Benefitting country(ies): Timor-Leste

Overview:

This three-year project will be implemented by the Timor-Leste National Commission for UNESCO. Activities include promoting this handwoven traditional textile in fairs, creating a television programme and adding Timor-Leste’s cultural elements, including Tais, to school curricula. In terms of research, the project entails recruiting an international expert to conduct field research and to document and photograph the raw materials used and the Tais products in the communities and local markets. The results of this research will be published in three languages and used to develop a permanent exhibition, which will also include live demonstrations by weavers. Schoolteachers will then receive training on the content of the exhibition and be encouraged to bring their students to the exhibition, as part of their schools’ extracurricular activities. Other project activities include creating a Tais weaving competition for youth, providing training on cotton creation and natural dyeing, and supporting weavers’ management skills and livelihoods through capacity building and a formal certification system. The project is thus expected to raise awareness about Tais among the general public, motivate youth to take an interest in Tais and learn the weaving techniques, increase income opportunities for weavers, attract tourists’ interest in Tais as part of Timor-Leste’s culture, and strengthen weavers’ networks.

13/12/2021 - 18/12/2021 – Sustaining and transmitting Mongol biyelgee13/12/2021 - 18/12/2021 – Xeedho