Cultural Survival Projects
Tibetan Project
Tibetan Family in Yurt.
The
Cultural Survival Tibetan Project, was founded by Chris Walter in
1990.
The basis of this project is much like the Ersari
Project. It explores the rich heritage of the Tibetan weaving
tradition through the use of vegetable
dyes, hand
carded and hand spun wool.
There are more than 500,000 refugees from Tibet living in Nepal and
India. This project seeks to generate funds to benefit this Tibetan
community in exile as well as those still living in Tibet. Some of
the rugs woven in this project are designed after fine antique Tibetan
carpets
while
others
draw their
inspiration
from designs throughout the traditional and modern worlds.
This project has been a huge success with the building of a number
of schools with food programs for students in Nepal and India. Most
recently,
there have been various projects taking place in Tibet itself such
as establishing fruit orchards and reforestation projects. The biggest
project to date is a school for 210 students, which was recently built
in the Chungba Valley in Eastern Tibet.
What inspires us about these wonderful Cultural Survival Projects are
that all the wholesale proceeds from the sale of these rugs are directly
benefiting the rug weaving families and the surrounding communities.
There are over 250 beautiful designs woven in this project with one
of our favorites being the “Gaon Naksha”(Below At
Left)
in which the weavers portray their village life.
