Apprenticeship under pressure

Transcription

1 The tradition of rearing silkworms and the crafts of reeling, weaving and crocheting, which have been handed over from generation to generation, are still practiced in Syria till TODAY. Natural Silk Industry Apprenticeship under pressure

2 APPRENTICESHIP IS CONNECTED TO AGE APPRENTICE INTERACTION TIME CRAFT EXPERIENCE SKILLS PRACTICE LEARNING SKILLS ROLES MASTER KNOW HOW ECONOMY CURRICULUM KNOWLEDGE TRADE IS IN DEMAND PEDAGOGY COMPETENCE TRAINING GENERATIONS TRANSFER SOCIAL RECOGNITION

3 WHERE THE SILKWORM IS A WHERE THE SILKWORM IS A MASTER LIKE THE MASTER AS WELL AND THE MASTER CRAFTSMAN, WHO CRAFTSMEN OF THIS SOMETIMES MANUFACTURING AT PROCESS OF BECOMES AN KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER APPRENTICE

4 Why is Silk a Syrian Cultural Heritage? Ω Historical Roots, from China to Syria: weaving in the 1 st century AD in Palmyra, Cocoon production and cultivation in 7 th AD, WW WW2 75% local market, 40% to France, 90% to France, 99%, Lyon: start of decline, parachute in U.K Ω Family Names from the great Craftsmen and Artisans in Silk, Ω Proverbs, names of local tools, festive and celebrations related to the industry and close tie to the life cycle of the silkworm, ΩTraditions and customs that emerged from the process of the

5 THE NATURAL SILK INDUSTRY: SPECIAL CHARECTERISTICS Ω Labor intensive, Ω A cottage industry for cocoon cultivation: Manual reeling and other yarn processing crafts were cottage industries in 2009 Ω A Family and a community based one Ω Agricultural/Industrial Ω Distribution of roles by gender, age and mobility: Engaging many people, from different backgrounds and in an integrated way, ΩVulnerability: y there is a high risk while rearing the silkworms, ΩAllowing distribution of roles between rural and urban contexts, craftsmen, entrepreneurs and investors besides people interested in culture, art, agriculture and biology, Ω Close to the hearts and physiological well being of the producers. They consider the worms as SOULS,

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7 The Locally Produced Natural Silk Production Chain ANINFORMATION EXCHANGE AMONG REARERS; PRACTICE, ON THE JOB AND NON FORMAL TYPE OF APPRENTICESHIP AND MOSTLY IN FAMILIES Breeding and The cocoon The raw silk The silk producing industry industry fabric Silk Eggs (sericulture) (yarn) industry Traditions crafts Know-how

8 Breeding and Silk Eggs Producing Skills and Traditions of the Apprenticeship The know how of the delicate techniques require practice, patience and being very academically aware of practiced din Syria. No native eggs the procedures. It is too long The reason behind that are the to describe. Preservers were Korean alternatives and reported in Antioch in 1992; Botros Hana Awad and his in this. daughters and have had stopped that for a long time. An extinct one and is not currently have been cultivated for 10 years. cheaper and better Japanese and disappearance of specialized people Men and women; more men back

9 Cocoon Industry Traditions: Where everyone is a Master and an Apprentice Itrequires intensivedailylaborand labor and care. It goes for the 4 to 5 weeks. Rearing and cultivation of cocoon require practice and a wide range of know how! A special il space (warm and airy), different equipments varying from handmade, natural and traditional ones to newly introduced plastic ones, A big amount of Mulberry foliage. Women for taking care of the worms, children for getting the foliage, grandparents for preparing the montages, fathers for chopping the mulberry leaves Left in producing families which are becoming less. From1600 families in 1999 to nearly 50 families in % drop of number of producers goes in line with the drop rate of cocoon production from 38 tons to only two. Most families have reared silkworms since the creation of the family and havetheirfathers andmotherswho reared silkworms back

10 The raw silk industry (yarn) Know how and skills, Know how of reeling on the Arab Wheel (doulab arabi), plus the equipments to accomplishthat that. many equipments to fine tune the produced draw yarns The knowledge of throwing and rereeling using special tools such as the spinner (maghzel), the The know how on reeling is sporadic and is currently being supported by the Ministry of Agriculture in Syria. Closure of last factory for reeling in 2008, which used to buy cocoons from farmers, However, what is more missing is the reeling tool making Men for reeling, Men, women and children for turning the wheel. Women for finetuning the threads (spinning, spooling and using the spindle)

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12 Mawsara: transferring the silk skeins that were reeled to smaller portable ones, Masoura, spindle: combining and twisting, niddy-noddy (miselkeh) for small ones, back

13 The Silk fabric industry Skills Manually extracted silk yarns can only be woven on a handloom, whilst the ones reeled in factories can be applied to machines. Thus, for the locally produced cocoon yarns, it is important to preserve the skills of handlooms Men for loom weaving, women for crocheting Handloom weavers (fathers and sons) learn the skills in families; however, crochet work is widespread d among women and is usually taking place in and out of the family by outsourcing (this type of skill is not silk specific) The closure of the last public factory for reeling to get then Machine made fabrics

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15 Cocoon-related traditional products, There has been neither a school nor a master teacher to carry this folkloric art through thecenturies. Rather, elderly womenhavetaught thezealous younggirlsgirls in their families. The tradition thus perseveres conventionally. Nevertheless, generations have lost interest in this exquisite art, threatening its extinction, Despite the pall of these lost decades, this exquisite unique craft managed to survive in few towns and villages carrying the head of family s photo at the heart is what distinguishes it. Today, the few people who are carrying out his tradition do so with the hope that generations will inherit their treasured gift.

16 Institutions and the Silk Industry: Governmental and nongovernmental The Syrian council of ministers took a decision to: Protect the silk industry as a craft and not as an industrial activity, Exempt all crafts and businesses that use local silk yarn from tax on profits, Subsidize cocoon crops with 250 SYP for every produced kilogram of fresh cocoons in (100% of the price of the market), Reel silk yarns for farmers for free, Allocate shops in the crafts' markets tat are operated by the Ministry of Tourism to craftsmen who make silk products using local silk yarn,

17 Institutions and the Silk Industry: Governmental and nongovernmental The Ministry of Agriculture and Agricultural Reform, issuing the subsidy (based on quantity of production and not quality) The department of Silk at the Ministry gives consultation to farmers onrearing rearing, government nurseries sell white mulberry seeding for foreign varieties for very cheap prices, it gets the silk eggs to farmers every year, The Ministy of tourism: the festival of Silk Road, It announced for a vacant spot on the crafts market of Khan Rostom Basha in Hama and did not receive any application, Other Microcredit initiatives for producers and other minor Other Microcredit initiatives for producers and other minor ones by NGOs and individuals,

18 Challenges/Threats facing the Apprenticeship Economic Factor: Low profit/effort ratio of cocoon crop: A disappearance of the Silk craft as an income generating activity that contributes to the economic development and quality of life of people in rural areas, A general shift to planting Tobacco and other types of trees instead of rearing silkworms is practiced for extra income, (Cocoon cultivation counted for almost 70% of the agricultural income of the families that were studied in 2009,) Decrease of demand on the cocoons: Local Market is loosing its importance:, the closure of the public factory, imported silk thread, lack of marketing by the producers. AM Marketing Gap: unable to meet market demands d with newly introduced d types of fabric, available foreign trade statistics show `that production was consumed locally between (except for few years where it was mostly exported) A psychological Factor: for many reasons despair is spread among cultivators, Loss of Experienced people: there is no initiative to save the skills and the crafts that are required to this industry

19 Challenges/Threats facing the Apprenticeship The newly introduced subsidy is not a well-developed measure as it is pausing a direct threat on the successful reeling craft (by offering an alternative) and degrading the quality of the thread, No national standard for the quality of the produced silk yarns, The flooding of cheap and low quality products into the markets, The inability of producers to access direct marketing channels, especially high end channels; The absence of institutional capacity building; The absence of a governmental agency/entity that t is entrusted t with the development of the sector and in an integrated way (not only the department of silk of the MoA) The absence of a national strategy for crafts development; the absence of cooperatives/associations; and the vulnerability of the small enterprises in the informal economy

20 Recommendations: Government (By Maya al Kateb) As a collective industry, natural silk industry (when developed) d) can open a wide door for socio-economic development (unlike modern economy industry), Establish a Silk Office under the Council of Ministers, that coordinates between all relevant Ministries Cancel the decision to reel for farmers for free (Ministry of Agriculture) Market Syrian Silk (Ministry of Tourism): Encourage tourism offices to take their tours to places of production (Ministry of Tourism)

21 Recommendations: Government Adopt a geographical indicator for Syrian silk Improve statistics methods at Ministry of Agriculture, related to White Mulberries Register traditions and crafts related to silk production as elements of intangible cultural heritage in need of urgent safeguarding, document and promote them (in line with the UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage, which was ratified by Syria in 2005) Minimize economic intervention: no one is wiser than the market Be extra transparent with beneficiaries

22 Recommendations: NGOs SOME NOTES FIRST: NGO intervention is very delicate as if done in the wrong way, it could do more damage than benefit on the long term Minimal intervention for sustainability: no one is wiser than the market Also, be very transparent with beneficiaries, as there is already a trust gap.

23 Recommendations: NGOs Develop products Knowledge and financial help Market Market products: but not blind marketing that would result in the decay of quality (sell stories; use constrains as strengths) Market producers (incl. towards tour operators) Establish a network among producers Provide them with marketing materials Connect them to markets (including wholesalers) Market investment in the craft (esp. in retail and marketing )

24 Recommendations: Individuals Save the industry by buying a product! for your own use, or as a gift to a newly wed bride or newborn baby as an example Tell your friends how happy you are with your purchase Invest (as a business) in the marketing part of the production chain! And, promote such investment! t!