It is well recognized that hand weaving and crafting sectors are one of the alpha non-agricultural sources of income in Ethiopia. It is a traditional technology to produce specialty fabrics as well as ordinary fabrics in the rural and semi-urban areas scattered throughout Ethiopia.
The Ethiopian Herald approached Simenesh Bireda, a weaver and distributor working around Shiro Meda, to have a practical engagement and the nature of the task.
She said, "Weaving is an artful, slow process of making unique cultural clothes. Handmade cultural products deserve to be well recognized for two basic reasons- the emotional-cultural attachment of people toward their cultural clothes and the high level of being preferred by visitors and tourists."
She further stated that facilitating access to finance and providing weavers with support for marketing and distribution can empower and help operators reach wider markets. The practice of attracting tourists to textile industry, known as textile tourism, is gaining popularity and significantly impacts economic development. Besides, increasing tourist flow plays a crucial role in preserving and popularizing historical landmarks, developing oriental cuisine, and promoting eco-friendly textiles produced in Ethiopia.
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As to her, textile industry in Ethiopia is one of the most profitable, demonstrating significant economic upshots. The growth of tourist flow leads to an increased demand for domestic products, including textiles, which in turn stimulates production development and improves product quality.
The implementation of government support programs for the textile industry and tourism development can create new jobs, improve infrastructure, and attract investments.
Weaving is traditionally found throughout Ethiopia but there are clustered hand weaving activities in the Shiro Meda, Addisu-Gebeya, Kechene, and Guellele in Addis Ababa. In the rural areas, Dorze and Konso in Southern part of Ethiopia are well known for their weaving, and so are Gondor, Gojjam and Wollo in Amhara state, she stated.
According to Simenesh, local inhabitants prefer products made by indigenous weavers, valuing and respecting them highly. These textiles are often viewed as festive attire and used in ritual celebration. Similarly, the skill of weaving reflects the creative ability, identity, culture and history of weavers and users. The cultural heritage, employment creation, tourist attraction and corporate social responsibility, has also been initiating and introduced in the Ethiopian textile handicraft industry.
"Traditional textiles in Ethiopia are deeply rooted in the country's reputation as a cradle of cotton.
Cultivated and hand spun here for thousands of years, cotton has played a central role in rural cultural life. Ethiopian women often grow grow or buy unrefined raw cotton, card it by hand and spin it with the so called inzirt. Indigenous hand woven textiles, which are accomplished with technical expertise and covering wide areas of applied art and design, such as jewelry, interior design, ceramics, household wares, architecture, textile designs, leisure goods and woodwork."
The Ethiopian concept of industrial design embraces the creation of functional designs with intrinsic aesthetic satisfaction. Handwoven textiles, as man-made objects, are a material medium serve for the communication of cultural values.
Handwoven-textiles like the Gabi, Netela, Kuta, and Qemis are the key pieces of traditional dress that are worn throughout the country. Usually, the netela has beautiful bands of multicolored jacquard design on the edges, often with silver or gold metallic threads, called the Tibeb.
More recently, weavers have incorporated the Tibeb design and concept into larger patterns for home decor and fashion accessories. The traditional dress for women is the Qemis, a long, white robe decorated with Tibeb on the edges and waist band.
Hand-woven cotton garments, known as Shemma, were traditionally worn by both Christian and Muslim communities in the northern and central highlands of Ethiopia, as well as in the central and southern highlands of the country.
Simenesh said, "Today the hand-woven cotton garments are found nearly everywhere in all part of the country and are not only used for garments but also for household products like blankets, cushion covers and table covers. Traditional hand woven fabrics show different sociocultural values. The fabrics also portray the religions of the society, the nations and nationality of the groups, the age of the society also the cloths show the socioeconomic level of the group.
Traditional weaving has various sociocultural, economic and religious significance and values. Costumes that participant wear in ritual activity, religious, political and in different cultural events are provided by local weavers. Their products are more preferable than the modern factory production, which has great contribution for the development of textile and fashion sectors."
The human world is filled with diverse cultures that dictate acceptable styles of behavior, such as dressing, singing, greeting, feeding and communicating with people. Cultural elements are not creations of the existing generation at any given period of time and space; rather they are inherited from ancestors. The unique motifs and arts of cultural clothes are one of the cultural heritages that call for legal protection from getting appropriated by outsiders, she opined.
Tamrat Ango, is a weaver working around Kechenie, Addis Ababa. Talking to this writer, Tamrat said Ethiopia is one of the culturally diversified countries in the world. The art of weaving has been practiced in Ethiopia for thousands of years. Ethiopians, especially women, in both the rural and the urban areas, wear hand-woven cotton clothes with decorated edges 'Tibeb,' especially for private ceremonies, public and religious holidays. These clothes are venerated as inextricably connected icons of nations and nationalities.
According to him, the Ethiopian government has given special attention to the textile sector as a potential area for investment and education. Cultural clothes are mostly used during special occasions, such as religious and national festivals and private ceremonies. As per the nature of the occasion, the ways traditional clothes are worn transmit messages that are understandable to the community whose members have subscribed to that collective meaning.
The weaving industry is male dominated, and this makes the only source of income for the weaving family is male. The industry must expand the involvement of women in weaving by giving training as they do to boys. If they engage this relatively the idle force, the daily income of the family could increase. Since cultural designs are national heritage, community including the government should take responsibility to advertise the traditional designs to the world. Especially, leaders and the Diaspora community should take the lead in promoting Ethiopian traditional clothes and their designs.
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"There should also be agreement among different countries on how to give recognition and protection to the Ethiopian cultural designs. Weaving cultural clothes is source of income for many people. Besides, these clothes glorify holiday celebrations. Therefore, the weavers' association, the society plus the responsible government authorities should work together to ensure legal protection of the rights of the weaving community of Ethiopia," said Tamrat.
There should be a specific legal framework that focuses on protection of cultural heritages in the form of intellectual property rights. Weavers should organize their production based on different quality standards and they should determine the reasonable price by themselves.
Apart from being a good reflection of cultural diversity and social fabrics, weaving in Ethiopia can be a significant source of both tourism revenue and export earnings. It offers a unique cultural experience for tourists and generates income through the sale of traditional textiles, both locally and internationally. By developing the weaving sector, Ethiopia can leverage its cultural heritage to boost its economy and create jobs.
In sum, Ethiopia can harness the power of weaving to generate significant economic benefits and promote its rich cultural heritage on a global scale via addressing the challenges it faces and capitalizing on the opportunities. Sourcing sustainable materials and promoting environmentally friendly production methods can make Ethiopian weaving more attractive to conscious consumers and align with global trends. Providing training and support to weavers can improve their skills, increase productivity, and ensure the quality of woven products.
