Cuban artisans finish apprenticeship on silk work

MATANZAS, Cuba, Mar 11 (ACN) A score of artisans from seven provinces completed their apprenticeship on diversification of products from silkworm breeding, at the Indio Hatuey Experimental Station of Pastures and Forages, in this locality, and a reference of this practice in Cuba.

Exhibitions, conferences, fashion shows and classes on the handling of looms were part, from March 6 to 9, of the training to extend the use of the fiber naturally produced by the bombyx mori worm, an ancient tradition originating in China.

Dayron Martín Prieto, researcher of the sericulture group of the institution, told the press that lessons were given on the production of the thread, the hydrolyzed sericin with applications in the cosmetic branch, and the oil of chrysalides, in addition to the use of natural and chemical dyes.
The also graduate in biochemistry and molecular biology said that an expo-fair of handicraft productions, representative of several visions, demonstrated the diversity of applications of the fiber for the national market as well as for foreign tourism.

We hope that in the near future the material will be of common use, from the breeding of the worm and the cultivation of the mulberry tree from which it feeds, and may even be produced locally in the communities where weaving and other varieties of handicraft work are tradition, he said.
The expert acknowledged that among the issues to be resolved is the priority to achieve self-sufficiency in obtaining the eggs of the bombyx mori, because they still depend on its importation.

Solains Fernández García, entrepreneur in charge of "B Positive" -a Havana-based project that rescues ancient techniques in the elaboration of lace with natural threads, such as silk-, said that it is an advantage to have access to this material of exceptional quality thanks to the alliance with Indio Hatuey.

It was wonderful to exchange with other creators in the country, and to learn more about sericulture and how to obtain raw materials. From a professional point of view, I found it a very gratifying experience that generated new projects," she said.