They work with local disadvantaged groups to produce and sell designed crafts in order to support their families and scale up their businesses.

Pomelo shop

Another good place to buy locally made crafts and products is the Bogyoke Aung San Market. With more than 2000 shops, it is best to do a bit of research and locate the shops you are interested in before heading there, otherwise, it is easy to get lost in the maze-like market.

Bogyoke Aung San Market

If you are coffee drinker, then make sure you drop by the Mooney Moon coffee shop (Rm-210, West Wing) in between your shopping. The coffee is very good here, and you can even buy some beans to bring back home. Alternatively, there is a quieter and friendly shop upstairs called Coffee Melody that offers good organic coffee as well.

Yangoods

Yangoods (No.89 Front wing) is an accessories and souvenir brand known for its nostalgic sepia portraits and images of old Burma. Their style somewhat reminds me of vintage Bollywood posters. At the shop, you can find stationery, clocks, bags and home furnishings etc, but the prices here are higher than other local souvenir shops. The shop also has two other shop locations that can be found on their website.

Yo Ya May & Chin Chili

On the first floor of the market (facing the main road), there are two Ethnographic textiles shops that specialise in traditional chin textiles. Yo Ya May (1st fl, front block, Bogyoke Aung San Market) is a wonderful shop that sells colourful woven cushion covers, wall hangings, purses, and bags etc. The prices are reasonable and the staff are friendly. Further down is a smaller shop called Chin Chili, which sells similar products.

Dacco (13/F, Upper Front) is another traditional handicraft shop that sells high quality handmade products like plastic baskets, textiles, jewellery, sandals, candles and clothing. The shop also has a flagship store at Room 5, No.12 Parami Road, 10 Quarter, Mayangone Township.

Japanese-designed wooden crafts that are made in Myanmar

Interestingly, there is a shop on the 1st floor that sells crafted wood designs that are similar to the products that we sell from Japan. It turns out that these products are produced by a non-profit Japanese organisation called Asia Crafts link. All their products are designed in Japan but made in Myanmar using local materials, craftsmen and skills. The products are much cheaper than the Japanese made ones (I am being honest here) without compromising on the quality, hence I couldn’t resist making some items here.

Art works and products by contemporary artists from Myanmar are on sale at River Gallery (Chindwin Chambers, 33/35, 37th and 38th Street)

Souvenir from Myanmar

Other interesting shops and brands in Myanmar:

Amazing Grace (26/A Maggin St, Corner of Min Ye Kyaw Swar St., Ward 14, Yangon) – a local social enterprise making handmade jewellery and other fashion accessories using environmentally sustainable and ethical methods.

Helping Hands (92b Ngar Htat Gyi Pagoda St, Yangon) – a social business restoring old, Burmese, teak furniture. Employing over 50 people, skilled artisans work along side ex-street children, training them in the art and skill of furniture restoration.

Paloma Ya Ya – an ethical clothing brand inspired by Myanmar and its neighbouring countries. All items are made with handwoven fabrics and natural fibres in Myanmar.

Burmese crafts: bamboo & textiles weaving

Posted on April 10, 2017 by Toothpicker

Bamboo factory

Bamboo is a material that is widely available and used in Myanmar. The sustainable and versatile material is used to build houses, scaffolding, make woven walls, furniture and basketry etc.

We visited a bamboo factory in Mandalay, and it was interesting to see how the hollow and tall bamboo shoots can be transformed into thin strips to be woven into all kinds of products using quite primitive tools.

Visiting a bamboo factory in Mandalay

Bamboo furniture, homeware, baskets and footballs are sold in the streets

1st & 2nd rows: A house made of bamboo; Last row: An eco toilet hut made of wood and bamboo

Top left: Brooms made of bamboo and grass; Top right and bottom: woven coloured mats

After the visit to the bamboo factory, we visited Thein Nyo silk weaving workshop in Amarapura. Since Amarapura is a former royal city, hence it has a long silk-weaving heritage. Patterned longyis, scarves, cushion covers, handbags and other textile goods are made and sold in the shop next to the workshop.

Thein Nyo silk weaving workshop in Amarapura

Around Inle Lake, the ancient craft of lotus weaving has survived and we were immensely fascinated by this unique material. We visited a workshop and watched the demonstration of how a weaver skillfully drew out thin and delicate lotus fibres from the cut stems. Amazing.

Lotus and silk workshop around Inle Lake

Lotus is a plant notably related to Buddhism, thus the robes made of lotus were offered to Buddhist monks in the old days. Since this weaving technique is fairly time-consuming, most of the products on sale now are mixed with silk, making them more affordable than items made from pure lotus.

However, due to lack of government support and infrastructure, it is extremely difficult for these products to be exported out of Myanmar, and so they are sold mostly to tourists.

Padong tribal (long-neck) woman weaving around Inle Lake

Tapestry and embroidery workshop in Mandalay

During this trip, I was quite astonished by the variety of traditional arts and crafts that have been preserved in Myanmar. It is a shame that most of the beautifully crafted products are not available outside of Myanmar. Since Myanmar is changing rapidly, I hope that the traditional craft industry can survive and flourish one day like Thailand and Vietnam.

Lace artisans and lace merchandise sold around Inle Lake

Burmese crafts: The art of carving

Posted on April 7, 2017 by Toothpicker

Carving has endured a long history in Myanmar. Exquisite wood carvings can still seen at some ancient monasteries and pagodas. Teak is commonly used as it is a native species in the rain forests of South East Asia.

In Mandalay, we visited a wood carving workshop where we saw artisans carving large teak panels featuring the Buddha and other ornamental symbols related to Buddhism.

Yet not far from the wood carving workshop lies an entire road of marble carving workshops. This road is called Kyauk Sitt Thin (which literally means ‘Stone Carving Road’). It turns out that Mandalay is particularly well known for its marble stone sculptures.

Marble carving workshops in Mandalay

The Burmese word for marble is ‘Sagyin’, which also is the name of a village about 21 miles to the north of Mandalay. The village is located near Sagyin Hill, a mountain range consists of 7 hills with large quantities of marble. And not far from the hills is Mogok, which is known as the Valley of Rubies.

The marble from Sagyin Hill varies in colour from pure white to bluish grey. Traditionally, stone carving used to be carved solely by hand using chisels, but now power tools are being used instead. The once handcrafted trade has now become a mass production industry that exports globally.

We saw many young apprentices (who don’t get paid in their first year of learning) working there without masks, which is quite alarming. And oddly, most of the Buddha statues we saw along the road look almost identical (with some variations in sizes), so no particular workshop stood out for us.

The making of bronze statues at a workshop in Mandalay

After seeing marble carving, we then proceeded to another nearby bronze statue workshop. A traditional lost-wax-method is used to produce these statues. First, a clay-based mold is made, then it is covered with a thin layer of wax, which enables the carving process to take place. Afterwards, a second clay frame is molded around the wax statue. Molten bronze is then poured in between the two molds, melting the wax and filling the gap. When the clay mold is cooled and removed, the bronze statue inside becomes a replica of the original wax statue. The statue is then polished by hand or power tools to make it look smooth and shiny.

The art of carving can be seen everywhere including traditional carved puppets and even coconuts!

To be contined…

Burmese crafts: papier mâché , lacquerware & pottery

Posted on April 5, 2017 by Toothpicker

Stumbled upon a papier mâché maker’s home in New Bagan

Before my trip to Myanmar, I had no idea that a myriad of traditional crafts are being produced in different parts of the country. Apparently, every region uses local materials to produce in a specific craft that is unique to that area; hence, every region has its own a niche market (a good idea to employ in our increasingly homogeneous Western society).

Our first stop was Bagan, and the most unexpected surprise happened when we stumbled upon a papier mâché maker’s house near our hotel. My travel companion spotted the back of a life-sized papier mâché in the courtyard of the craftsman’s house, which evoked our curiosity… eventually the craftsman noticed us (two suspicious tourists peeking outside his house) and invited us in. Although the craftsman spoke little English, he was keen to show us his fantastic creations. He even climbed into the life-sized papier mâché to show us the interior of it. He told us that these papier mâchés are being employed at Buddhist festivals like Thingyan (Burmese New Year Festival), where other papier mâché toys and masks are being sold.

Small lacquer jars made by a local artisan in New Bagan

Bagan is the official home of lacquerware in Myanmar, so lacquerware can be seen in shops around the Bagan area. After our stop at the papier mâché maker’s house, we met one of his neighbour, who is a lacquerware artisan and she creates tiny lacquer jars and napkin rings at her house.

Since the small village is away from the touristy area, the villagers were all very friendly and hospitable. It was particularly encouraging to see different craftsmen living side by side and working for themselves rather than in a factory setting.

A lacquerware workshop in Bagan

Two days later, we were taken to a lacquerware workshop in Bagan (as part of our tour), where we observed different artisans working on larger and finer pieces catered for tourists.

Although originated from China, Bagan has been producing lacquerware since the 12th/13th century. The sap used in lacquerware is called Thit-si (which means wood varnish) is collected from Melanorrhoea usitata, a tree native to South East Asia. The base of the lacquer vessels are usually made of coiled or woven bamboo strips mixed with horsehair, and later the surface is painted on the inside and outside with lacquer at least eight to sixteen different layers, then stored in a dry cellar. Since it may take a skilled craftsman six months or up to one year to produce high quality lacquerware, hence the prices of these crafts can come with hefty price tags.

A village pottery maker outside of Mandalay

Unlike lacquerware, pottery is being produced in several areas of the country. And one of them is Nwe Nyein village near Kyauk Myaung, a riverside town along the Ayeyarwady River. Since the clay near Kyauk Myaung produces high quality pottery, therefore the area is known for its 50-gallon glazed jars. Most jars are exported, while others are primarily used for water storage. These water jars can often be seen in the streets or at Buddhist temples providing water for travelers or monks.

Although we didn’t visit this village, we did visit a village outside of Mandalay where we saw some local pottery makers producing pottery (and drying chilies) at their houses.

Top & 2nd rows: Terracotta water jars; 3rd row: Pottery shop in Bagan; Last row: miniature pottery kits for children

To be continued…

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Tag Archives: Burmese craft

Design & craft shopping in Myanmar

Burmese crafts: bamboo & textiles weaving

Burmese crafts: The art of carving

Burmese crafts: papier mâché , lacquerware & pottery