Laos’ textile traditions being kept alive at Luang Prabang crafts centre – and it’s empowering women along the way
Crafts centre Ock Pop Tok started with five weavers and now supports 500 artisans across the country
Mae Thao Zuzong holds a copper ink pen above hot coal embers. She taps it on the pot’s side and slides it down a piece of raw silk before adding dollops of beeswax. It’s a routine the diminutive 68-year-old batik artist has performed countless times.
Like many Lao women, Zuzong was taught batik – a fabric dyeing technique using wax – by her mother. She was just 12 years old when she started – the same age she got married.
Laos has one of the world’s highest rates of early marriage. With parental consent, girls can marry at just 15. And that’s not uncommon. According to a survey released this month by charity Save the Children, based on current trends, almost 10 million girls will marry in 2030 alone, and more than two million of those brides will be under the age of 15.
While Zuzong’s life had a traditional start, it’s taken some modern detours: she separated from her husband and now lives with her granddaughter (she has five children). She also has a full-time job.
Zuzong is the only Hmong batik artist left in Luang Prabang, the country’s former capital in northern Laos.