Carol Cassidy has been working with textiles and fiber art for many years. She studied weaving and textile design in Norway and Finland and earned a B.F.A. from the University of Michigan in 1980. After receiving her degree Carol worked as a fiber/textile expert in southern Africa. In 1989, Carol moved to Laos to work as a weaving advisor on a United Nations International Labor Organization (UN/ILO) project at Lao Cotton. She trained weavers to use Swedish looms and monitored quality control for 210 village based weavers. Carol was also asked to design commercially viable fabrics to be woven by Lao Cotton and to oversee the production process. On her visits to rural women's homes, she was very impressed by the technical skills of Lao weavers. This, in combination with her discovery of extraordinary antique textiles in local markets, prompted her to make the decision to establish an independent weaving studio in Vientiane.
In 1990, Carol registered Lao Textiles, one of the first privately owned businesses in Laos. Her goal was to demonstrate the commercial viability of creating textiles based upon tradition for a modern world market. Applying her own weaving and design experience, she wanted to work with local craftswomen to produce high-quality fabrics that drew upon traditional motifs and colors combined in innovative ways.
The first three and a half years were filled with challenges. One of the first to be confronted was the difficulty of obtaining high quality, locally produced silk. A desire to revive locally produced, high-quality silk and a scarcity of local suppliers propelled Carol to help establish a new source. In 1992 she started working with the director of the Lao Sericulture Company in Xieng Khouang and Houaphan privinces in northern Lao to increase silk production. Lao Textiles now has a vast network of silk suppliers from these provinces.
Carol developed her own dye recipes and now has more than 100 recipes for the luminous colors found in her silks. The weavers were reluctant to produce new combinations of colors and patterns based upon the traditional motifs and techniques of the different regions of Laos. Carol also found her potential clients expected wider and longer fabric lengths than were being woven in Laos. To meet these expectations she merged elements of the traditional Lao loom with the Swedish loom she was familiar with to develop a hybrid version which has now become popular with other local weavers. Convincing her weavers to accept these innovations and to work to the highest standards of quality took time, however, she gradually won them over.
It is estimated that some five thousand people are in one way or another connected to and benefiting from Lao Textiles studio's production. Along with the more than 500 families supplying silk yarn to the studio, there is the specialized group of artisans that builds the looms and makes the reeds, shuttles and other equipment needed for weaving. The studio itself employs 32 full-time weavers and another 18 employees responsible for the dyeing and winding of threads and finishing the textiles, including tying and twisting the fringe, once the weaving is completed.
Carol Cassidy and her Lao Textiles weaving studio have had a strong impact on the preservation of Lao textile traditions. In January 2001, she was the first recipient of the Preservation of Craft Award presented by Aid to Artisans, a US based non-profit group working globally to promote traditional artisans. In 2002 , Lao Textiles received a Certification of Excellency from UNESCO for quality, workmanship, color, and overall design. Carol has shown that a market exists for the finest Lao textiles and has encouraged weavers to be proud of their profession as a source of income and as an expression of both their personal skills and their country's heritage. Inspiring others to use their skills and local materials to preserve and sustain their weaving traditions is of primary importance to Carol.
To learn more about Carol Cassidy view the videos at the right of the presentation she made at the Meet the Artist event in September 2009 at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, DC.
