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As with all modern day conflicts, the
primary victims of the Indonesian occupation of East
Timor were not the East Timorese guerrilla fighters
nor the soldiers of the Indonesian army, but rather
civilian women and their children. Throughout the 24
year war for independence, women actively involved themselves
at many levels in the resistance struggle - as couriers,
guides and food providers for the Falintil guerrilla
army, as activists in the urban clandestine movement,
and even as armed combatants. Consequently they paid
the price through torture, imprisonment, death and,
most often, through the pain associated with the loss
of husbands, children and other family members.
Alongside the tales of tragedy and
human suffering sit the stories of courage and perseverance,
of pride in the unity and vision which eventually brought
the East Timorese to the place they find themselves
today: embarking upon life as an independent nation
and a future of opportunity and possibility. However,
even in the absence of an occupying army, life is hard
for the average East Timorese: unemployment is high;
illiteracy, particularly amongst women, presents a huge
challenge to educational authorities; opportunities
for economic activities are limited, and a large percentage
of the population is still suffering from trauma and
the effects of the direct or indirect experience of
political violence.
 In
a climate of economic uncertainty, of political transition
and significant shifts in the social and cultural landscape,
East Timorese women continue to be the backbone of their
communities, in many cases earning a sole income for
their families through work in the informal sector or
through production of traditional handicrafts, including
the beautiful woven lengths of cloth known locally as
"tais". Involvement in the weaving industry
and in other cottage industries provides a sense of
continuity with the past and fosters pride in the traditional
arts and crafts of East Timor.
The Weaving Women's Stories project,
initiated in September 2001 by the Alola Foundation,
set out to combine in a unique way a means of supporting
East Timorese women to produce and sell their tais with
a mechanism whereby women weavers are encouraged to
recount an aspect of their life stories, both as a means
of enhancing the value of their products and for the
purpose of gaining public understanding and acknowledgment
of the unique role and experience of the women of East
Timor.
The nine stories which comprise this
collection are the result of the Weaving Women's Stories
project. The individual stories were printed in booklet
form and sold along with a length of woven cloth made
by each woman. The stories, whilst often short in length,
speak volumes about the primary concerns of East Timorese
women today. At the top of the list are the preoccupation
with economic survival and the ability to earn enough
to provide their children and younger siblings with
an education.
The woven cloth resulting from this
project were put on display and marketed, along with
a selection of tais from a number of districts of East
Timor, in the course of the Melbourne International
Arts Festival in October 2001. The Weaving Women's Stories
exhibition has been preserved and has since toured a
number of Australian cities, acting as a point of sale
and promotion for traditional East Timorese handicrafts.
This initiative has also given rise to a traditional
crafts marketing feasibility study, funded by Oxfam
Great Britain, and Hong Kong. Further information on
this study can be found on the Alola
Foundation website.
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