The Community’s Participation in the Development of the Traditional Cloth Weaving Wisdom for Communal Innovation according to the Creative Economy: A Case Study of the Bru Community of Ban Talong, Tambon Huaypai of Khong Chiam, Ubon Ratchathani Province

Abstract

The research aimed to study the community’s participation in developing traditional cloth-weaving wisdom of Ban Talong’s Bru people of Tambon Huaypai in Khong Chiam district, Ubon Ratchathani and explore the guidelines for the development of the cloth-weaving innovation of the people under study. The work was qualitative research and employed the concepts derived from creative economy. The research instruments included an in-depth interview and a participatory and non-participatory interview record. Twenty target groups used in the research were the folk scholars, the community leaders and the traditional cloth weaving group. The research findings were as follows. Concerning the community’s participation in developing the traditional cloth-weaving wisdom of the Bru group of Ban Talong, it was found that the participation process could be categorized into five steps: 1) surveying the cloth-weaving traditions, 2) organizing the public forum to obtain relevant ideas, 3) training on the weaving and sewing skills for the locals, 4) the community’s participation in producing an innovation related to the Bru group’s cloth weaving knowledge, and 5) the forum to return local knowledge to the community. As regards the guidelines for the development of the innovation related to the traditional cloth weaving of the Bru residents of Ban Talong, the guidelines were divided into three ways: 1) providing more equipment and tools to increase the production potential and quality products, 2) training on the industrial sewing machine skills, and on producing and processing the traditional cloths into a variety of products under the guidelines of the creative economy and 3) making the model products from the traditional woven cloths to maintain the identity of the Bru people. The products were divided into two types. One was the hat products which were tulip-shaped and flower-shaped. The other was the bag products, which had circular, elongated and square shapes.