Tana Bana: Wisdom of the Loom

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This documentary is now available as a free lesson through Maiwa School of Textiles.

There is a village just outside Calcutta, India, where every family has a hand loom. As you pass the houses, the air is pierced by the “clack clack clack” of flying shuttles. In the family courtyards, threads are starched, warps are prepared, and bolts of finished cloth are evaluated with discerning eyes. In an age when cloth manufacture is dominated by computer-driven industrial mills, what are the virtues of hand weaving? What is the magic of the hand-loomed cloth? This is our second feature-length documentary film on craft. Here you will find works of great beauty and skill, ingenious variations, and delicate figures. Shot in rural locations in Africa, Laos, Indonesia, India, and Pakistan, this documentary takes you to the world of looms, weaves, and artisans.

60 minutes. SD Documentary video. 2004. Directed by Charllotte Kwon. Written and edited by Tim McLaughlin.