Journal articles on the topic 'Silk weaving industry'

With regard to the meaning and evolution of "Hangzhou Silk", the author uses the documentary research methodology to trim and verify from three aspects of industry name, product name and brand name respectively, attempting to find out the source of "Hangzhou Silk" from historical documents. Research shows that, as the industry name being called as "Hangzhou satin industry" or "Hangzhou silk weaving industry", it was generally called as the "Hangzhou Silk and Satin Industry” after the combination of Hangzhou Silk Reeling Industry Association and Hangzhou Silk Weaving Industry Association until 1952. As the product name being called as "Hangzhou silk” or “Hangzhou satin", it was called as “Hangzhou silk “after the China liberation. As the brand name, it referred to the specific silk products of Hangzhou region in particular after being awarded of protection as Chinese national geographical mark product since September 2011.

The development of the Sengkang silk weaving SME industry in Wajo District has experienced ups and downs due to the ability of its resources and the ability to produce quality products but technological limitations that have an impact on increasing the competitiveness of the Sengkang silk weaving SME industry in the global market. From this, the objectives of this research are (1) To find out and analyze the quality of leadership resources on the competitiveness of Sengkang silk weaving SMEs, (2) To find out and analyze product quality on the competitiveness of Sengkang silk weaving UKM, and (3) To analyze the quality of leadership resources and product quality simultaneously on Sengkang silk weaving SMEs.The research sample of 30 respondents from a total population of 152 SMEs using a minimum sample of 15 questionnaire statements. The analytical method uses Multiple Linear Regression with the help of SPSS 22.0 application. Hypothesis test results in this study: (1) There is a positive and significant relationship between the quality of leadership resources on competitiveness, (2) There is a positive and significant relationship between product quality on competitiveness, (3) Product quality as the most dominant variable influencing on the competitiveness of Sengkang silk weaving SMEs.

AbstractIndonesia silk craft industry just one of national products that very high in local contain. Transformations of Carat silk craft industry, start from Ins-tory of sericulture, silk cocoom'ng process, weaving, andfinishing. Producing silk craft is a lengthy process and demands constant close attention. Development of Garut silk weaving industry today entering the stage to production coexistency and the third generaton management .AbstrakKriya sutera Indonesia merupakan produk nasional yang memiliki kandungan lokal yang tinggi. Perkembangan kria tenun sutera Garut, terkait dari sejarah kegiatan seri kultur kokon suterapenenunan hingga penyelesaian akhir (finishing) telah terjadisejumlah transformasi, balk transformasi pelaku usaha, alat, bahan, hingga proses yang dilakukannya. Untuk menghasilkan kriya sutera, memerlukan proses yang panjang dan perhatian pelaku secara erat. Perkembangan tenun sutera Garut pada saat ini memasuki tahap mempertahanan eksistensi produksi dan pengelolaan oleh generasi ketiga.

The emergence of the jacquard loom in the early 19th century was one of the most important mechanical inventions among the technological innovations of the French silk weaving industry. Since then, France continuously optimized and improve jacquard loom, resulting in many technological changes. Based on the technical principle of different types of jacquard looms in France in the 19th century, and by referring to literature and conducting field visits to France and other places, our study systematically analyzed and summarized the technological changes of jacquard in French silk weaving in the 19th century. These changes mainly included the modification of crochet shape, direction and thickness of placement, the change of the shape and material of pattern card, the size and arrangement of its holes, and the addition of harness cord and shaft monture, so as to promote the continuous, rapid and steady progress of the whole silk weaving industry.

The article analyses the sociotechnical system of the silk weaving industry in the Bishnupur region of West Bengal through a detailed description of processes and interactions between important technical elements and the human agents within a richly structured environment of silk cloth production. It shows that the various processes of silk cloth production and marketing constitute an ensemble of economic inequalities, skill differentiation and differences in power and prestige. Different groups restructure the hierarchy by participating in the network of silk cloth production in which raw materials are converted into stable or viable products. The article thus provides an overview of how capitalist development is shaping the lives and livelihoods of silk weaving artisans in West Bengal.

As the old idiom “men’s farming and women’s weaving” lays out an original picture of a traditional Chinese family organization, the silk weaving industry in China has experienced a long history and formed a well-rounded, stabilized technical system. Since the modern times, with the introduction and application of new looms, raw materials and advanced techniques, Chinese silk industry has gradually completed modernization. This article, based on historical materials and comparative analysis, aims to explore the co-evolution of science, technology and social structure by analyzing the technological and social changes in the modern silk industry. It has been found that essentially stakeholders in either the upstream or downstream value chain of the industry will all influence how such business is shaped, and at the same time, be affected by the result of product and process innovation. This might result in the business prospect where small family based farmers tend to be reluctant to the technological changes in order to protect their own business interests locally.

Silk, the "Queen of Textiles" is an inseparable part of Indian culture and tradition over thousands of year. The internal high market demand makes India, the largest silk consuming country as no ritual is completed here without it, and the second largest silk producing country of the world with more than 18% to the world’s silk production. Being an agro-based industry, this sector includes both agricultural and industrial aspects and thus refers to the work started from mulberry cultivation, silk worm rearing, and obtaining silk up to the making of finished silk product. Indian climate is appropriate for the production of all the varieties of silk called Mulberry, Tasar, Muga and Eri and among these Mulberry silk is the most renowned and popular form of silk. This industry helps in shaping the economic destiny of the rural people especially for the overpopulated rural economy based country like India as it mainly depends on human power and helps in poverty alleviation whereas, being retreated from the developed countries because of the increasing labour cost. It is appropriate for both marginal and small scale land holders because of its low investment and high assured return at regular interval. In West Bengal, Silk industry plays a significant economic role by providing employment over 1.2lakhs rural families round the year (Seri States Profile, 2019). The district Murshidabad of West Bengal is well equipped in both the production and weaving of mulberry silk and so as a matter of fact the silk industry of the state mainly goes by the name of ‘Murshidabad Silk’ as the silk weaving belts are confined around this district. This paper intends to analyse the importance of silk as a remunerative cash crop of Murshidabad.

Sengkang silk weaving has stagnated in production due to the dynamics of similar product invasion at lower prices and related to fashion tastes that are constantly changing, and product diversification efforts as a marketing strategy have also been adopted. But the results are less encouraging. Learn from this experience and research has been carried out regarding various blockages that are factors. So try concentric diversification strategic efforts to overcome these problems in the form of dummy-analog in the form of studies in this study. This study aims to conduct a review related to these strategic steps. It is hoped that direction will be obtained so that the Sengkang silk industry can survive the onslaught in the free market era (MEA). The method used is data collection, assessment modeling and system development, and evaluation of finished products.

Purpose of the study: The present paper attempts to trace the development of the weaving industry in Sualkuchi in the Kamrup district of Assam and tries to understand the organizational structure of the Sualkuchi weaving Industry. The paper also tries to identify the avenues of silk products and their marketing. Methodology: In the present research work, an exploratory research design has been adopted. For the primary data, the respondents were selected using purposive sampling and were administered with an interview schedule. Secondary data are collected from Government reports, books, journals and so on. Main Findings: The products produced are mainly used for commercial purposes only. As the handloom industry of Sualkuchi is not thoroughly organized and marketing agencies are diverse, the majority of the weavers rely on middlemen to sell their finished products. A sense of professionalism among the weavers and artisans, creation of facilities for easy and quick marketing of hand-woven products is necessary. The unusual sudden price rise in yarn brings untold misery to the industry in the area as production is against advance orders at a predetermined price. There is a need to innovate designs to capture the global market. Applications: This research work can be used by students, academicians, policymakers and also government agencies for the upliftment and development of small scale industries. Novelty/Originality: The study provides new insight into the problem which might help in formulating policies and programs for the development of this industry, which is technically not always possible. Sociological insights must be made to the existing program for development.

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the entrepreneurship perception and business developmental strategy of silk business in Wajo Regency, South Sulawesi Province, Indonesia. Design/methodology/approach The study subject was the silk industry located in Wajo Regency, South Sulawesi Province. The study population was 544 silk weavers running the business of silk weaving. The study sample consisted of 235 respondents. To prove the hypothesis stated by the author, the canvas business model analysis method was used to identify entrepreneurship perception, and SWOT (strength, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis was conducted to understand the potential of the strategy of weaving business development in Wajo Regency, South Sulawesi Province, Indonesia. Findings Business model canvas (BMC) is a complex business model that becomes simple through a canvas approach, drawing a sheet of the canvas containing a map of nine elements (box), allowing businessmen to identify the business potential. The nine elements of the canvas that should be understood and considered for running a business are customer segment, value proportion, channel, customer relationship, revenue steam, key resource, key activities, key partnership and cost structure. To improve farmers’ entrepreneurship perception, it would be nice for the weavers who run the silk business should constantly consider the nine elements of BMCso that in running their businesses, they can understand different considerations and create a progressive and developing silk industry. Originality/value This research is about merger two concept of business development in entrepreneurship to increase revenues, with the location of study as originality (no previous research for this relationship): Auditor in Wajo regency South Sulawesi Province in Indonesia. Based on the background stated above, this study aims to analyze entrepreneurship perception and silk industry developmental strategy in Wajo Regency, South Sulawesi Province, Indonesia.

The Handloom Industry plays a vital role in the socio – economic structure of Assam in terms of providing employment and production of clothes. At the same time preserve and propagate the rich cultural heritage of Assam. Weaving in Assam is as old as human civilization itself and the art of weaving are being passed from one generation to the next. The existence of high-quality weaving skill and production of fine textiles is well documented in great epics like Mahabharata and ancient treatise like Arthashastra1of Kautilya (Choudhry, 1987). Chinese traveler Hiuen Tsang also gives rich description of existence of high-quality weaving products and their general liking of the Royal family and the nobility. Writing is the early 19th century, before the British annexed Assam, Francis Hamilton2 has given an accurate account of the state of weaving in Assam (Sarma, 2012). This Industry was directly patronized by the state, so much so that queens established weaving schools in the palace, to teach the art of weaving to the daughters of the noble widows and other female members of the household of executed prisoners were also employed by the art for spinning and weaving as a means of subsistence. The neo – vaishnavite movement of the Shri Sankardev was an equally potent force in the development in the art of weaving, especially of figured cloth. After annexation of Assam by the British3, the Handloom industry declined rapidly particularly in cities. Another British policy of de – industrialization of Assam, instead of export of cotton clothes and silk products, Assam became export of raw cotton and cocoon to fuel the Industrial Revolution in Britain. Despite, dwindling of textile weaving like all other arts with the fall of the Ahom rule, it never became extinct as many other branches of Assamese art. It is still a living art as much in demand as it had been in the medieval period (Goswami, 2012)

There are a limited number of studies on the periodization analysis of the historical development of a single sector in Ottoman economic history literature. This study puts forward a periodic analysis of the sector in order to reveal the economic development characteristics of the Ottoman Bursa silk industry. In the study, four turning points where the transformation took place in terms of roduction relations and conditions were determined and the periodic analysis focused on these four periods. The city of Bursa became a silk production and trade center after it came under Ottoman rule. The fluctuations in the demand level of European countries for fabrics between the second half of the XVIth century and the first quarter of the XIXth century caused the silk industry to enter an unstable process, despite maintaining its commercial importance. With the inclusion of the Ottoman country in the center-periphery relationship after 1830, the existing production relations in the sector underwent a process of transformation. The transformation aspect in this century was deindustrialization in silk weaving and increased specialization in raw silk production as a result of technological development and the sector passed to the capitalist stage, provided that it was limited to raw silk production. The last breaking point in silk sector was the transfer of raw silk tax revenues to the Ottoman Public Debt Administration (Düyun-ı Umumiye Administration).

Abstractt: The Tasar silk Industry has proved its potential in raising sustainable income and employment in the rural sector of Jharkhand State (India) and is a growing activity in the primary sector which aims more income to the artisans and workers of this industry. This paper entitles an artisanal industry that concentrates on the study regarding the impact of technologies on sericulture in selected area. Sericulture is an agro-industrial activity aiming to produce silk though rearing of silkworm. It involves the raising of food plants (Terminalia arjuna, Terminalia tomentosa, Shorea robusta etc) for silkworm, rearing of silkworm for production of cocoons, reeling and spinning of cocoons for production of yarn for value added benefits such as processing and weaving. The knowledge of technology has found to have greater impact on improving the productivity, production and manufacturing of Tasar Silk Fabric in terms of agriculture as well as its allied activities. This study finds out significant positive impact of knowledge about advanced technology and its adoption on the development of the sector by the artisans so that the Tasar Silk Garment Industry grows and benefit its stakeholders

This research aims to analyze the environmental impact of six fibers in the textile industry: conventional and organic cotton, silk, jute, flax, and polyester. The study used a life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology with a cradle-to-gate system boundary and analyzed the stages of agriculture, spinning, weaving, and dyeing. In agriculture production, five impact categories (i.e., fossil resource scarcity, global warming, land use, terrestrial ecotoxicity, and water consumption) have the most significant differences across these fibers. Polyester production significantly impacted the terrestrial ecotoxicity impact category, while stratospheric ozone depletion had a minor impact. In yarn preparation and spinning, silk has the most significant impact in most categories, followed by conventional cotton, while jute had the most minimal impact. In weaving, the most visible differences were in fossil resource scarcity, global warming, land use, terrestrial ecotoxicity, and water consumption. Conventional cotton dyeing showed significant impacts on global warming potential and terrestrial ecotoxicity. This study contributes to the limited literature on existing LCA research in the textile industry. Adding updated information will help increase the comprehension of LCA research and guide stakeholders in transitioning fashion supply chains more sustainably.

AbstractIn the early twentieth century, the Salvation Army in British India transformed its public profile and standing, shifting from being an organization seen by the state as a threat to social order, to being partner to the state in the delivery of social welfare programmes. At the same time, the Army also shaped discussion and anxieties about the precarious position of India's economy and sought to intervene on behalf of the state—or to present itself as doing so—in the rescue of India's traditional industries. The Army was an important actor in debates about the future of traditional industries such as silkworm rearing and silk weaving, and was able to mobilize public opinion to press provincial governments for resources with which to try to resuscitate and rejuvenate India's silk industry. Although the Army's sericulture initiatives failed to thwart the decline of India's silk industry, they generated significant momentum, publicity, and public attention, to some extent transforming the Army's standing in British India and beyond.

Symmetry is part of textile art in patterns and motifs that decorate fabrics, which are made by the interlacement of warp and wefts. Moreover, the 3D representation of fabrics have already been studied by some authors; however, they have not specifically dealt with preserving historical weaving techniques. In this paper, we present the SILKNOW’s Virtual Loom, a tool intended to document, preserve and reproduce silk historical weaving techniques from the 15th to the 19th centuries. We focus on the symmetry function and its contribution to art history, textile conservation, and modern design. We analyzed 2028 records from Garin 1820 datasets—a historical industry that still weaves with these techniques—and we reconstructed some historical designs that presented different types of defects. For those images (including fabrics and drawings) that had a symmetrical axis, we applied the symmetry functionality allowing to reconstruct missing parts. Thanks to these results, we were able to verify the usefulness of the Virtual Loom for conservation, analysis and new interpretative advantages, thanks to symmetry analysis applied to historical fabrics.

Abstract: This paper reviews the status and prospects of the “Tasar Silk Industry” in the state of Jharkhand. Tasar Sericulture is practiced in the states of Jharkhand, Orissa, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Telangana and Bihar with Jharkhand being the leading producer with 80% of the tasar silk production employing around 1.5 lakh farmers in rearing, reeling and weaving activities, This is an agro-based, cottage industry practiced as “a way of life” by the various tribal inhabitants of this state like Santhals, Hos, Uraons, Kerwars and others. Tasar silk is not only known for its charm, texture and its natural golden color, but it also has a high ethical value. It is known as “Ahimsa Silk” as it does not kill the silkworm by boiling the cocoons while it is still inside it. The fibre is extracted only after the silkworm (Antherea Mylitta and Antherea Proyeli J) has left the cocoons. Tasar sericulture is being promoted widely through premier bodies like The Central Silk Board and its subsidiary i.e Central Tasar Research and Training Institute; Ranchi, which has undertaken research and development and training programs, since its establishment in 1964, thereby improving the silk production as well as empowering the lives of weak and marginalized tribes of Jharkhand. Growing demands from foreign countries, elucidate the promising future of the tasar silk industry in Jharkhand which in turn would uplift the living qualities of the rural people. Heavy investment in this industry now, would bring good returns in future, not just in terms of an improved economy, but also an improved society. This paper highlights the fact that apart from the huge potential to earn foreign exchange for the country, tasar culture has immense ethical values and truly carves for us a path towards sustainable development. Keywords: Tasar, sericulture, Jharkhand, tribal, Ahimsa Silk, Sustainable Development.

Wajo Regency is the best silk weaving industrial area in South Sulawesi, but the emergence of several competitors for silk fabrics from abroad, and various modern-style fabric products that are variously supplied by wholesalers from outside the South Sulawesi area indirectly affect the movement of market. This study aims to determine the effect of entrepreneurial commitment, entrepreneurial competence and competitiveness of the silk industry on the business performance of silk entrepreneurs. The type of research is a quantitative research methodology. The research was conducted on a silk business located in Wajo Regency, South Sulawesi Province. A total of 357 samples were obtained using the cluster random sampling technique based on the Krejcie and Morgan tables. Data collection method employing a scale that uses the Likert scale. Data analysis techniques using the SmartPLS 3.0 software's path analysis, it was found that commitment, entrepreneurial competence has a significant effect on business performance, commitment has a significant effect on the development of competitiveness, and entrepreneurial competence has not significant effect on the development of competitiveness. The results found that the entrepreneurial competence of silk entrepreneurs was still lacking in developing the competitiveness of the silk business.

Historical weaving techniques have evolved in time and space giving as result more or less fabrics with different aesthetical characteristics. These techniques were transferred along the main silk production centers, thanks to the European Silk Road and creating a common European Frame on themes and techniques. These had made it complicated to determine whether a fabric corresponds to one century or another. Moreover, in order to understand their creation, it is necessary to determine the number of weaves and interlacements that each textile has, therefore, mathematical models can be extracted from these layers. In this sense, three dimensional (3D) virtual representations of the internal structure of textiles are of interest for a variety of purposes related to fashion, industry, education or other areas. The aim of this paper is to propose a mathematical modelling of historical weaving techniques by means of matrices in order to be easily mapped to a virtual 3D representation. The work focuses on historical silk textiles, ranging from the 15th to the 19th centuries. We also propose a computer vision-based strategy to extract relevant information from digital imagery, by considering different types of images (textiles, technical drawings and macro images). The work here presented has been carried out in the scope of the SILKNOW project, which has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement No. 769504. The results shown in the paper are preliminary and will be improved in the scope of the project.

The aim of this study is to investigate the role of Iranian traditional needlework in people's family and social life with an emphasis on the art of Pateh embroidery. In this article, the history of textile industry, the history of clothes, different sewing styles and how they have been influenced by each other, are studied. According to the "History of Iranian Textile Industry", a book written by Mehdi Beheshtipour, textile industry in Iran dates back to 7000 years ago.Tabari book of history states that this industry goes back to 4000 years ago. Excavations in Shoosh show that burlap weaving, silk weaving and embroidery were forms of art at the time of JamsheedPishdadi. Herodotus says that Xerxes wore embroidered clothes. Marco Polo refers to the art of Kerman's Pateh embroidery in his travelogue. Qajar era is called the renaissance of Iranian needlework. Different styles of needlework have been investigated in previous practical studies with reference to the regionswhere they are common and how they are used. Pateh embroidery is considered as a traditional art in Kerman. This form of needlework has been paid attention to since 1906 from economic, social and cultural perspectives and studied as a profession that can meet people's financial and aesthetic needs.

This article presents the results of research on the development of new patterns of crepe fabrics for dress from natural silk and technology of their production. Today, the deep processing of cocoon raw materials, production of finished silk products, and development of new and in-demand fabric structures is an urgent and important problem. Crepe fabric - crepe de Chine consists of interwoven warp and weft yarn, which is produced by plain weaving. The structure of this fabric has long been known and its range is quite limited. In order to expand the assortment of crepe fabrics made from natural silk, their new structures have been developed, where the fabric contains warp threads of low twist right or left twist direction in 2 and/or 3 folds twisted into one low twist thread are taken as warp threads. A technological chain has been developed for the production of a new structure of dressing crepe fabric, technological parameters for rewinding, crushing, twisting of threads and the development of a new fabric structure on a loom, as well as requirements for the processes themselves. The results can be applied at the enterprises of the silk industry.

Mulberry silkworm seeds were smuggled to Central Asia by a Chinese princess married to Khotan Khan in the middle of the 4th century. By the 7th century, Khotan, Kusham and other Northern Silk Industry was the main labor activity of the population in the provinces of Turkestan. In the 7th century, as a result of the introduction of the technology of cocooning and gazlam weaving by Marv merchants for commercial purposes from Persia, it became more widespread in the territory of Central Asia. Uzbekistan is a country with a long history among the world's developed silk industry. Mulberry silkworm seeds entered Central Asia through the Khotan province in the middle of the 4th century, and have become one of the main occupations of the population until now. This article analyzes the history of sericulture in Uzbekistan, stages of development, and achievements in the field of research and production. It is planned to increase the total area of mulberry plantations in Uzbekistan from 48,720 hectares in 2019 to 77,422 hectares by 2021, and the number of individual mulberry rows to 79 million 515 thousand bushes. It is also planned to increase the number of boxes of silkworms from 350,000 boxes to 500,000 boxes, from 19,607 tons to 30,000 tons.

AbstractThe concept of Regional Industrialization developed by Rainer Fremdling, Toni Pierenkemper and Richard Tilly is based on a small-scale research approach and composes regions according to criteria of homogeneity. This paper argues that the concept is fruitful in regard to textile regions and their analysis in a long-term perspective from proto-industrialization to the 20th century. It examines relevant factors such as capital, labour, raw materials, transfer of capital, technology and knowledge in order to analyse the specific regional path of growth. Especially the role of migrant pioneer entrepreneurs and the institutional-cultural setting, i.e. the state monopolies of the regional silk and velvet producers are addressed. Mechanisation and the factory system were introduced relatively late in comparison to other regions in the wool and cotton branch of textile industry. But innovations in weaving and energy technology diffused rather rapidly in Krefeld, Mönchengladbach and the rural surroundings. The paper shows how the growing textile industry of the left lower Rhine region diversified during the Great Depression of the 1870s-90s and induced forward and backward linkages to the machinery, tool and chemical industries. In all segments of the textile industry in the region (silk, velvet, cotton, wool, synthetics) path dependencies evolved which still have an effect on research institutions and industrial culture today.

Empowering the community of Cipondok Village through a digital-based sericulture and silk weaving program is a strategic effort to optimize the local economic and cultural potential. This community engagement involves members of the Community Youth Development or Karang Taruna, the Family Welfare Program or Program Kesejahteraan Keluarga (PKK), and the Sabilulungan III Factory as the target groups. The IDEAS team designed several programs to advance Cipondok Village businesses through several stages, namely the planning stage, preparation, program implementation, and monitoring evaluation. Through training and workshops, community participation has increased, leading to a significant improvement in their understanding and skills. The digital marketing program has also been successfully implemented by inaugurating the Sutra Studio Cipondok and the official village website. This new institution, along with the re-branding of woven fabric products, is expected to strengthen the sustainability of the program. The outcomes include an increase in the income of business groups, the effective implementation of marketing strategies through social media and the website, and the establishment of the Sutra Studio Cipondok institution. These steps not only support local economic growth but also integrate the silk fabric products of Cipondok Village into a broader market. The program contributes to the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) numbers 8 and 9 by enhancing decent work and economic growth, as well as advancing infrastructure, industry, and innovation.

The fine gold and silver zari thread is an integral part of the silk handloom weaving predominantly practiced in the southern part of the Indian peninsula. The zari thread consists of a silk core, wrapped with flattened silver-copper alloy wire and electroplated with gold. In a brocade silk saree, a minimum of 240 g (1 Marc) of zari is used along with 540 g of dyed silk to produce a silk saree of 6 m in length. The cost of zari is up to 60% of the price of the raw material needed to produce the saree. Earlier, the silver purity of zari thread was assessed using the volumetric analysis technique. Recently, due to the sharp rise in the price of precious metals, the gravimetric technique, which is more time-consuming, has been adopted to test all the zari ingredients as a content percentage to help the fair-trade practice of zari thread. The advent of the computerized XRF-ED technique has accelerated the process of estimating the metal purity values instantly. It could not be used as a tool to estimate the cost of the zari thread as it is traded based on the concentration of silk. Thus, this research aimed to develop the computerized XRF-ED zari testing protocol using the artificial intelligence technique to assess the zari content values. The research findings revealed that the results of the zari thread constituents as content percentage estimated using AI technique are comparable and at par with the test results of the gravimetric analysis. Thus, the XRF-ED testing can be popularized in the field to assess the quality of zari used in the handloom silk saree available to consumers. Findings could also benefit the overall development of the handloom industry faced with tough competition from the silk saree woven with zari imitation thread.

The ability of a country or an area to prosper economically is largely depend on entrepreneurship, especially in light of the current unemployment crisis and anticipated technological advancements. The most important issues in the growth of entrepreneurship are not just how to offer chances to entrepreneurs, but also how to provide them substantial support so they may achieve greater success. To this, cultivating mulberry plants, production of disease-free layings, raising of young (chawki) and late-age silkworms for cocoon production, reeling of cocoons (silk reeling) for yarn production, throwing (spinning, warp, and weft production), wet processing (dyeing and printing), weaving (fabric production), modern (computer-aided) and traditional (textile designing) textile marketing and so on are just a few of the varied range of activities that make up the Indian silk industry. Additionally, sericulture products and bye-products have become more significant in the biotechnological, pharmaceutical, and biomedical industries, in recent years, for the creation of high-value new goods. Therefore, there is a great deal of opportunity for successful business in the sericulture and seribiotechnology sectors to grow. These opportunities help young people and unemployed women to become successful business owners who both support the workforce and work for themselves. This can help address the issues of unemploymentstandards and in India’s rural and urban areas as well as elevate socioeconomic levels.

A meta-analysis of epidemiologic studies for textile industry workers was undertaken in an attempt to evaluate whether the cancer risk varies within the textile industry in relation to the job held or the textile fiber used. We combined studies published up until 1990, when an ad hoc IARC Monograph was issued, and those published after 1990 with the aim of appreciating evidence of reversing trends in cancer risk. Observed and expected cases reported in the original studies were summed up and the totals were divided to obtain a pooled relative risk (PRR) with a 95% confidence interval (CI) estimated with a fixed-effect model. We calculated a chi-square test (x2) of heterogeneity among studies. When PRR and x2 were both significant, PRR and CI were calculated with a random-effect model and the source of heterogeneity was investigated. Lung cancer risk was around 0.4 in the first study on cotton workers published in 1936, around 0.7 in subsequent studies, mostly published in the 1970s and 1980s, and around 1.0 in the last studies published in the 1990s. Papers published in the 1970s and 1980s produced consistent risk estimates for lung cancer risk, which was significantly lower than 1.0 in workers exposed to cotton (PRR 3/4-0.77; CI3/4-0.69-0.86) and wool dust (0.71; 0.50-0.92), as well as in carders and fiber preparers (0.73; 0.54-0.91), weavers (0.71; 0.56-0.85), and spinners and weavers (0.78; 0.66-0.91). Lung cancer PRRs did not significantly deviate from 1.0 in textile workers using synthetic fibers or silk, and in dyers. Increased PRRs were found for sinonasal cancer in workers exposed to cotton dust, and in workers involved in spinning or weaving (4.14; 1.80-6.49). PRR was 1.46 (1.10-1.82) for cancer of the digestive system in textile workers using synthetic fibers or silk, and 1.34 (1.10-1.59) for colorectal cancer in spinners and weavers. The increased bladder cancer PRR in dyers (1.39; 1.07-1.71) is generally attributed to textile dye exposure. In studies published after 1990, there is a general tendency to move toward unity for all the cancer risk estimates, leading to an increasing heterogeneity among studies. Since adjustment for smoking made little difference to the findings, the latter could be attributed to the exposure to textile dusts. The recent findings could be due to a lowering of dust concentration in the workplaces. The reduction of cases of upper respiratory tract cancer parallels with a corresponding increase of lung cancer cases. So, preventive measures have paradoxically increased the lung cancer burden to the textile workers.

Introduction. Domestic enterprises in various industries use a variety of process equipment, including weaving machines. Modern weaving machines have several unique features, including a close relationship between technical condition, productivity, and product quality. Weaving machines are widely used in the textile industry in Russia and other countries. To produce cotton, silk, wool, linen, and other types of fabrics, appropriate machines are designed, including shuttle, shuttleless, pneumatic, and hydraulic machines. One of the most crucial parts of the machine is the heddle lifting mechanism, which determines the weave pattern and the quality of the fabric produced. The purpose of the work is to reduce the dimensions of the loom by changing the design parameters of the heddle lifting mechanism. The research methods are based on the theory of machines and mechanisms. They enable the development of a method for synthesizing the heddle lifting mechanism and designing a device with reduced dimensions. The paper presents the synthesis and analysis of the Assur group algorithm, which can determine the kinematic characteristics of the mechanism. Results and discussion. Following the proposed methodology, the mechanism design was modified by removing the fixing device from the lever mechanism operating area. This allowed for a reduction in interaxial distances and a change in the kinematic scheme. As a result of the new position of the fixed axes, some levers, the connecting rod, and the angle of the double-arm lever were also altered. The synthesis of the mechanism is proposed to begin with the last Assur group, setting it a specific value for the G-point motion equal to 75 mm. (motion of the fourth heddle shaft). As a limitation, the equality of arcs (chords) E´E = F´F ` was accepted. By assigning these values to the input element for the second-class first-type Assur group and bearing in mind the accepted conditions, the motions for point D were obtained. Thus, the value of the swing angle  of the roller shaft equal to 22.46° was obtained, which is 27.44 mm along the chord. Applying the interpolation principle, we found the initial motion value of 28 mm. Since the loom is planned to produce interlacing fabric patterns using 10 heddles, the design provides for a variable parameter that allows changing the motion of the heddles depending on their location in the depth of the machine. This role was assigned to the lever B03D. A cam pair synthesis was performed after determining the maximum and minimum values of the center of the roller motion. In total, 5 types of laws of motion were considered: straight-line, harmonic, double harmonic, power-law, cycloidal ones. For the center of the roller, the cycloidal law of motion was selected since it better corresponds to the specified conditions. The synthesis's accuracy was confirmed by the constructed cam profile and conducted kinematic studies for the Assur groups.

Abstract Background The construction and development of Dawan district has further promoted the innovative application of cultural resources, brought the long-standing Lingnan culture into the international stage, and become an important carrier and tool to strengthen international cultural exchanges and promote economic cooperation and development. Dawan district. Gauze, as a traditional and ancient manual weaving and dyeing process, has been listed in the national intangible cultural heritage list. It is on the verge of disappearing and in urgent need of rescue. Lightweight business wear is playing an increasingly important role in today's consumer market and has become a cultural image card to convey friendship and mutual assistance. This paper studies the innovative design of light and thin business clothing, and deeply integrates the two elements of shuisha and Lingnan culture, especially the changes of people's emotional behavior towards culture in the process of communication. At present, there is no relevant research report. Topics and Methods Take water yarn as the carrier, transform Lingnan traditional culture into design elements, deeply integrate light and thin business clothing design, explore the new visual expression and process production of traditional water yarn in style, color and pattern, and give new artistic expression to traditional water yarn. The author studies the application status of gauze in related fields of cultural industry, including the advantages and limitations of gauze; Difficulties in design and production; Advantages and limitations of washing gauze clothing style types, styles and patterns. This paper will explain how to overcome the compatibility problem of the combination of light and thin business clothes and washed yarn, and put forward practical solutions from the aspects of fabric and technology. The research methods include creative practice, literature analysis, observation, field investigation and expert discussion. At the same time, the emotional behavior of water conservancy workers in various places was investigated. This study adopts the profile of mood states (POMS), which was compiled by Australian scholars grore and prapavessis in 1992 and revised by Professor Zhu Beili. It is considered to be a good tool to study emotional states. The average reliability of the scale is 0.71, which is in the standard value of 0.60 ~ 0.82. There are 40 adjectives in the questionnaire, which are divided into seven subscales: tension, anger, fatigue, depression, energy, panic and self-esteem. The corresponding score scale of 0-4 was used. The final result (TMD) of the total score of mood state is five negative emotion scores minus two negative emotion scores, plus a constant of 100 for correction. Results The deep integration of “water yarn + Lingnan cultural elements + light business dress” will broaden the design field of water yarn and endow it with new artistic expression to meet the needs of the times. The combination of water yarn and other textile fabrics can improve the problems of single color, thin texture and high cost of water yarn. Through the summary of creative practice, it is found that there has been a new breakthrough in traditional technology and modern design, and found a new research perspective, which provides a theoretical basis for the application of traditional water yarn in fashion design. Conclusion This study is not only conducive to revitalizing local culture, promoting the flow of innovative elements and continuously improving the value of urban culture, but also has practical application value for the inheritance and innovation of intangible cultural heritage, and is ready for transformation. From “China's garment industry” to “China's manufacturing industry”. Acknowledgements This paper is wrote by He Xiaochun and it is a research project of Guangdong Literary & Art Vocational College, Guangdong Province Education Science “13th Five-Year Plan” 2020. Project name: Research on Innovative Design of Traditional Watered Gauze in Light Business wear under the Background of Guangdong, Hong Kong, Macao Greater Bay Area Construction, Project Number: 2020GXJK313).

Abstract This research focuses on the traditional songket weaving culture of Bengkalis, Riau Province, Indonesia. Songket is a type of traditional woven fabric with unique motifs and philosophies that represent the values of life, religion, education, and culture. The origin of songket weaving in Indonesia is still uncertain, some experts say that this weaving was brought by Arab traders who spread Islam and weaving techniques silk from China and India. The purpose of this study is to gain a deeper understanding of the legal aspects of intellectual property rights and traditional cultural arts related to songket weaving motifs lejo Bengkalis. The research method used in this study is a qualitative approach with data collection techniques such as observation, interviews, and documentation. The results showed that legal protection regarding songket cloth motifs in Bengkalis is still inadequate, and there are several challenges in preserving the culture that There include lack of public awareness, law enforcement. With this research, it is expected to be a promoter for the community of the importance of supporting local industries, and developing a certification system for original songket products. Abstrak Penelitian ini berfokus kepada budaya tenun songket tradisional Bengkalis, Provinsi Riau, Indonesia. Songket adalah jenis kain tenun tradisional dengan motif dan filosofi unik yang mewakili nilai-nilai kehidupan, agama, pendidikan, dan budaya. Asal-usul tenun songket di indonesia masih belum pasti, beberapa ahli menyebutkan bahwa tenun ini dibawa oleh pedagang arab yang menyebarluaskan agama islam dan teknik tenun sutra dari China dan India. Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah untuk memperoleh pemahaman yang lebih dalam mengenai aspek hukum hak kekayaan intelektual dan seni budaya tradisional terkait dengan motif tenun songket lejo Bengkalis. Metode penelitian yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah pendekatan kualitatif dengan teknik pengumpulan data seperti obervasi, wawancara, dan dokumentasi. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa perlindungan hukum terhapat motif kain songket di Bengkalis masih kurang memadai, dan ada beberapa tantangan dalam melestarikan kebudayaan yang ada termasuk kurangnya kesadaran masyarakat, penegak hukum. Dengan adanya penelitian ini diharapkan menjadi promotor bagi masyarakt akan pentingnya mendukung industri lokal, dan mengembangkan sistem sertifikasi untuk produk songket asli

Gringsing weaving products is a part of handicraft or home industry. They are still confessed at present and produced by simple technology with hand in hand. This activity as a business of income from the most of women in Tenganan Pegringsingan Village of Manggis Sub District, Karangasem Regency. A work attitude with no planned well and they do not use a tool instruments for helping then working correctly, it is caused a subjective complaints of the workers so the production is not maximally and will cause the productivity of the workers come down. Woven products workers is required a carefulness and neatness of the workers, with long sitting posture on the flour covered by something material. It is not aware of this problem in to the anatomy and physiology of the workers and they will have a lot of complaint, sick, or pain on their next, hand, low back, anus, thigh, eyes. It is caused static work load frequently, so that they will be to come a decrease activity and low motivations, it’is activity and the work is not done efficient and effective. The variable that is measured in this study is decrease workload, subjective complaint, work efficiency (long work), and work productivity. The research has been studied to the sixteen weaving workers that were chosen without rules with treatment by subject program with cross over design, its analyses unit considering group variance. It has been intervened by work attitude with supporting tool for instant ‘peliper, tingklik, por (supported by sponge), barble, and using eyes glasses and group workers. This study is analyzed by t-paired, and there is a significant work load reduction (p<0.005), which is the pulse of the workers come down from 89,62 beats per minutes to be 82,56 beats per minutes (±5,60) in the same of the light work load category. The subjective complaints of the work load come down showed significant value (p<0.005) that is from Nordic Body Map score 56,92 (16.14) to be 28.86 (7.32). By the efficient work 7 hours a day with support tools, it is to be come the productivity increase (0,34%) and work productivity (7,9%) significantly (p<0.005).

For centuries silk flowers have been used by different societies as personal and spatial adornments. Flowers, both natural and man-made, have diverse meanings in daily life and rites of passage, accompanying individuals from birth to death. During the nineteenth century, the use of silk flowers gained in popularity and, thanks to the industrialization of textile weaving and the discovery of chemical dyes, silk flowers became available not only to elites but to the growing bourgeoisie, and later, even low-income classes. During this boom, Judith Deschamps and Etiesenne Pucheu met and were married, both of them florists. After the 1851 great fires in San Francisco, California, they decided to settle down in Mexico, where a friend of theirs had established, a couple decades before, the first silk-flower factory in Mexico. Being entrepreneurs, Judith and her husband took the business in their hands and made it stronger, inventing patented machines for different processes and products of their trade. Judith lead the silk-flower production and, as in factories around Europe and the United States, they hired women as workers, making this industry a pioneer in gender equality and women’s empowerment. At least in Mexico, silk-flower making gathered women from all ages, cultural backgrounds, and social classes. This paper delves into the history of the Pucheu silk-flower factory through the stories of the Pucheu-Deschamps family and their workers from the nineteenth century to date, also exploring the way in which these complex artifacts were created, used, and valued.

Handlooms and Handicrafts are one of the most important cottage industries in the country giving livelihood to most of rural India. A number of handlooms in India are engaged in weaving with natural fibers such as cotton, silk, and wool. Most of the villages in India are directly or indirectly dependent for their bread and butter on the handloom and handicraft sector. This sector carries proudly the traditional beauty associated with India's such precious heritage. A research study on one of the silk handloom sectors situated in a small village named Bhagaiya in Jharkhand was carried out with an objective to gather considered data and references reflecting the aspects and aspirations of this lively craft and its position in the region. The ambition of the research is to add perspective to the development of this craft and the craftsmen associated with it. The study was carried out with the intention to understand the existing supply chain, to gain insight through a diagnostic study of the environment, specific realities prevailing, resources available and mapping the aspects of the handloom industry practiced in the region. The study and its outcomes aims to bring forth the strength, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. This SWOT can be used by interested agencies/Government Sector, researchers who can approach this region with an objective to provide or facilitate necessary aids that can bring about positive changes in the lives of the weaver. This paper also tries to provide insights into the handloom textile industry and attempts to explain the challenges and opportunities that lie within. This paper also takes into account the usage of cost-effective and eco-friendly technology using natural dyes from identified resources of India and which has also been evaluated, adopted and adapted by the various handloom weavers segments in India. This paper looks at handcraft as one of the potential segment for accomplishing sustainable development by examining the colorful region of Kutch and to bring forth successful elements being practiced here for a better conservation of resources and its moving towards sustainability.

Introduction It has frequently been noted that ICTs and social networking applications have blurred the once-clear boundary between work, leisure and entertainment, just as they have collapsed the distinction between public and private space. While each individual has a sense of what “home” means, both in terms of personal experience and more conceptually, the following three examples of online interaction (based on participants’ interest, or involvement, in activities traditionally associated with the home: pet care, craft and cooking) suggest that the utilisation of online communication technologies can lead to refined and extended definitions of what “home” is. These examples show how online communication can assist in meeting the basic human needs for love, companionship, shelter and food – needs traditionally supplied by the home environment. They also provide individuals with a considerably expanded range of opportunities for personal expression and emotional connection, as well as creative and commercial production, than that provided by the purely physical (and, no doubt, sometimes isolated and isolating) domestic environment. In this way, these case studies demonstrate the interplay and melding of physical and virtual “home” as domestic practices leach from the most private spaces of the physical home into the public space of the Internet (for discussion, see Gorman-Murray, Moss, and Rose). At the same time, online interaction can assert an influence on activity within the physical space of the home, through the sharing of advice about, and modeling of, domestic practices and processes. A Dog’s (Virtual) Life The first case study primarily explores the role of online communities in the formation and expression of affective values and personal identity – as traditionally happens in the domestic environment. Garber described the 1990s as “the decade of the dog” (20), citing a spate of “new anthropomorphic” (22) dog books, Internet “dog chat” sites, remakes of popular classics such as Lassie Come Home, dog friendly urban amenities, and the meteoric rise of services for pampered pets (28-9). Loving pets has become a lifestyle and culture, witnessed and commodified in Pet Superstores as well as in dog collectables and antiques boutiques, and in publications like The Bark (“the New Yorker of Dog Magazines”) and Clean Run, the international agility magazine, Website, online book store and information gateway for agility products and services. Available online resources for dog lovers have similarly increased rapidly during the decade since Garber’s book was published, with the virtual world now catering for serious hobby trainers, exhibitors and professionals as well as the home-based pet lover. At a recent survey, Yahoo Groups – a personal communication portal that facilitates social networking, in this case enabling users to set up electronic mailing lists and Internet forums – boasted just over 9,600 groups servicing dog fanciers and enthusiasts. The list Dogtalk is now an announcement only mailing list, but was a vigorous discussion forum until mid-2006. Members of Dogtalk were Australian-based “clicker-trainers”, serious hobbyist dog trainers, many of whom operated micro-businesses providing dog training or other pet-related services. They shared an online community, but could also engage in “flesh-meets” at seminars, conferences and competitive dog sport meets. An author of this paper (Rutherford) joined this group two years ago because of her interest in clicker training. Clicker training is based on an application of animal learning theory, particularly psychologist E. F. Skinner’s operant conditioning, so called because of the trademark use of a distinctive “click” sound to mark a desired behaviour that is then rewarded. Clicker trainers tend to dismiss anthropomorphic pack theory that positions the human animal as fundamentally opposed to non-human animals and, thus, foster a partnership (rather than a dominator) mode of social and learning relationships. Partnership and nurturance are common themes within the clicker community (as well as in more traditional “home” locations); as is recognising and valuing the specific otherness of other species. Typically, members regard their pets as affective equals or near-equals to the human animals that are recognised members of their kinship networks. A significant function of the episodic biographical narratives and responses posted to this list was thus to affirm and legitimate this intra-specific kinship as part of normative social relationship – a perspective that is not usually validated in the general population. One of the more interesting nexus that evolved within Dogtalk links the narrativisation of the pet in the domestic sphere with the pictorial genre of the family album. Emergent technologies, such as digital cameras together with Web-based image manipulation software and hosting (as provided by portals like Photobucket and Flickr ) democratise high quality image creation and facilitate the sharing of these images. Increasingly, the Dogtalk list linked to images uploaded to free online galleries, discussed digital image composition and aesthetics, and shared technical information about cameras and online image distribution. Much of this cultural production and circulation was concerned with digitally inscribing particular relationships with individual animals into cultural memory: a form of family group biography (for a discussion of the family photograph as a display of extended domestic space, see Rose). The other major non-training thread of the community involves the sharing and witnessing of the trauma suffered due to the illness and loss of pets. While mourning for human family members is supported in the off-line world – with social infrastructure, such as compassionate leave and/or bereavement counselling, part of professional entitlements – public mourning for pets is not similarly supported. Yet, both cultural studies (in its emphasis on cultural memory) and trauma theory have highlighted the importance of social witnessing, whereby traumatic memories must be narratively integrated into memory and legitimised by the presence of a witness in order to loosen their debilitating hold (Felman and Laub 57). Postings on the progress of a beloved animal’s illness or other misfortune and death were thus witnessed and affirmed by other Dogtalk list members – the sick or deceased pet becoming, in the process, a feature of community memory, not simply an individual loss. In terms of such biographical narratives, memory and history are not identical: “Any memories capable of being formed, retained or articulated by an individual are always a function of socially constituted forms, narratives and relations … Memory is always subject to active social manipulation and revision” (Halbwachs qtd. in Crewe 75). In this way, emergent technologies and social software provide sites, akin to that of physical homes, for family members to process individual memories into cultural memory. Dogzonline, the Australian Gateway site for purebred dog enthusiasts, has a forum entitled “Rainbow Bridge” devoted to textual and pictorial memorialisation of deceased pet dogs. Dogster hosts the For the Love of Dogs Weblog, in which images and tributes can be posted, and also provides links to other dog oriented Weblogs and Websites. An interesting combination of both therapeutic narrative and the commodification of affect is found in Lightning Strike Pet Loss Support which, while a memorial and support site, also provides links to the emerging profession of pet bereavement counselling and to suppliers of monuments and tributary urns for home or other use. loobylu and Narratives of Everyday Life The second case study focuses on online interactions between craft enthusiasts who are committed to the production of distinctive objects to decorate and provide comfort in the home, often using traditional methods. In the case of some popular craft Weblogs, online conversations about craft are interspersed with, or become secondary to, the narration of details of family life, the exploration of important life events or the recording of personal histories. As in the previous examples, the offering of advice and encouragement, and expressions of empathy and support, often characterise these interactions. The loobylu Weblog was launched in 2001 by illustrator and domestic crafts enthusiast Claire Robertson. Robertson is a toy maker and illustrator based in Melbourne, Australia, whose clients have included prominent publishing houses, magazines and the New York Public Library (Robertson “Recent Client List” online). She has achieved a measure of public recognition: her loobylu Weblog has won awards and been favourably commented upon in the Australian press (see Robertson “Press for loobylu” online). In 2005, an article in The Age placed Robertson in the context of a contemporary “craft revolution”, reporting her view that this “revolution” is in “reaction to mass consumerism” (Atkinson online). The hand-made craft objects featured in Robertson’s Weblogs certainly do suggest engagement with labour-intensive pursuits and the construction of unique objects that reject processes of mass production and consumption. In this context, loobylu is a vehicle for the display and promotion of Robertson’s work as an illustrator and as a craft practitioner. While skills-based, it also, however, promotes a family-centred lifestyle; it advocates the construction by hand of objects designed to enhance the appearance of the family home and the comfort of its inhabitants. Its specific subject matter extends to related aspects of home and family as, in addition to instructions, ideas and patterns for craft, the Weblog features information on commercially available products for home and family, recipes, child rearing advice and links to 27 other craft and other sites (including Nigella Lawson’s, discussed below). The primary member of its target community is clearly the traditional homemaker – the mother – as well as those who may aspire to this role. Robertson does not have the “celebrity” status of Lawson and Jamie Oliver (discussed below), nor has she achieved their market saturation. Indeed, Robertson’s online presence suggests a modest level of engagement that is placed firmly behind other commitments: in February 2007, she announced an indefinite suspension of her blog postings so that she could spend more time with her family (Robertson loobylu 17 February 2007). Yet, like Lawson and Oliver, Robertson has exploited forms of domestic competence traditionally associated with women and the home, and the non-traditional medium of the Internet has been central to her endeavours. The content of the loobylu blog is, unsurprisingly, embedded in, or an accessory to, a unifying running commentary on Robertson’s domestic life as a parent. Miles, who has described Weblogs as “distributed documentaries of the everyday” (66) sums this up neatly: “the weblogs’ governing discursive quality is the manner in which it is embodied within the life world of its author” (67). Landmark family events are narrated on loobylu and some attract deluges of responses: the 19 June 2006 posting announcing the birth of Robertson’s daughter Lily, for example, drew 478 responses; five days later, one describing the difficult circumstances of her birth drew 232 comments. All of these comments are pithy, with many being simple empathetic expressions or brief autobiographically based commentaries on these events. Robertson’s news of her temporary retirement from her blog elicited 176 comments that both supported her decision and also expressed a sense of loss. Frequent exclamation marks attest visually to the emotional intensity of the responses. By narrating aspects of major life events to which the target audience can relate, the postings represent a form of affective mass production and consumption: they are triggers for a collective outpouring of largely homogeneous emotional reaction (joy, in the case of Lily’s birth). As collections of texts, they can be read as auto/biographic records, arranged thematically, that operate at both the individual and the community levels. Readers of the family narratives and the affirming responses to them engage in a form of mass affirmation and consumerism of domestic experience that is easy, immediate, attractive and free of charge. These personal discourses blend fluidly with those of a commercial nature. Some three weeks after loobylu announced the birth of her daughter, Robertson shared on her Weblog news of her mastitis, Lily’s first smile and the family’s favourite television programs at the time, information that many of us would consider to be quite private details of family life. Three days later, she posted a photograph of a sleeping baby with a caption that skilfully (and negatively) links it to her daughter: “Firstly – I should mention that this is not a photo of Lily”. The accompanying text points out that it is a photo of a baby with the “Zaky Infant Sleeping Pillow” and provides a link to the online pregnancystore.com, from which it can be purchased. A quotation from the manufacturer describing the merits of the pillow follows. Robertson then makes a light-hearted comment on her experiences of baby-induced sleep-deprivation, and the possible consequences of possessing the pillow. Comments from readers also similarly alternate between the personal (sharing of experiences) to the commercial (comments on the product itself). One offshoot of loobylu suggests that the original community grew to an extent that it could support specialised groups within its boundaries. A Month of Softies began in November 2004, describing itself as “a group craft project which takes place every month” and an activity that “might give you a sense of community and kinship with other similar minded crafty types across the Internet and around the world” (Robertson A Month of Softies online). Robertson gave each month a particular theme, and readers were invited to upload a photograph of a craft object they had made that fitted the theme, with a caption. These were then included in the site’s gallery, in the order in which they were received. Added to the majority of captions was also a link to the site (often a business) of the creator of the object; another linking of the personal and the commercial in the home-based “cottage industry” sense. From July 2005, A Month of Softies operated through a Flickr site. Participants continued to submit photos of their craft objects (with captions), but also had access to a group photograph pool and public discussion board. This extension simulates (albeit in an entirely visual way) the often home-based physical meetings of craft enthusiasts that in contemporary Australia take the form of knitting, quilting, weaving or other groups. Chatting with, and about, Celebrity Chefs The previous studies have shown how the Internet has broken down many barriers between what could be understood as the separate spheres of emotional (that is, home-based private) and commercial (public) life. The online environment similarly enables the formation and development of fan communities by facilitating communication between those fans and, sometimes, between fans and the objects of their admiration. The term “fan” is used here in the broadest sense, referring to “a person with enduring involvement with some subject or object, often a celebrity, a sport, TV show, etc.” (Thorne and Bruner 52) rather than focusing on the more obsessive and, indeed, more “fanatical” aspects of such involvement, behaviour which is, increasingly understood as a subculture of more variously constituted fandoms (Jenson 9-29). Our specific interest in fandom in relation to this discussion is how, while marketers and consumer behaviourists study online fan communities for clues on how to more successfully market consumer goods and services to these groups (see, for example, Kozinets, “I Want to Believe” 470-5; “Utopian Enterprise” 67-88; Algesheimer et al. 19-34), fans regularly subvert the efforts of those urging consumer consumption to utilise even the most profit-driven Websites for non-commercial home-based and personal activities. While it is obvious that celebrities use the media to promote themselves, a number of contemporary celebrity chefs employ the media to construct and market widely recognisable personas based on their own, often domestically based, life stories. As examples, Jamie Oliver and Nigella Lawson’s printed books and mass periodical articles, television series and other performances across a range of media continuously draw on, elaborate upon, and ultimately construct their own lives as the major theme of these works. In this, these – as many other – celebrity chefs draw upon this revelation of their private lives to lend authenticity to their cooking, to the point where their work (whether cookbook, television show, advertisement or live chat room session with their fans) could be described as “memoir-illustrated-with-recipes” (Brien and Williamson). This generic tendency influences these celebrities’ communities, to the point where a number of Websites devoted to marketing celebrity chefs as product brands also enable their fans to share their own life stories with large readerships. Oliver and Lawson’s official Websites confirm the privileging of autobiographical and biographical information, but vary in tone and approach. Each is, for instance, deliberately gendered (see Hollows’ articles for a rich exploration of gender, Oliver and Lawson). Oliver’s hip, boyish, friendly, almost frantic site includes the what are purported-to-be self-revelatory “Diary” and “About me” sections, a selection of captioned photographs of the chef, his family, friends, co-workers and sponsors, and his Weblog as well as footage streamed “live from Jamie’s phone”. This self-revelation – which includes significant details about Oliver’s childhood and his domestic life with his “lovely girls, Jools [wife Juliette Norton], Poppy and Daisy” – completely blurs the line between private life and the “Jamie Oliver” brand. While such revelation has been normalised in contemporary culture, this practice stands in great contrast to that of renowned chefs and food writers such as Elizabeth David, Julia Child, James Beard and Margaret Fulton, whose work across various media has largely concentrated on food, cooking and writing about cooking. The difference here is because Oliver’s (supposedly private) life is the brand, used to sell “Jamie Oliver restaurant owner and chef”, “Jamie Oliver cookbook author and TV star”, “Jamie Oliver advertising spokesperson for Sainsbury’s supermarket” (from which he earns an estimated £1.2 million annually) (Meller online) and “Jamie Oliver social activist” (made MBE in 2003 after his first Fifteen restaurant initiative, Oliver was named “Most inspiring political figure” in the 2006 Channel 4 Political Awards for his intervention into the provision of nutritious British school lunches) (see biographies by Hildred and Ewbank, and Smith). Lawson’s site has a more refined, feminine appearance and layout and is more mature in presentation and tone, featuring updates on her (private and public) “News” and forthcoming public appearances, a glamorous selection of photographs of herself from the past 20 years, and a series of print and audio interviews. Although Lawson’s children have featured in some of her television programs and her personal misfortunes are well known and regularly commented upon by both herself and journalists (her mother, sister and husband died of cancer) discussions of these tragedies, and other widely known aspects of her private life such as her second marriage to advertising mogul Charles Saatchi, is not as overt as on Oliver’s site, and the user must delve to find it. The use of Lawson’s personal memoir, as sales tool, is thus both present and controlled. This is in keeping with Lawson’s professional experience prior to becoming the “domestic goddess” (Lawson 2000) as an Oxford graduated journalist on the Spectator and deputy literary editor of the Sunday Times. Both Lawson’s and Oliver’s Websites offer readers various ways to interact with them “personally”. Visitors to Oliver’s site can ask him questions and can access a frequently asked question area, while Lawson holds (once monthly, now irregularly) a question and answer forum. In contrast to this information about, and access to, Oliver and Lawson’s lives, neither of their Websites includes many recipes or other food and cooking focussed information – although there is detailed information profiling their significant number of bestselling cookbooks (Oliver has published 8 cookbooks since 1998, Lawson 5 since 1999), DVDs and videos of their television series and one-off programs, and their name branded product lines of domestic kitchenware (Oliver and Lawson) and foodstuffs (Oliver). Instruction on how to purchase these items is also featured. Both these sites, like Robertson’s, provide various online discussion fora, allowing members to comment upon these chefs’ lives and work, and also to connect with each other through posted texts and images. Oliver’s discussion forum section notes “this is the place for you all to chat to each other, exchange recipe ideas and maybe even help each other out with any problems you might have in the kitchen area”. Lawson’s front page listing states: “You will also find a moderated discussion forum, called Your Page, where our registered members can swap ideas and interact with each other”. The community participants around these celebrity chefs can be, as is the case with loobylu, divided into two groups. The first is “foodie (in Robertson’s case, craft) fans” who appear to largely engage with these Websites to gain, and to share, food, cooking and craft-related information. Such fans on Oliver and Lawson’s discussion lists most frequently discuss these chefs’ television programs and books and the recipes presented therein. They test recipes at home and discuss the results achieved, any problems encountered and possible changes. They also post queries and share information about other recipes, ingredients, utensils, techniques, menus and a wide range of food and cookery-related matters. The second group consists of “celebrity fans” who are attracted to the chefs (as to Robertson as craft maker) as personalities. These fans seek and share biographical information about Oliver and Lawson, their activities and their families. These two areas of fan interest (food/cooking/craft and the personal) are not necessarily or always separated, and individuals can be active members of both types of fandoms. Less foodie-orientated users, however (like users of Dogtalk and loobylu), also frequently post their own auto/biographical narratives to these lists. These narratives, albeit often fragmented, may begin with recipes and cooking queries or issues, but veer off into personal stories that possess only minimal or no relationship to culinary matters. These members also return to the boards to discuss their own revealed life stories with others who have commented on these narratives. Although research into this aspect is in its early stages, it appears that the amount of public personal revelation either encouraged, or allowed, is in direct proportion to the “open” friendliness of these sites. More thus are located in Oliver’s and less in Lawson’s, and – as a kind of “control” in this case study, but not otherwise discussed – none in that of Australian chef Neil Perry, whose coolly sophisticated Website perfectly complements Perry’s professional persona as the epitome of the refined, sophisticated and, importantly in this case, unapproachable, high-end restaurant chef. Moreover, non-cuisine related postings are made despite clear directions to the contrary – Lawson’s site stating: “We ask that postings are restricted to topics relating to food, cooking, the kitchen and, of course, Nigella!” and Oliver making the plea, noted above, for participants to keep their discussions “in the kitchen area”. Of course, all such contemporary celebrity chefs are supported by teams of media specialists who selectively construct the lives that these celebrities share with the public and the postings about others’ lives that are allowed to remain on their discussion lists. The intersection of the findings reported above with the earlier case studies suggests, however, that even these most commercially-oriented sites can provide a fruitful data regarding their function as home-like spaces where domestic practices and processes can be refined, and emotional relationships formed and fostered. In Summary As convergence results in what Turow and Kavanaugh call “the wired homestead”, our case studies show that physically home-based domestic interests and practices – what could be called “home truths” – are also contributing to a refiguration of the private/public interplay of domestic activities through online dialogue. In the case of Dogtalk, domestic space is reconstituted through virtual spaces to include new definitions of family and memory. In the case of loobylu, the virtual interaction facilitates a development of craft-based domestic practices within the physical space of the home, thus transforming domestic routines. Jamie Oliver’s and Nigella Lawson’s sites facilitate development of both skills and gendered identities by means of a bi-directional nexus between domestic practices, sites of home labour/identity production and public media spaces. As participants modify and redefine these online communities to best suit their own needs and desires, even if this is contrary to the stated purposes for which the community was instituted, online communities can be seen to be domesticated, but, equally, these modifications demonstrate that the activities and relationships that have traditionally defined the home are not limited to the physical space of the house. While virtual communities are “passage points for collections of common beliefs and practices that united people who were physically separated” (Stone qtd in Jones 19), these interactions can lead to shared beliefs, for example, through advice about pet-keeping, craft and cooking, that can significantly modify practices and routines in the physical home. Acknowledgments An earlier version of this paper was presented at the Association of Internet Researchers’ International Conference, Brisbane, 27-30 September 2006. 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The Wired Homestead: An MIT Press Sourcebook on the Internet and the Family. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2003. Citation reference for this article MLA Style Brien, Donna Lee, Leonie Rutherford, and Rosemary Williamson. "Hearth and Hotmail: The Domestic Sphere as Commodity and Community in Cyberspace." M/C Journal 10.4 (2007). echo date('d M. Y'); ?> <http://journal.media-culture.org.au/0708/10-brien.php>. APA Style Brien, D., L. Rutherford, and R. Williamson. (Aug. 2007) "Hearth and Hotmail: The Domestic Sphere as Commodity and Community in Cyberspace," M/C Journal, 10(4). Retrieved echo date('d M. Y'); ?> from <http://journal.media-culture.org.au/0708/10-brien.php>.