Spinning silk is a sign of hope - 18th August 2023

Sitting way up high above the city of Antakya, in Turkey's Hatay province, is the Duman family's silk workshop. The Dumans' decades-old business lies on a former trading point on the silk road, the Eurasian network of paths used to transport goods westwards from China.

Emel Duman has revived the original method of silk production, which is cruelty-free, earning it the title 'peace silk'. In the process, the silk cocoons are only harvested once the silkworms have emerged as moths.

Emel Duman: "When I found out more about how silk is made, I realised that our elders, who sold silk cocoons, kept some and that at the end of the process, these were transformed into butterflies. Our elders, who wasted nothing and respected nature, used these cocoon remains to make clothes and sheets. So I said to myself that I should also produce in this way, without harming the silkworms, by letting them become butterflies."

In the aftermath of the region's colossal earthquake in February, which caused 50,000 fatalities, the Dumans diverted their attention to fellow humans rather than business. With their own home flattened in the quake, they camped in the silk workshop and allowed 100 others, in a similar predicament, to join them.

Although the co-operative had earlier guaranteed employment for 70 individuals, many of them women who were home-based, to date merely seven have resumed work. This left the Duman family hesitant to restart production.

Emel Duman: "After the earthquake, for two months we couldn't think about ourselves at all. All we could think about was how to help others, that we were alive and that it was our duty. After two months, we asked ourselves what we could do here in our production and above all, we received a lot of supportive calls, from people who wanted us to get back on our feet and get back to work and who wanted to place orders with us."

The International Organisation for Migration assisted by directing a cohort of Syrian refugees to the cooperative, kickstarting production. Emel's subsequently filed for a 'protected designation of origin' stamp, to bestow status and enhance value on their precious commodity.

Only a few months ago, this region boasted more than 350,000 workers engaged in textile production for 3,000 separate enterprises.

Now, as the area rebuilds itself from the rubble, hope emerges with this rarified craft.