Empowering Women: Ock Pop Tok – Social Enterprise, Cultural Tourism and Textile Design in Laos

Ock Pop Tok was co-founded by Joanna Smith, an English photographer and Veomanee Douangdala, a Lao weaver, in 2000 in Luang Probang, Laos. Originally conceived as a textile design initiative rooted in the concept of bringing people together through textiles, it has grown in 10 years into a “social enterprise” that provides employment for over 200 Lao women, of 18 different ethnicities in over 10 provinces. Ock Pop Tok’s dual mission of advancing the artistic, cultural and social development of Lao artisans and their textile traditions while adhering to the principles of fair trade and increasing the understanding and appreciation of Lao’s diverse textiles and their communities through educational activities is achieved through a handful of projects that will be discussed by Smith.

Sponsors: Art History Department, Douglass Residential College, Institute for Women and Art, Institute for Women’s Leadership, Undergraduate Education, and Women’s and Gender Studies Department