Inter-weavings of Practice and Research in the Tšombiach (Woven Sashes) of the Kamëntŝa Biya People

Abstract

This article discusses practices surrounding the tšombiach, a traditional belt or sash woven by the Kamëntŝa people of Colombia. Aspects of the making, thinking, and feeling processes that cohere around tšombiachs are presented through weaving by eight Kamëntŝa women and the authors as a form of design research. The article considers how, through weaving, tšombiachs participate in cross-cutting care practices bound up by wrapping up, that include forms of working collectively, of summoning and sheltering, traveling, telling, and re-creating the territory. These involve caring for what is vital while interweaving practice with research.