Timor Aid 2010 Textile Exhibition Catalogue Online | Tour the 2010 Textile Exhibition - Inspirations from Near and Far| November 2010 - Visit from the TropenMuseum | Timor Aid 2010 Weaving Competition
Gone Cyclin’, a group of young Singaporean cyclists taking on challenges to help make a difference, finished the 2010 Tour de Timor is raise almost $15,000 for Timor Aid’s Working with Weavers project.
Visit the Spinning Dreams website for tickets and more information.
Working with Weavers
Timor Aid, with support from AECID, AusAID and the Toyota Foundation, is working with weavers in Timor Leste to preserve and promote their textile art and translate it into a means to improve rural living standards.
Tais, the hand woven textiles of Timor Leste, are an intricate art from an ancient culture.
Promoting Natural Dye and Handspun Yarn Production
During 2011, Timor Aid will work with weavers in Covalima, Bobonaro and Oecusse to recover understanding of natural dyes and of the plants and techniques used in the past in cloth production. This will include reviewing and sharing dye recipes, workshops with weavers in West Timor to exchange knowledge, and gathering ethno-botanical information about plants used in craft traditions.
This work started in 2009 with a grant from the Toyota Foundation enabling Timor Aid and the Alola Foundation to receive training in Bali to enable our staff to develop skills in this area.
Promoting an Understanding of Weaving
Timor Aid is establishing a weaving centre in Suai, to be used by local weavers and the community and visitors as a place to learn about Timor Leste culture and craft. The centre will open in early 2011. 
To increase understanding of the weaving tradition, Timor Aid will produce a series of books on the Crafts of Timor-Leste. With support from the Bureau français de coopération, a 1972 study into the Kemak weaving tradition will be re-issued.
Building on successful exhibitions over the last two years, Timor Aid will again host a weaving exhibition. The 2011 exhibition, to be held late in the year, will focus on the textiles of the Suai area, drawing from our research work in this district. The theme of the 2010 exhibition was Inspirations from Near and Far, and it can be toured online.
In 2009, the exhibition focus was on the technique known throughout the world as ikat from the Indonesian term. The local word for this tie-dyeing technique is futus. This exhibition, The Art of Futus was a collaboration with the Alola Foundation under the guidance of the Museum Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, who curated the exhibition.
Developing Technical Partnerships
Tropenmuseum
In an effort to promote understanding of the cultural traditions of Timor Leste, Timor Aid has approached with the Tropenmuseum in Amsterdam. We hope that in the future, Tropenmuseum will provide Timor Aid with guidance in the development of educational materials and cultural displays as they have done elsewhere in the region for many years.
Yayasan Pecinta Budaya Bebali
Timor Aid is working alongside Yayasan Pecinta Budaya Bebali (YPBB) and its partner organisation Threads of Life from Ubud in Bali. YPBB has supported weavers and developed an expertise in the weaving arts of Indonesia over the past 20 years. Yayasan Pecinta Budaya Bebali provides our staff with technical support to understand the work of weavers, and the techniques to revitalise the arts.
Research
Timor Aid is working with scholarly and museum organisations interested in research in Timor Leste. In particular, Timor Aid will be supporting the Museum Art Gallery of Northern Territory in research activities into the textiles of Suai and the work of Atauro wood carvers.