Afrika Tiss, the thread of solidarity at Storie

The beginning

With no adequate local cotton processing chain, Afrika Tiss opened a weaving center in Ouagadougou in 2013. Its first ambition was to strengthen the textile craft sector while offering new development opportunities to disadvantaged women artisans. Working with people in precarious situations (refugees, artisans in the informal economy), the association's mission is to build on their potential to support their social, economic and cultural integration.

Mariette Chapel is one of the project's co-founders. We asked her what motivated the project.

"To share in a vision of a dynamic, positive Africa, rich in talent and know-how, and to make sure raw materials are processed where they are grown, because processing is what brings real added value and can guarantee balanced development."

Many African countries grow cotton, but the textile industry remains very underdeveloped on the continent. This is the case in Burkina Faso, Africa's top cotton producer: the sector employs several hundred thousand growers and accounts for 60% of exports. In 2012, Burkina Faso produced more than 500,000 tons of seed cotton and processed only 2% of it locally.

Afrika Tiss's first ambition is to bring weaving back to its traditional home, both the place where raw materials are produced and the place where talented men and women have the skills. The association runs initiatives that promote craft as a lever for economic and social development. It connects creators, designers and artisans to encourage the meeting of skills and the emergence of innovative products. Training weavers at the Weaving Center of Excellence is one of Afrika Tiss's key roles.

The training

1. Brocaded designs on small looms. The women weavers in the program started their training at the weaving center with a module on brocaded designs on small metal looms (about 40 cm wide) with two pedals. The patterns are inspired by the textile heritage of the Bwa Ba, an ethnic group mostly found in northwest Burkina Faso, on the Malian border, known for the skill of its weavers, who are also griots. We adapted these traditional patterns to move them onto more modern equipment that suits women better.

The weavers now master 4 patterns (dam-dam, striped square, Djibasso, rice grain) in several colorways. The first participants, trained in 2014, became trainers and passed on their knowledge to new young women who have since joined the center too. About thirty women now take part in producing weavings on the small looms.

2. Weaving on large 4-pedal looms. The large wooden 4-pedal looms offer real potential for outlets, especially in home decor (upholstery fabrics, table and household linen). A program is now in place so all the women weavers in the program can produce on both the small looms and these more modern, more productive machines.

Ten women have already taken an introductory module, which should soon be followed by an advanced one. They have become familiar with this European-style craft loom and understand the different stages of setting it up, in particular threading and reeding. They have also been taught how to analyze and read a fabric and how to draw its graphic representation. First samples have been made to introduce new products after the training, such as throws, stoles, tablecloths and bedspreads.

3. Mastering yarn dyeing. The yarn dyeing training is run by a local organization, AFRIKOLOR, which specializes in dyeing with synthetic dyes guaranteed free of heavy metals. The women weavers already know the basics of dyeing. This training adds the use of scales and better-quality additives than those usually sold on the markets.

By getting better at dosing and quantities, the women can get more precise colors that are easier to reproduce, and cut the cost of raw materials. It also lets them reduce the health and environmental impact of dyeing, by using smaller amounts of dyes and of the additives needed to fix the colors.

4. Introduction to natural dyes. In small groups, the women weavers took introductory classes in natural dyeing techniques using mordants.

Mordanting is a step before plant dyeing. It is needed so the dye fixes and holds up to washing and light. Mordanting creates a chemical bridge between the fiber and the dye, because the dye alone does not always bond with the fiber.

The weavers learned the different preparation steps: cleaning the yarn with castor oil, mordanting with alum and/or iron, then soaking the yarn in baths made from colorfast or local plants: cochineal, henna, n'peco bark, ngalama. By soaking the skeins one after another in different plant baths, the artisans were able to blend colors and widen the range of shades obtained entirely from plants. These colors are particularly delicate, though, and harder to master. So these dyes have only produced small capsule collections. We hope to build on their use later and offer a range of products dyed entirely with plants.

Hard work pays off. Afrika Tiss now has a long list of well-known clients, as well as many projects across Burkina Faso beyond the weaving center.

The organization has partnered with the UNHCR on a project called MADE51, which works with refugee artisans around the world.

The UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is a global organization dedicated to saving lives, protecting rights and building a better future for refugees, forcibly displaced communities and stateless people. The project lets artisans develop their craft and sell their goods worldwide, through a network set up by the UNHCR and its partners.

Afrika Tiss created "Design for Peace" with Tuareg refugees in northern Burkina Faso, making beautiful leather and brass jewelry as well as home objects.

But working conditions are hard. Over the past three years, the growing threat of terrorism-related violence and political unrest have hampered Afrika Tiss's work. "Design For Peace" has been especially restricted. In recent months, no member of the team has been allowed into the refugee camps, and the refugees have not been allowed out. That is a serious obstacle when you are trying to refine designs and ensure quality control, not to mention the constraints on basic logistics.

The obstacles are real, but Afrika Tiss has stamina. They have come this far in the last 6 years and, having faced many other difficulties, they are not going to slow down now.

http://www.afrikatiss.org/