Parco Naturale del Gran Bosco di Salbertrand

The cycle of hemp from the seed to the single ready-made item

The cycle of hemp from the seed to the single ready-made item, told and illustrated by Oreste Rey with the technical advice for the work at the loom by Mr Bruno Tessa, collaborator of the Ecomuseum of Upper Val Sangone. Christmas 2006.
Hemp is a millenary textile fiber which, together with wool, has dressed whole generations of mountaineers, playing an irreplaceable role within the autarkic economy of the alpine valleys. From its fiber it is possible to obtain fabric for clothes, sheets, countryside lengths of cloth, and ropes. The succession of the operations, from the seeding to the preparation of the thread, was beaten by the rhythm of seasons and involved men and women, old people and children, each with their precise role; only the weaving, requiring a specialized knowledge and a more complex equipment, it was carried out by "professionals" who often handed down their knowledge from generation to generation.

• Series: I Quaderni dell'Ecomuseo Colombano Romean - N° 4
• Author/s: Oreste Rey
• Publisher: Ecomuseo Colombano Romean
• Pages: 100
• Size: 16x23.5cm
• Year: 2006
• Price: 5.00 €