This article may contain affiliate/compensated links. For full information, please see our disclaimer here.
There are 49 different recognized ethic groups living throughout Laos, each with a distinct culture based on their diet, traditions and clothing. These groups live high in the mountains, in jungles, along plains and lowlands, or nearby rivers. Their ways of life have gone on for centuries, and some still do not use currency, instead trading with one another for basic living necessities and other items of beauty or desire.
Many women in Laos wear beautiful woven skirts every day.
Textiles are one thing many of these groups have in common. Throughout Laos, women weave with hand dyed cotton and silk threads on looms made from wood and bamboo. They create intricate patterns on scarves, blankets and skirts, through much labor and skill. The patterns incorporate parts of daily life and belief, such as plants, animals, Nagas, and ancestor spirits. This is a living art that has been passed on for centuries, some dating as far back as 800AD.
Traditional Laos clothing displayed at the Traditional Arts and Ethnology Center in Luang Prabang, Laos.
As modernity creeps into every facet of our world, Laos is no exception. Younger generations are not as interested in carrying on these traditions as their parents and grandparents were.
This is creating generational gaps in the traditional art forms of these ethnic groups, which are now slowly dying out. If there is no money to be made in weaving, no suitable way to make these laboriously crafted textiles while creating the desired lifestyle of modern times, how can these beautiful weaving traditions carry on?
Ock Pop Tok: “East Meets West”
Ock Pop Top, meaning ‘East Meets West’, is a Living Crafts Center in Luang Prabang, Laos. Their aim is to create local and international markets where Laos artisans can continue their crafts and earn money through their work to provide for their families and communities. They operate on a platform of fair trade by paying fair wages with benefits and providing safe working conditions.
The Ock Pop Tok Heritage Shop in Luang Prabang, Laos.
Ock Pop Tok strongly supports women’s empowerment and provides economic stability and leadership opportunities. Through their Village Weavers Projects they have created relationships with weavers from all around Laos to help get their pieces to the market. Textile production is only one aspect of life for these women, and the income generation opportunities through Ock Pop Tok give them the ability to earn more while remaining in their villages. This benefits their families and reduces poverty more effectively.
Women weave at looms at the Ock Pop Tok Living Crafts Center in Luang Prabang, Laos.
Anyone can come to the Ock Pop Top Living Crafts Center in Luang Prabang to learn about the creation of traditional Laos art forms like weaving, dyeing, silk worms and batik from Laos artisans themselves.
After meeting Ock Pop Tok’s Marketing Director, Hillary, during the Mekong Tourism Forum in Luang Prabang I was invited as a guest to come experience the center and join a weaving class.
The Ock Pop Tok Living Crafts Center is located about 15 minutes outside of town, set in a tropical, peaceful garden overlooking the Mekong River. When I arrived at the center I was given a tour of the grounds before beginning the class.
The main building at the Ock Pop Tok Living Crafts Center.
Hmong Batik
I had the honor to meet Maw Thao Zuzong, a highly respected 67 year old woman from the Hmong tribe, and the only living Batik artist in Luang Prabang. Many women in her tribe never received an education, and learned batik as a trade from a young age.
Mae Thao Zuzong teaching a batik class at the Ock Pop Tok Living Crafts Center.
Maw Thao Zuzong uses beeswax to draw intricate patterns on woven hemp. When she is finished the cloth is dipped in fermented indigo up to 20 times, drying in the sun between each dip. The cloth is then boiled in hot water, leaving a negative pattern where the wax was.
On the left: The beeswax drawing. On the right: After indigo dyeing and boiling to remove the wax.
Her patterns take inspiration from nature such as fern leaves, butterflies and pumpkin seeds. When I asked her what piece has been her favorite to create in her life, she said a skirt, which includes batik, appliqué and embroidery, that took her six months to complete! Her 14 year old granddaughter has taken an interest in batik and now joins her on the weekends when they can work together.
A skirt like this one!
Natural Dyeing
Some women at the center are experts in dyeing. They use traditional natural ingredients such as wood, bark, leaves, flowers, insect wax, fruits and seeds. To set the vibrant colors natural mordants like alum, ash water and limestone are used.
There are about 22 women who weave full time at the center, along with a few students from the local University who come to learn part time.
While observing the women weaving, I was blown away by their skills to create incredibly intricate designs. The most difficult weaving technique is called Chok, which is a double sided finger technique. It takes a full working day, about 8 hours, to complete just 10 centimeters of this design. Some pieces take weeks or months to create!
A Chok design in the works.
The Weaving Class
What I would be making in the weaving class was much simpler. I worked with Yai, a woman from Vientiane, the capital of Laos. She started weaving at age 14, which she said was quite late compared to other girls from her village. She finished school, but continued weaving because she loved it. Her favorite thing to make is skirts for herself and her family and friends. She also specializes in needlework, sewing and embroidery, not just weaving. Her husband is from Luang Prabang and together they have three children who she helps support through her work.
Given her high level of skill, she was extremely patient in teaching me! We started the class by choosing a pattern to make, and two colors of silk. We would be making a small wall hanging that I could take home at the end of the class.
Choosing the silk and the pattern.
Yai showed me how to wind the thread onto spools using a hand crank, which separates and smooths the silk threads further. It was not easy! If I took my eyes off the work for even a second the thread would tangle. Yai came to my rescue at least half a dozen times!
Next Yai got started with weaving the wall hanging while I observed how she worked. The loom used to weave is a large piece of equipment made from wood. Support beams hold up the pattern and foot pedals are used to control the peddles. Honestly, it is so complex, my mind was boggled at how anyone had ever conceived of such an elaborate contraption.
Thankfully all I needed to do was follow orders. Right foot, right hand, push the shuttle through, pull back, boom, switch feet. Left foot, left hand, push the shuttle through, pull back, boom, switch feet. Again and again I repeated this to myself, and Yai, ever patient reminded me of my missteps. We weren’t even at the pattern part yet and this was a workout!
When it came time to do the pattern Yai sat with me to guide me further. After every two lines of thread the pattern needed to be switched in order to make the next part of the design. This required standing up, moving a plank of wood, lifting strings, placing the strings around nails above to maintain the pattern placement, sitting down, repeating the shuttle process twice, then getting up to switch the pattern again. Yai guided me through each step, and even then it was a struggle. I have no idea how women are able to do this on their own!
It was so humbling to learn just how much work goes into making the simplest of designs. It took me 1.5 hours of work and I still wasn’t able to complete my piece. Yai stepped in and finished it up for me. I know she’s been doing this for the better part of two decades, but I was mesmerized by her speed to do what had taken me at least 20 times as long.
The class gave me a deeper understanding of the work that goes into creating the incredible textiles that can be seen all over Laos. It was an amazing experience to get to learn about this living part of Laos culture that has been around for centuries. As we traveled through Laos over the next several weeks, whenever I saw a beautiful table runner at a restaurant or a wall hanging, or a bed cover at a hotel, I stopped and admired the details.
Beautiful woven textiles decorating our bungalow at Lao Valhalla in Vang Vieng, Laos.
Free Tour and Classes
If you travel to Luang Prabang I highly recommend a visit to the Ock Pop Tok Living Crafts Center where you can take a free tour, or go a step further and take a weaving, dyeing or batik class.
A free shuttle runs from the Ock Pop Tok Heritage Shop in the center of Luang Prabang to the Living Crafts Center.
Cafe
The Silkroad Cafe is on site where you can have a meal or a drink and relax on the deck overlooking the river. They have free wifi, so it’s a great place to come and get some work done.
Shop
There is a heritage shop on site where you can purchase Ock Pop Tok products, and two more stores in Luang Prabang city center.
Accommodation
If you are looking for unique accommodation, the Mekong Villas by Ock Pop Tok are also located on the grounds. Each room is themed in the unique designs and traditions of one of Laos’s ethnic groups. You will be surrounded by Laos’s textile and art culture while staying in lush gardens along the Mekong river.
Pin this post for later!
Do you enjoy learning about traditional arts when you travel? Share in the comments!
Jen was invited as a guest of Ock Pop Tok and took the weaving class for free. All opinions are, as always, her own.
Such a great experience. Our family loved it too 🙂
It was a really cool experience to try!
This is a fantastic post. I think it is amazing that some cultures don’t use currency and still rely on the trading of goods and services. The pictures of clothing and patterns are beautiful. Learning how to do this must of been an awesome experience
Thanks Chris! It was a very cool experience. I thought that was amazing to learn too! Hard to imagine not relying on money and being able to trade with your neighbors for what you need.
This looks like an amazing place to visit and get handcrafted treasures. And I love so much that it supports women’s empowerment and economic sustainability for the community. Wonderful!
I loved that too, Heather! The class was definitely a highlight of my time in Luang Prabang.
This must have been an awesome experience for you!! And of course, this is one of the best ways to dive into the local culture. I would love to learn this myself one day.
It was a great hands-on way to learn more about Laos’s amazing art of weaving. I would definitely recommend checking out Ock Pop Tok when you go to Laos 😀
Wow!!!! 49 different groups is so cool! I love seeing textiles and purchasing them when abroad! I’m sure the women of Laos are talented as evidenced by your photos!
I love that you purchase textiles on your travels. I think I will have to start doing that more! I was so amazed by the women’s skills. Honestly weaving was a lot of work, and they are amazing at it! We saw women weaving in front of their homes all around the north as we were traveling around too.
The designs are so intricate – it takes such a talent to make these! I love doing crafty things myself, so I’d love to give it a shot! I’ve done needlepoint and knitting before, so this would be a whole new crafty adventure for me 🙂
It really does take a special talent! I’m not particularly crafty myself (I teach Grade One, and that’s about my level 😀 ) Weaving is definitely a different skill set, but I’m sure you’d be great at it! Needlepoint and knitting are impressive skills too!!
I love the name of the shop, ock pop tok 😀 What a great initiative, to help benefit the local women. And they make such beautiful things!
I love the name too 😀 It is awesome what they are doing. Absolutely life changing and preserving the weaving culture for generations to come. They are also documenting the different styles and patterns of weaving from tribes around the country with the Traditional Arts and Ethnology Center.
The blue wall hanging you were holding up is cute! I’d like to make something like that too!
Thanks Carla!
Very cool. Beautiful craft products and an even more impressive program to promote the local artisan culture.
Agreed Peter. Cheers for your comment 🙂
I visited the TAEC when I was in Luang Prabang last summer and thought it was an interesting museum.
It is a fantastic museum to learn about Laos’s traditional arts and different ethnic groups. They work closely with Ock Pop Tok as well.
Wow, it’s these kind of experiences that make me want to visit Laos! Will be in SE Asia for six months, so I hope I’ll get the chance to visit the country.
Generational gaps where culture and the history of doing things don’t get passed on makes me a bit sad sometimes. But I can understand how meeting your basic needs has to come first, and if one cannot support themselves in the art, then it’s hard to rationalize going into that field.
Using beeswax to draw patterns on woven hemp sounds so…wow, I had no idea the process of creating such beautiful textiles is mind blowing to me.
The processes are mind blowing, Nancy! It was amazing to learn just how much work and technique goes into these traditional crafts. I think the work Ock Pop Tok is doing with the women will ensure that the art lives on, but it may take on different iterations in modern times.
I will be living in Chiang Mai for 4/5 weeks later this year. I was hoping to fit in a trip to Laos. Your pictures and stories on Luang Prabang have made me really want to make sure it happens
That’s awesome to hear, Natasha! Laos has surprised us in so many ways, I think you will love it 😀 After a month here we still haven’t seen enough, so I’m sure we’ll be back too!
What a cool experience. I actually went to this centre for an entirely different reason though which was to take a yoga class in the cafe. It was stunning as it was around 5pm and the sun was setting over the river. I highly recommend it
Very cool, Anne! I didn’t realize they had yoga there. The center would be an amazing setting for a class!
This looks like it would have been such a great experience! Being able to see the local textiles being made, and having a chance to create some yourself! A memorable day 🙂
It definitely as, Rhiannon. Cheers for your comment 🙂
What beautiful fabrics and designs. I love getting in and learning local skills while travelling. It’s such a great way to immerse yourself in the local culture. I hope this beautiful tradition doesn’t die out.
Agreed! Learning new skills is one of the best things about travel.
I have a friend who just returned from visiting Laos – and she absolutely loved it. I think it’s so wonderful these people have managed to maintain their weaving tradition since 800AD. Seeing the weaving done in the traditional way really makes you appreciate what a skill that really is and the hard work that goes into it. The end result is truly beautiful. Thanks for sharing your experience!
Thanks for reading, Alyse! Laos has been more amazing than we imagined. It should definitely be on more travelers’ radar when they come to SEA!
Such an interesting place to learn the local handicrafts and the connect with the culture. The textile designs remind me of India..we have very similar material and designs here.
Interesting, Punita! I didn’t pay a lot of attention to how textiles were made in India when we were there, but now I want to learn more. Thanks for sharing 🙂
What an incredible experience – I can imagine how humbling it would have been to witness the incredible amount of work which goes into the simplest of design, and spend some time in these women’s shoes – weaving does sound / look like quite the workout!
I love the idea behind Ock Pop Tok – it’s very sad that the world is becoming globalized to the point where beautiful traditions such as these are dying out. I don’t blame the new generation of any culture for wanting to take advantage of modern opportunities, but I think that without places like Ock Pop Tok, we’re going to get to a stage in a couple of decades and kick ourselves for having forgotten our heritage, culture, and traditions.
Such a wonderful organization for working to empower women in local communities too 🙂 Thanks for sharing your experience!
Thanks so much for reading and for your comment, Meg! I completely agree with you that the work organizations like Ock Pop Tok are doing to empower women and preserve cultural traditions is so vital in our rapidly modernizing world. Many traditions world-wide are going by the wayside. I think we are lucky to experience many of these things while we still can!
That is a traditional weaving technique. It is done in India as well but now it has been replaced by machines.
Interesting Gokul. Does anyone still weave the traditional way in India? There are many machine made weaving products in Laos now too, but they aren’t usually of the same quality as the ones made by hand.
What a beautiful craft centre. It is interesting to see how much work goes in to the weaving. Traditional handicrafts always amaze me.