An invitation to lovers of fine fabric

Published in 2009

Since 2004, when Kikuo Morimoto won a Rolex Award for his project to revive Cambodia’s ancient silk-making traditions, the richly coloured fabrics produced by his workshops have won many admirers worldwide. In 2008, Morimoto lent some of the finest silk creations for an exhibition in France. But, he insists, admiring or buying one of the fabrics is not enough – a visit to the silk village in Cambodia is vital to understand the art and beauty of silk production.

The finest silk, produced in Cambodian workshops set up by 2004 Laureate Kikuo Morimoto, is drawing growing interest worldwide from lovers of fine fabric. Morimoto say news of his Award, which has helped him set up a village devoted to the production of silk, has increased the numbers of foreign visitors to the workshops in Cambodia.

An exhibition of the silk fabrics, at Asia, a Paris travel agency (and later at the Asia agency in Lyons) stimulated wide interest in France. A total of 44 silk fabrics, from scarves to large, intricate wall-hangings created by the weavers and dyers in Morimoto’s workshops, were on display and available for purchase. All were made by hand using natural materials and dyes.

Test image alt desc ©Rolex Awards/Laurent Teisseire

Dr Linda Hanssen, curator of textiles at the Wereldmuseum in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, said: “In the creation of these dazzling and colourful silk weavings, one can witness the devotion of the Cambodian women who produce the silk, who tie and dye the yarns into intricate patterns and weave their silk heritage. The elaborate and extremely fine textiles we can admire today express an extraordinary creativity by creating and recreating the rich Cambodian textile tradition.”

Kikuo Morimoto was delighted to be able to come to Paris and put the silks on display for a European audience, but he says the best place for people to buy them is at the Cambodian workshops where they are made – and where the process of producing silk can be seen in all its stages.

The Laureate has workshops providing jobs for hundreds of women in Siem Reap. But increasingly the focus of the Institute for Khmer Traditional Textiles (IKTT), which he set up 12 years ago, is the Forest Village, located 23km from Siem Reap.

“About 150 people are now living in the village [which is devoted to traditional silk production] and more people will come to live there,” Morimoto says.

His intention is to give people in his employ a livelihood. After learning weaving and dyeing skills in his workshops, many of the silk-makers have moved on, working for other silk producers or returning to their villages to produce their own silk.

Test image alt desc©Rolex Awards/Laurent Teisseire

“That’s a positive thing,” he explains. “I consider myself to be like a tree; young weavers can take shelter on the branches while they learn the skills. But when they are strong enough they can fly away and be independent, and not need the tree anymore.”

Cambodian silk is increasingly being recognized as some of the best in the world, whereas previously Thai silk had all the glory. And, Morimoto points out as he looks at the elaborate fabrics from his workshops on display in Paris, silk is being seen as art, not just as a craft.

Top-quality silk, he says, deserves far more than just a glance of the eye or stroke of the hand: “As we make our textiles, we bear in mind that they will be used for ten years, or for 20 years, and with that purpose in mind we want to make good use of raw materials, skills and experience. The lifespan of a natural fibre begins when it is dyed with a natural substance, and with the passing of the years its colour deepens. The fundamental difference is that chemical dye is at its best when just done, and it goes on to fade.” He himself marvels at colour tones in Cambodian fabrics that are 70 or 80 years old – fabrics that he has managed to track down and now uses for inspiration in his workshops.

Francesco Raeli and Edmund Doogue


In 2008, the French capital also played host to Runa Khan Marre and Alexandra Lavrillier as they presented their work to the public.

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