"The Negev Weaving Project"

Background

The Negev Weaving Project is based in the south of Israel, in the village of Lakyia, sixteen kilometers north of Beersheva, with a population of 6,000, it is representative of other Bedouin recognized townships in the Negev desert.

This photo series documenting traditional Bedouin weaving techniques was realized with the cooperation of Roz Willey-Al'Sanah, project coordinator for the project.

This project was established by the community with women's only participation with the intention of re-establishing the importance of the Bedouin weaving heritage and revitalising traditional weaving skills.

As the Bedouin traditional weaving skills are quickly disappearing, we have attempted to document this aspect of their creative culture while the opportunity is still available. Ultimately, we aspire to publish these photographs and accompanying text in a printed format.

Objectives

The Negev Weaving Project aims to:

• Increase Bedouin women's social and economic status and provide them with the opportunity to empower themselves, strengthening their fallback position.

• Help Bedouin women to revitalize their social and labour networks, promoting work exchange systems between spinning, weaving and household duties.

• Teaching organizational skills through work teams, obtaining materials, develop managerial and administrative skills as financial planning, driving, accounting and computing.

• Increase awareness of the multifaceted nature of the production and marketing process, and their role within it.

• Inhance the Bedouin women's status by providing them with an opportunity to contribute towards the household income.

• Provide positive role models in project members thus stretching women's boundaries and challeging preconceptions.

• Use the common denominator of weaving skills to reach out to the more disavantaged groups of Bedouin women throughout the Negev.

• Contribute to economic stability for the community, by working towards an acceptable sustainability for the project.

• Revitalize the Bedouin identity and contribute to and strengthen their institutional base.

• Link the local communities within the Negev and with the wider world, through the activities of the project.