Language: English.
Kids: make your own bamboo animal! You will learn how to make two to three bamboo animals during the workshop.
Join a master bamboo weaver from Luang Prabang, Laos, and learn about the many uses of bamboo in Laos. During this interactive workshop, you will learn the bamboo weaving craft using no tools other than your hands and creativity.
They consume it (such as in bamboo soup), craft musical instruments, fashion weapons for hunting and traps for capturing animals, and even utilize it for paper production. They incorporate it into constructing houses, walls, roofs, and even bridges. They skillfully split bamboo in various techniques to intricately weave it into baskets, hats, traps, ceremonial items, woven walls, and mats.
Many bamboo creations are dark brown in colour because they have been hung over the house fire in the smoke to harden the bamboo and kill off any insects living in the bamboo. In the villages, cloth weaving is done mainly by women, but men usually do bamboo weaving. It is an important skill, and some people say a man cannot get married unless he can weave bamboo.
There are over 1000 varieties of bamboo worldwide; four main ones are used in Laos. These varieties have multiple uses, which depend on the width of the bamboo stems and the age of the plant. In the countryside, people from the region venture into the forest to cut bamboo, selecting stems that possess the appropriate length between joints. Subsequently, the bamboo is meticulously split and peeled. It is then subjected to scraping, rendering it smooth and flat. Following this, it undergoes a soaking process, often in the river, which can last for several days. This soaking serves to soften and enhance the flexibility of the bamboo, as well as to eliminate any insects that may be present within the bamboo.
At Ock Pop Tok Living Crafts Centre, the value of traditional crafts and their teachings to visitors is significant. This is done not only to keep these crafts alive and thriving but also to encourage visitors to gain a deeper appreciation of the various crafts of Laos, including bamboo weaving.
Originally from Ngoi District, Ae moved to Luang Prabang in 2006 to become a monk. Like many young Lao boys, he was taught the art of bamboo weaving from a young age by his father. While bamboo has many uses in Laos, it’s hard to make a living out of it in Laos. Ae thus decided to take a new direction in 2010. With the hopes of increasing his chances of working in tourism – Luang Prabang is a UNESCO heritage town, and its hospitality scene offered many opportunities – Ae decided to study English. He joined Ock Pop Tok in 2012 and then left in 2017 to gain more experience. Throughout, he never let go of his love for bamboo weaving and would always find some time to practice.
Working at Ock Pop Tok made this easier for him as Ock Pop Tok promotes the traditional crafts of Laos through workshops. Ae rejoined the Ock Pop Tok family at the end of 2022 as Assistant Hospitality Manager, jumping in to teach bamboo weaving classes to tourists visiting Luang Prabang and thus sharing his love for the art of bamboo weaving. He loves that his job allows him to learn new things every day while meeting people worldwide. In his spare time, you will find Ae fishing on the banks of the Mekong, often using bamboo traps and baskets he fashioned himself.
Connected through Craftscurator.
Join us to learn the art of crafting a bamboo flute with two holes from a bamboo tube. Discover how to create a mouthpiece, construct a sill, fit a matching cork, and more.
This workshop is designed to accommodate individuals with or without prior flute experience, making it accessible to everyone.
The workshop instructors are members of the Nederlandse Pijpersgilde, a bamboo flute association. The association operates under the traditional guild system, where you undergo internal training as an apprentice to advance to the journeyman level. The examination encompasses four components: AMV, construction, playing, and conducting/teaching.
A traditional Surinamese costume is the kotomisi. This kotomisi, lady in koto (skirt) and jaki (jacket), is only complete if she is wearing a beautiful starched and folded angisa (headscarf) on her head. Through folding techniques, you will learn to make a beautiful angisa.
The history of angisa is a story in itself; it is not just headgear. In this workshop, you will see how an angisa is created step by step. We show the preparatory work by bringing a sewing machine and demonstrating how the angisa is cut, edged, scalloped and decorated. We can also show how the starch is made and used and leave that cloth hanging there to dry.
You will be taken by the hand to master the folding technique, and, in conclusion, you get to choose a starched cloth to fold a matching angisa with. The special thing is that we only need our own hands and a few sturdy pins for this. At the end, you will go home with a beautiful ‘Let them talk’ angisa.
About the workshop facilitators
Patricia was born and raised in the Netherlands to Surinamese parents. ‘I have always had a curiosity about my roots. That started with a talk about Suriname, through singing in a Surinamese choir, to making my own koto with angisa. And now propagating this cultural heritage so that it is not lost.’
Jane came to the Netherlands in the early 1970s and, out of curiosity about her roots, ended up in the world of kotomisis where she saw and learned a lot. She started working with kotomisis in the Netherlands. It began with making hats with a Surinamese touch to indeed giving the angisa her appreciation and sharing her knowledge and thus also propagating the culture.
Make a sustainable party garland.
Would you like to hang up your homemade garlands every (party) day to celebrate life? Garlands that tell your story or honour the memory of specific people or events. By making a garland with this precious textile, those persons or events will always remain a little bit with you.
During this workshop, you will delve into the art of crafting flags using diverse fabrics. Explore various quilting techniques, master the art of storytelling through textiles, delve into pattern work, practice hand sewing, achieve seamless finishes, and more.
At the end of the workshop, you will go home with the beginnings of your flag line and enough materials and inspiration to continue!
Do you have textiles at home that you want to make flags from? Then bring it along so Rianne can get you started! There will be plenty of saved textiles for all participants anyway.
With Kick Ass Quilts, Rianne brings a new dimension to the craft of quilting: namely, that of ‘Quilting for a sustainable future where everyone has a meaningful and enjoyable life’. For this, quilting’s tradition of reuse, quilting together, creative expression, and storytelling is combined with modern techniques, designs and issues. She believes that quilting has an important role in bringing back the value of textiles and the value of creating with your hands, making meaningful objects that are cherished for a long time. And that, in turn, is good for the planet because sustainability is largely about enjoying more and consuming less.
Kick Ass Quilts is actively developing and sharing a modern, sustainable quilting approach through its studio in Almere at the Upcyclecentrum. This site collects and processes domestic waste separately, providing a substantial stream of household textiles for our creative endeavours. Collaborations with Restore, a circular crafting centre in Ede (NL), and generous donations further enrich our textile sources.
Make a booklet with a decorative binding called ‘the rope’.
The Keith Smith method utilises Zaansch Bord (rag paper) as the cover material. This unique paper originates from the renowned paper mill De Schoolmeester, which holds the distinction of being the sole wind-powered paper mill globally. De Schoolmeester exclusively crafts this paper using recycled cotton rags.
Aaldert de Lange’s upbringing was steeped in a passion for books and bookbinding. By age 11, he was already assisting his parents in selling books at their antiquarian bookshop. Observing that his father’s book repairs using Bison sealant often hindered the books from opening, Aaldert began learning the art of bookbinding. In addition to conducting workshops and offering bookbinding materials and tools, he executes book repairs at the Bookbinding Centre in Echten.
Tanja Rakic has actively engaged in offering courses and workshops in the field of bookbinding for more than 20 years. Additionally, she enjoys arranging bookbinding-related events and trips, including organizing a workshop at Berne Abbey and participating in the Bookbinding Fair in Sint-Niklaas (B).
Boektotaal is a bookbinding and restoration workshop located in the Bookbinding Centre in Echten (Dr.). Boektotaal specializes in giving various bookbinding-related workshops and courses (also on location), and sells everything in the field of manual bookbinding, such as various tools, decorative paper, folding legs, bookbinding glue, and linen for covering a book.
During this workshop, you will work with pre-printed paper and parchment to create a replica of a 1425 almanac called the ‘Kalendarium Perpetual’.
This almanac documented lunar eclipses from 1425 to 1462 and included illustrations of moon cycles. The almanac was designed as a ‘pouch-book’ or ‘belt-book’, making it convenient to carry by attaching it to a belt. Notably, the booklet’s pages are folded three times, resulting in a larger page surface. The content is written on one side, and the folded pages are bound at the top with a narrow tapered vellum cover.
Aaldert de Lange’s upbringing was steeped in a passion for books and bookbinding. By age 11, he was already assisting his parents in selling books at their antiquarian bookshop. Observing that his father’s book repairs using Bison sealant often hindered the books from opening, Aaldert began learning the art of bookbinding. In addition to conducting workshops and offering bookbinding materials and tools, he executes book repairs at the Bookbinding Centre in Echten.
Tanja Rakic has actively engaged in offering courses and workshops in the field of bookbinding for more than 20 years. Additionally, she enjoys arranging bookbinding-related events and trips, including organizing a workshop at Berne Abbey and participating in the Bookbinding Fair in Sint-Niklaas (B).
Boektotaal is a bookbinding and restoration workshop located in the Bookbinding Centre in Echten (Dr.). Boektotaal specializes in giving various bookbinding-related workshops and courses (also on location), and sells everything in the field of manual bookbinding, such as various tools, decorative paper, folding legs, bookbinding glue, and linen for covering a book.
A booklet, bound in a traditional Japanese way.
We utilize chiyogami paper to craft the cover of this booklet. Chiyogami originates from mulberry tree fibres, which are traditionally screen-printed in multiple runs to showcase exquisite colours and designs. Each sheet is individually screen-printed.
In Japanese binding, pages are consistently folded in a double manner, with the fold located at the front. This practice originated from using extremely thin paper, ensuring that text would not be visible through the pages.
Aaldert de Lange’s upbringing was steeped in a passion for books and bookbinding. By age 11, he was already assisting his parents in selling books at their antiquarian bookshop. Observing that his father’s book repairs using Bison sealant often hindered the books from opening, Aaldert began learning the art of bookbinding. In addition to conducting workshops and offering bookbinding materials and tools, he executes book repairs at the Bookbinding Centre in Echten.
Tanja Rakic has actively engaged in offering courses and workshops in the field of bookbinding for more than 20 years. Additionally, she enjoys arranging bookbinding-related events and trips, including organizing a workshop at Berne Abbey and participating in the Bookbinding Fair in Sint-Niklaas (Belgium).
Boektotaal is a bookbinding and restoration workshop located in the Bookbinding Centre in Echten (Dr.). Boektotaal specializes in giving various bookbinding-related workshops and courses (also on location), and sells everything in the field of manual bookbinding, such as various tools, decorative paper, folding legs, bookbinding glue, and linen for covering a book.
Printing your own poster with wooden letters? You can!
GWA Grafische Werkplaats Amsterdam is once again bringing a small printing press, antique wooden letters and ink to the Ambacht in Beeld Festival. With it, you can design and print your own personalised poster.
In its workshop just down the road in the NDSM Loods, GWA has an extensive collection of traditional graphic materials: printing presses, wooden letters, lead letters and everything you need for lino, woodcut and bookbinding. The foundation offers courses and workshops to anyone who wants to work with craft printing techniques themselves. School classes, graphics students, artists and lovers of handmade printing. Step away from the computer!
This workshop is for everyone aged eight years and up. You will work together with one other participant and make your own poster. The poster is not immediately dry; it is best to leave it hanging as long as possible before taking it home – or pick it up later at the Grafische Werkplaats Amsterdam.
During this workshop, you can make your own peanut butter flavour, and in the meantime, learn everything about the tastiest peanut butter in The Netherlands! Let your imagination run wild and come up with a delicious new taste! Your taste may come out best in the test, and you will receive a nice peanut prize!
The idea for a peanut butter shop started at the kitchen table, where Michiel began to combine the first flavours. This bio farmer has been a big peanut butter fan from an early age. Yet he needed more variety in the existing range. After several successful tests, the Peanut Boss decided to take it seriously. The idea of De Pindakaaswinkel was born. And we are still proud of that! A building has been taken into use on the Czaar Peterstraat in Amsterdam, where the name ‘De Pindakaaswinkel’ has been pasted on the window with stickers. Once the store opened its doors in 2016, the response was overwhelming! Now, six years and 18 stores later, we still enthusiastically put peanut butter on the pedestal it deserves!
In addition to the workshop, there is a mini peanut butter shop at the festival, including a tasting table. Everyone can taste, and during the tasting, we happily inform you about the traditional way we make the peanut butter.
Be inspired by the Amsterdam School style, step into the shoes of a real artist and create your own graphic artwork! During this workshop, you will experiment with colour, shape and lines, pull gouges and ink out of the closet and let the printing press run overtime to create a beautiful linocut.
The artists of the Amsterdam School were real all-rounders. Besides the beautiful architecture, furniture and utensils, many were also involved in typography and graphic design. They often used printing techniques to design posters or book covers, for example. And now you can do the same!
Young or old, everyone is welcome at this workshop. For children under eight, special material is available on which they cannot cut themselves. Nice and safe!
This workshop is offered by Museum Het Schip, the museum about the Amsterdam School in architecture, crafts and public housing.
This workshop is continuous. You just buy a ticket and can join when a place is available.
Festival address:
NDSM Loods
NDSM-Plein 85
1033 WC Amsterdam
Postal address:
Stichting Ambacht in Beeld
Kalf 158
1509AH Zaandam
The Netherlands
