The Magic of Silk

The magic of silk reaches back into legend, when a golden cocoon fell out of a mulberry tree and landed in a princess’s hot drink. This happy accident released a fine filament that unraveled to be spun, cleaned, dyed and woven into textiles as fine as the wings of the butterflies in which they originated.

But there is another magic to silk. It is an ideal cottage industry, giving employment in the rural villages and yielding a cash income that helps out when the rice harvest falters.

It is this second magic that drives the activities at the Ministry of Education’s training facility at Poeuk, some 15 km from Siem Reap.

There are plans to set up regular tours for visitors but for now it is necessary to obtain advance permission at the Ministry office in Siem Reap. Permit in hand, it is a pleasant ride into the country on Route 6, through a landscape green with rice plants, studded with palm trees and watered by the canal from the centuries-old Baray reservoir.

Poeuk’s 5.4 hectare site was originally constructed by the United Nations in 1993 to house and train refugees. Now administered by the Cambodian government, the training facility teaches batches of students—many of them handicapped by injuries sustained as a result of civil war—the entire process of silk production. Then they are charged with responsibility for taking their knowledge back to their villages and serving as a resource in rural areas.

Neat rows of mulberries of various species are the pride and joy of Ouk Navuth, who oversees training in the production stages from eggs to spun silk. He speaks with enthusiasm of the various types of mulberries, from China, Thailand and Cambodia, each with its own properties. But for village-based production, he says, the best choice seems to be the hardy native species that can tolerate heat and resist disease while remaining water-thrifty.

Ouk Navuth leads visitors into a cool, damp building whose stilt foundations are protected from marauding insects by reservoirs of water. There, Nim Marin is charged with responsibility for caring for the butterflies, overseeing their egg-laying activities, feeding the hatched caterpillars a diet of choice leaves, then ensuring that the cocoons of golden silk are safely anchored in bunches of twigs.

Hers is a heavy responsibility, but Nim Marin agrees with a shy smile that she has the coolest job at the school, staying comfortable along with her precious charges.

When the cocoons are ready, Nim Marin ships them across the road to the building where students maintain pots of hot water at a careful 70 degrees. A dunk in these pots releases the outer filaments of the cocoon, ready for winding onto a spool. Students dexterously unwind the filament by hand while controlling the turn of the spool with their feet.

A second dunk, this time in 65 degree water, releases the finer inner layer of filament and, incidentally, kills the dormant insect within. Not that they go to waste, as witness the market vendors with large baskets of crunchy roasted silkworm snacks for sale.

Each cocoon releases up to 800 meters of filament. Some Thai-bred species yield up to 1,800 meters, but they are more suitable for factory production than village operations, says Hok Ram, manager of the second part of the production process.

After several processes of refining, twisting and repairing the filament, the silk is "degummed" and dyed, ready for weaving on the traditional looms in yet another building. There students operate the 60 cm-wide hand looms that are used for intricate traditional designs.

And it is in the weaving rooms that students have to pass the scrutiny of Lim Neang, one of the managers of the training facility’s gift shop. Her standards are exacting as she examines the textiles for accuracy, consistency and complexity.

When a student produces a truly outstanding length of woven silk, he or she earns Lim Neang’s ultimate accolade: "You will not find this quality in the market."

If you do not wish to organize your own tour, call Dominique Raymackers at 015 639 832 or 380 065 or e-mail him at lotus@worldmail.com.kh