Handwoven Table Runner

Here expert weaver Hema Bhuljal has used very standardized motifs and colors for this type of Bhutanese textiles.  The cloth shows a tightly interlocking format, in bright colors. She uses a supplementary weft patterning; her motifs draw on geometric shapes such as X’s, diamond shapes, and triangles. The textile also has vertical stripes with gold thread embellishments. In the refugee camps in Nepal, the forced migrant weavers from Bhutan wove this type of textile primarily for the Nepalese market, to earn money. This sort of cloth would be cut into pieces which were then made into the national style hat for Nepalese men. This textile shown here is sold by RAW as a table runner to the American market.  It is a bit narrower than the fabrics woven by Tirtha, which are also in the recognizable refugee camp craft workshop style for making the topi hats. In resettlement in Worcester, Bhutanese weavers  often expand their color palette, to please their own aesthetics and perhaps also to make a cloth more sellable to customers.  Hema gets her threads from Nepal, from markets there, via RAW. She prefers these shiny, brightly colored yarns to American ones.