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Resources > MGC Asian Traditional Textiles Museum, Cambodia

By Jordi Baltà Portolés

30 May 2016

MGC Asian Traditional Textiles Museum, Cambodia

MGC Asian Traditional Textiles Museum - inside MGC Asian Traditional Textiles Museum The MGC Asian Traditional Textiles Museum aims to familiarise the public with a range of textile traditions from India and the Mekong delta. The Museum also represents the civilisational, cultural and commercial linkages among the member countries down the centuries. The Mekong-Ganga Cooperation (MGC) Asian Traditional Textiles Museum was opened in April 2014. The Museum explores raw materials, methods of processing the raw materials, weaving methods, methods of decorating the textiles, variety of textiles etc. from the Mekong-Ganga region. It features all-encompassing processes of making of traditional textile from around the cultures of these two rivers. Cambodia, India, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand and Viet Nam are the countries that have collaborated in the establishment and collections of the MGC Asian Traditional Textiles Museum. The Museum features the strong textile traditions of these countries. The Museum aims to make the viewing and understanding of variegated styles of textiles, their processes and contemporary fashion etc. a joyful and enriching experience.   Permanent collections: The MGC Asian Traditional Textiles Museum features extensive collections related to the textile traditions of countries in the Mekong-Ganga region. Each country has its own varieties of silk cocoon. Cambodia and Vietnam have gold cocoon feeding on the mulberry. India has Tussar, Endi/Eri, Muga varieties. Siem Reap is the gateway town to Angkor Park, where each of the monuments show many narratives from Hindu and Buddhist mythology. The carvings on the walls and the sculptures in the monuments speak volumes about the Angkor traditional textiles. But the drapes, styles etc. of the textiles on these carving and sculptures do not relate to the texture, colors, materials, vibrancy etc. of the textiles.  

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