November 20, 2021
This panel features three WARP Members who give textile-focused tours. Each has designed adventures to broaden the perspectives of textile lovers while simultaneously helping to promote and sustain traditional craftspeople and their skills.
Shila Desai is founder and owner of Canadian-based E.Y.H.O. Tours which specializes in textile travels to the world’s traditional societies, in particular to her ancestral Gujarat-Kutch in India. Through her tours, Shila connects creators from traditional societies to appreciators from the industrialized world.
Marilyn Murphy serves as board president of the nonprofit Andean Textile Arts whose mission is to support the peoples of the Andes in their efforts to preserve and revitalize their textile traditions. ATA hosts ongoing online Andean textile talks, book club, and a new educational program for guilds; plus tours to Peru and Bolivia.
Wendy Garrity of Textile Trails has pursued her interest in women’s empowerment, grassroots development, microfinance and traditional textiles, spending time volunteering in India, Nepal & Laos, and travelling extensively through Asia and South America to document their textiles.