Starter Kit. Idea 42 of 500. Cluster 2
Dumbara mat weaving taught by the families who still do it
The mechanism, from the book
The craft cannot be copied and the object can. In Europe people queue to watch glass being blown and then buy the glass.
The first step
Go to a family that still weaves Dumbara mats and ask whether they would teach a small group for a morning, and at what fee. Weave a small sample yourself to learn how long a beginner needs. Then offer the morning to two hotels in the Kandy area. One hotel booking and the family's yes are the proof.
- Who pays first
- Hotels around Kandy that want a rare craft to offer guests, and visitors who value learning from the families who keep it.
- What leaves today
- The craft survives in a few families and earns little; teaching it pays them to keep the pattern alive and passed on.
Ask first
- National Crafts Council. Ask which Dumbara weaving families they know and whether they want to teach.
- the Divisional Secretariat. Ask whether the area has any craft village support for weaving families.
Check before you spend
That the families agree to teach and are paid fairly, and that the reed or fibre used can be gathered without harming the supply.
Find out these three numbers
- What would a visitor pay for a short mat-weaving lesson?
- How many families still weave and would host learners?
- What does a finished mat sell for at the village?
A comparison from the book
Sri Lanka House. Chapter Seventeen
"Gem cutting. Cinnamon peeling. Handloom weaving. Mask carving."
Weaving done live, by the families who still do it, sells the mat as well.
The test
Does it keep value that now leaves the island, or build the proof that lets somebody else do so?
From the appendix of Why Not Sri Lanka? by Dr Maheshika Halbeisen. The idea and the mechanism are the book's; this kit was written for the site.