The Rayela Review: HAND/EYE Magazine

HAND/EYE Magazine, World Textiles, Summer 2011

I was honored and super pleased to receive a copy of HAND/EYE's latest magazine, World Textiles, in exchange for a review here on Fiber Focus.  This is an easy task, theroretically, for the magazine is right up my alley, showcasing textile efforts happening all over the world.  But, of course, I also want to do something different with this review, so I hope that what I say will encourage you to jump up and immediately act on buying your own copy.

HAND/EYE's bi-line, right under the name, says: Connecting cultures and inspiring action.  That is exactly what it does.  The 68 pages tell story after story about how one person had a vision, pursued it and in doing so is transforming a community as well as impacting how that specific tradition or technique can thrive in a modern and industrial world.

Take a look at the table of contents:

• From Australia, India Flint shares how her children have taken the skills handed down within the family to express their own interests in unique ways.  
• Six stories follow from Asia, zooming in on Laos, Japan, India, and Cambodia.
• In Africa, three stories look at silk, weaving and Berber rag rugs.
• A quick stop in Europe takes us to a tiny Dutch area where women still embellish their clothing with a dot technique.
• Latin America gets five stories: Mexican Maya, Colombia, Peru...
• Then, another six stories in North America.

These stories are about empowering indigenous people, healing social wounds, exploring how one tradition can refresh another.  The engine behind the movement comes from the people.  The resulting products are eye-popping, gorgeous, and marketable to high-end markets (as well as affordable ones) which can sustain the communities that make them.

Anouphanethong Thammavong fled Thailand in 1975 and returned in 2001, finding his grandmother's legacy in woven silks.  From the ashes of history rose Soie de Lune.

The magazine, richly illustrated, does a wonderful job of showcasing both the people and the product.  Eyes and silk glow, hands and weave touch, bodies become color, washed in the folds of gorgeous fabrics, embroidery, and stitches.

This is a great time for me to do this review as it was almost exactly a year ago since I first heard about HAND/EYE.  I had launched TAFA earlier that year and one of the members sent me a link and said, "You will love this!"  I began getting the weekly e-mails.  (Subscribe to them, too!)  Eventually, I approached them and asked them if they would do a story on TAFA, which they did.  (Click to read it.)  One thing led to another and they also became a TAFA member:  HAND/EYE's TAFA Member Profile.

Our long term goals are very similar: we want the world to be place that understands and supports the power of craft, of creating something beautiful that is functional or that makes us think.  HAND/EYE has a broader focus, as they also write about clay, wood, glass, and other handmade traditions, which I think is just great!  And, from our communities on facebook and other online groups, we are not alone.  There is a thirst out there for the stories we are telling!

Rehwa Society trains and employs women with limited opportunities in India.

What is the place of a magazine in our techy world?

Even with all this enthusiasm, we are also coming out of whiplash from the demise of another favored magazine, FiberArts, which had published for over 30 years and was a mainstay for many of us.  The reality of today's world is that we are seeing magazines, newspapers and publishing companies closing down their paper products and moving them to cyber venues only.

Should we even be in the business of publishing anymore?  Why have a hard copy that you can hold in your hands and turn real pages?  If we are concerned about the environment, why should we encourage paper production?

Well,  I must say that I am happy to see many paper things disappear or decrease:  trashy novels, catalogs that were not requested, junk mail....  The cost has cleaned up a lot of the abuse.  But, at the same time, there is a place for documenting our stories through hard copies that are not electronic.  Information on the web can be so fleeting.  And, if there is a power shortage, there goes the access.  I have many books on textiles, cultural anthropology, theology, etc.  Those are references that I can check at will, that I can hold in my hand and feel connected to that paper.  Plus, there is a whole segment of our population, like my mother, who refuses to learn how to use the computer.  HAND/EYE Magazine is one of those publications that should continue to tell the story for many, many more years.

The highland communities in Chiapas, Mexico, continue to have dynamic indigenous traditions and dress.

What you should know:

HAND/EYE publishes these beautiful magazines a couple of times a year.  Back issues are still available for their issues on Central Asia and Haiti.  Each magazine is $15.  Think about all of the time and effort that goes into collecting these stories and then taking them to print.  In between, there is much, much more that you can access online.  There are three sites that you can visit:

• HAND/EYE Magazine  (online) discusses the intersections of art, craft, design, effective philanthropy, and enlightented consumption.  Get it by email once a week with an average of three new stories. 
• HAND/EYE Blog  invites makers, collectors and commentators alike to be part of the discussion by bringing what they make, what they collect, what they obsess about, onto the screens of our devoted handmade community.
• 12 Small Things by HAND/EYE offers high quality, handmade, artisan goods from around the globe. Our collections support craftspeople working to improve the lives of their families and communities in some of the most challenging situations on the planet. Their stories are those of strength, hope, and beauty, and each of our products reflects these qualities in their design and craftsmanship. 12 Small Things by HAND/EYE strives to assist these communities and artisans through commerce. 

Native American artist Teri Greeves tell her story through hand-sewn beads on manufactured high tops.

The Key Words

Here is my exercise:  we are always reducing our curiosity or hunt on the web down to key words that capture what we want.  I will pick a word from each page of this World Textiles issue and see what we come up with.  Ready?  Here goes:

Hope + India Flint + child + Laos +Paris + baby + weaver + Japan + origami + nuno + handloom + heritage + Muslim + saris + India + UNESCO + eco-culturalist + silk + ancient + yam juice + Raw Mango + royalty + sustainable + road + Cambodia + Madagascar + feathers + South African + embroidery + rags + Morocco + Amazigh + Dutch + dots + Chiapas + Maya + backstrap + fashion + threads + globetrotter + sophisticated + indigenous + Peruvian + ancestral + nature's + organic + Rome + costume designer + hope + symbols + vision + empowerment + textures + conscious consumption + indigo + Korean + moccasins + beads + healing + machine embroidery + Rowland Ricketts + sukumo + opacity + vitality.

What do you think?  One page, one word.  Are we speaking the same language?  Is there enough there to spark your interest?  Order your copy of World Textiles and support HAND/EYE in the wonderful work that they do: connecting cultures and inspiring action.  It is not only fascinating to those of us who love these textiles and techniques, but also so important in making the world a safer and healthier place for all.  The more we can communicate, share, learn, and break down the barriers that divide us, the more we understand that even if names, places and techniques are different, we are really all on a common journey.

And, if that journey includes some raw silk, indigo and a good story along the way, I am a happy camper indeed!

The Rayela Review: HAND/EYE Magazine

Murder in Paducah. My Neighbor is Dead.

Don't Shoot, By Miles Tebbutt

There is a house across the street that is full of people. It's a problem house. Dogs run around without a leash, scaring the postal worker and kids walking by, fights break out between the tenants and other neighbors, and there is just a sense of chaos around that place. Last night it escalated into real violence, ending up with the death of one of them. My relationship with them has centered on frustration around their lack of dog control as they cross the street and provoke mine, who are fenced, into a frenzy.

At 4AM last night, a loud bang woke me up and my dogs went out of control with their barking. The noise sounded about the same as when the electrical terminals exploded during the Ice Storm we had in February, so I thought another one had shorted out. When I opened the door, I found that there was a firetruck, ambulance and around ten cop cars out front. There was a lot of action on the front porch on that house across the street. I watched for about an hour, knowing that I wouldn't be able to go back to sleep. There was a lot of screaming and crying. I saw the medics go to the back of the house and come back with a body on a stretcher. I finally went back to bed and had nightmares for the rest of the night.

In the morning, the cops were still there. One of the tenants crossed the street and told me what had happened. Some girlfriend of some guy who didn't live there was at the house, the boyfriend came and when one of the guys opened the door to him, he was shot in the chest with a shotgun. Dead. Gone. I kept having images in my head of him playing with his dog, joking around. He was very sweet in his own way.

Canadian Poster Campaign for Gun Control

I moved to Kentucky four years ago from Chicago. Big city to small town, USA. Lots of differences, but all of the same social problems, although there is less organized gang violence here. Still, there is plenty of good and bad in both places. I was in the heart of the inner city in Chicago and had seen my share of bad stuff. I was at a pastor's house once and we ducked as a bullet came in through the kitchen window. I saw a teenager walking around with an ouzi. My apartment was broken into twice and once I nabbed the burglar. He slipped out of my grasp and jumped out of the window and ran, duh, TOWARDS the police station a block away. They caught him with my camera and boombox in hand. When I first moved to Chicago in 1984, I made a decision that I would not live in fear. I would try not to be stupid, but I knew that I was not the probable target and that if I were sensible, I'd probably be OK. Same thing here.

But, when I first arrived in Paducah, I had a part-time job at Hancock's of Paducah, one of the largest suppliers of specialty quilt fabrics in the world. As I cut fabric, I enjoyed the stories told by the sweet women who worked there. Repeatedly, they warned me that if someone broke into my house, I was to make sure to kill, not injure. Apparently, a thief can sue you if they come on to your property and your dog bites them. Later, I kenneled my dogs when I went out of town with this tiny, little, blond woman who had a bunch of horses, labs, and birds. When I picked them up, I told them that I was going to take the dogs to a forest preserve, Land Between the Lakes, so they could go swimming. She said she never goes there without her gun, but I should be OK with four dogs to protect me. It's a very strange thing to move from a place where the criminals have guns to another one where the citizens also subscribe to being armed. Feels like what my friend Abdul describes in Afghanistan, where everyone has rifles hanging from their kitchen ceilings.

Peace Art Project Cambodia (PAPC)

Like most things in my life, I have contradictory feelings about all of this. I have no interest in owning a gun, I know that I would never defend myself that way, and I believe that the argument for owning these weapons are flawed and unconvincing. We live in a violent society which has violence on a pedestal. I'm part of it, too. I love well-done war movies, I listen to murder mysteries all the time, and I understand the need people have to feel like they need protection. Without my dogs, I would feel terribly vulnerable here. Yet, anyone with a gun could come in and shoot us all down in a few seconds. It's all a very sad and hopeless state of affairs. Friends report on the escalation of violence in large cities in South America where homes are now protected with high walls and topped off with electrical fences. They say it feels like one is a prisoner in their own home. I really don't see how we can change all of this except to choose peace and conflict resolution in our own small circles and hope that it will become contagious. I know that the law of the land here will never support gun control as it is in other industrialized nations, so I just have to hope that when a bullet comes my way, I can duck fast enough... By the way, the cops here in Paducah are really great. I have seen them deal with several crises and they are always calm, cool, collected and they get their job done. They caught the suspect!

Shotgun Chair by Alex Reh of Texas

The following facts are from the Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence:

FACT: In 2006, there were 30,896 gun deaths in the U.S: 12,791 homicides (41% of total deaths), 16,883 suicides (55% of total deaths), 642 unintentional shootings (2% of total deaths), 360 from legal intervention (1.2% of total deaths) and 220 from undetermined intent (.8% of total deaths).

(Numbers obtained from CDC National Center for Health Statistics mortality report online, 2009.)

"Standard Issue Smith & Wesson," by Stephanie Syjuco

FACT: Suicide is still the leading cause of firearm death in the U.S., representing 54.6% of total 2006 gun deaths nationwide. In 2006, the U.S. firearm suicide total was 16,883, a decrease from 2005 total of 17,002 gun suicides. Total gun suicides in Illinois for 2006 were 372, a decrease of 12% from the 2005 number 424. Over half of suicides in the U.S. are committed with firearms.

(Numbers obtained from CDC National Center for Health Statistics mortality report online, 2009; and the American Association of Suicidology.)

FACT: While handguns account for only one-third of all firearms owned in the United States, they account for more than two-thirds of all firearm-related deaths each year. A gun in the home is 4 times more likely to be involved in an unintentional shooting, 7 times more likely to be used to commit a criminal assault or homicide, and 11 times more likely to be used to attempt or commit suicide than to be used in self-defense.

(A Kellerman, et al. Journal of Trauma, August 1998; Kellerman AL, Lee RK, Mercy JA, et al. “The Epidemiological Basis for the Prevention of Firearm Injuries.” Annu.Rev Public Health. 1991; 12:17-40.)

pistol own skin 2004 by Joanneke Meester, Netherlands

FACT: 59% of students in grades six through twelve know where to get a gun if they want one, and two thirds of these students say they can acquire a firearm within 24 hours. (Harvard School of Public Health.)

FACT: As of 1994, 44 million Americans owned more than 192 million firearms, 65 million of which were handguns. Although there were enough guns to have provided every U.S. adult with one, only 25% of adults owned firearms. Seventy-four percent (74%) of gun owners possessed two or more firearms.

- National Institute of Justice, May 1997

Precita Park memorial bench. Made with 130 melted guns in honor of a young couple gunned down by an unstable relative. Guns into Art.

FACT: Every two years more Americans die from firearm injuries than the total number of American soldiers killed during the 8-year Vietnam War. In 2003, the total number of people killed by guns in the United States was 30,136.

- Based on data from CDC National Center for Health Statistics WISQARS online data collection system, 2006.

Peace Art Project Cambodia (PAPC)

And, this one is from the American Bar Association:

"The overall firearm-related death rate among U.S. children younger than 15 years of age is nearly 12 times higher than among children in 25 other industrialized countries combined."

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 1997;46:101-105.

"He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore."
-Isaiah 2:4

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Murder in Paducah. My Neighbor is Dead.