tribaltextiles.info

Hi:

A friend will be going to Yangon soon and I may be returning to Myanmar next year.

The last time I was in Myanmar years ago, I could not find any dealers in Yangon. Does anyone know of any? If not in Yangon, any recommendations elsewhere in Myanmar?

Thanks!

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Anna

Hi Anna

It is a long time since I was in Yangon but there were a couple of dealers in Bogyoke Aung San Market - (old name Scott Market). The shops were into one of the side walls of the market rather than a stall in the middle. Worth a try at least. Lonely planet has a few comments on the market. Sounds as if the streets around the market could be worth exploring.

Best,

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Pamela

http://www.tribaltextiles.info
on-line tribal textiles resource

I was there a few years ago. Scoot around the right side of Scott Market to the stalls behind the main building, upstairs.

On the second floor at the back of the main building, facing that row of stalls, there is a open area with small stalls - just glass cases - where they don't speak much English and have less touristy prices, but probably also less impressive wares. But I found a nice old piece of those silk textiles the women wear at religious festivals.
(My first day as a tourist in Burma, inoculated me from searching for the rest of the trip.)
You can (could) get a better exchange rate by discretely asking around on the street, in my case, 10% better than what our tour guide offered, which was a great deal better than the official rate. Dealers prefer larger $ notes - better rate.
Modern textiles of that type - not as fine - are sold in stalls to the left side of the main building, maybe also along the front of the building.

Now, what is the name of that type of textile? That is how I found Tribal Textiles.

Of course! The textiles are called Longyi. If you or your friend want to know more about them, search here with my user name and click on the last (earliest) posting.

Now I remember that there is a dealer in Mandalay who had very fine pieces, at fine prices. Maybe I can find my guide book and come back.

Hmm, still can't find my guide books (but we found a long lost spoon in a glass of chutney this evening!).

I believe the store in Mandalay is Sun Flower, from what I found here:
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/t ... ID=2022066

The address is given. It is west of Swan Hotel, which is a street or two south of the moat. The other information on the site is also of interest.

Larry,

Excellent contributions to this thread! I am almost inspired to put together a small 'Burma shopping' page for the main www.tribaltextiles.info website as I have for Thailand and Laos. If so I will link here and encourage people to share any info they have via this thread.

Many thanks!

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Pamela

http://www.tribaltextiles.info
on-line tribal textiles resource

Thanks, all.

I just sent the link off to my friend - I hope that I have his dates right. In any case, good information to have, even if old.

Thanks again.

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Anna

I just got back from a trip to Myanmar mid-January 2013 and, as always, looked for textiles. My last visit there was in 2006, so much has changed. I went to the Bogyoke Aung San Market (Scott's Market) in Yangon and found a wonderful shop called Yo Ya May specializing in Chin textiles. It is on the second floor at the northern (I think) edge, along the side. the owner and her daughter are both Chin. She sells old and new textiles, at what I thought were reasonable prices. I bought several pieces including a newish Karen top in intricate silk ikat withthick, tiny beadwork all over the bottom. I also found several vintage classic black and red women's skirts woven from goat hair. She concentrates in northern Chin textiles and speaks English very well.

On Inle Lake I visited a weaving center located in one of the Intha villages actually on the lake. I saw a demonstration of the process involved in preparing and weaving lotus root fiber, a relatively new process. The fabric is used primarily for monks robes and has a very soft hand similar to raw silk only softer and richer. It is quite expensive! The prep and weaving of lotus root is done there in Inle, but they also weave silk and Shan cotton. The silk for weaving comes from further north in Mandalay while the cotton is grown in the Shan region around the lake. They did not use natural dyes...at least that is what I was told by the weavers in that particular shop house.

In Nuang U, near Bagan, I bought several pieces of silk/cotton yardage, 50/50 and 70/30, from The Two Sisters in the market there. Myin Myin and Than Than were lovely, knowledgeable women and the fabric, as well as the locally woven supplementary weft longyi, were irresistable. I would love to post some photos, but I still haven't figured out how to size them correctly for the forum.

While Myanmar has some very unique textiles, I quickly discovered that I was not only not the first one there but that prices on everything are inflated due to the high demand a newly opened tourist market presents. Lodging, travel and products can be overpriced right now. Food is still the best deal.

Shelley

Thank you so very much for sharing! Really good information.

Either go ahead and post your photos and I will see about resizing - as long as the file size is less than 500K it will let you do that. Failing that email the images to me and I will resize and add. One of the key things is that the image should not be wider than 600 px wide or it distorts the viewing. However, as I say, I can go in and resize and substitute images.

I have a piece of the Lake Inle lotus weaving that I got from Gina Corrigan after she visited. So good to get your update on textile matters in Burma/Myanmar. My own visit was back in September 1998. There are somephotogalleries from that time on the main tti website including one of lovely ikat weaving on Lake Inle.

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Pamela

http://www.tribaltextiles.info
on-line tribal textiles resource

Hi Shelley,

The tours must all go to the same places; your report brought back memories.

Thanks, Larry

Hi

Please find below some dealers where you probably may be able to find some textiles during your visit to Yangon.

Yoyamay Ethnographic Textile Gallery:
Room 20, 1st Floor, Face Wing
Bogyoke Aung San Market (Scott Market)
Yangon

Bonton:
Room 149/150, Central Arcade
Bogyoke Aung San Market
Yangon

Virtu:
Room 24, 1st Floor, North Wing
Bogyoke Aung San Market
Yangon

Yone Yone:
Dharma Zedi Road
Yangon

Curios Gallery:
649, Myakantha Street
5 1/2 Miles Pyay Road
Yangon

Lee