Armenian church of Holy Cross on Agtamar island. The church is under UNESCO protection since 2007.
Armenian church of Holy Cross on Agtamar island. The church is under UNESCO protection since 2007.
Muslim woman are posing in fornt of the altar.
Text by Jenny Gustafsson and Photos by Karim Mostafa
At first glance, South Rupshi looks like any other village in the Bangladeshi countryside. Tea stalls line the roads, kids play in the mid-day heat. Rickshaw-drivers pedal their decorated bikes. But something sets it out from other villages. Everywhere, bundles of yarn are left to dry in the sun. People on their porches spin threads onto spindles, scarves flow in the wind. South Rupshi is the ancestral home of a proud tradition in Bangladesh: the age-old jamdani weaving.
These days the village weavers are busy. The demand for saris is growing, the handmade fabrics are sold to customers all over Bangladesh and India, and exported abroad. Last year, UNESCO declared jamdani an intangible cultural heritage, stating its importance in Bangladesh as “a symbol of identity, dignity and self-recognition”. But things used to be different. Only a few decades ago, traditional weaving was a forgotten heritage.
Until sari entrepreneur Monira Emdad came and brought it back to memory. “In the early 80’s when traveling in rural Bangladesh, I came across hand-woven saris, more beautiful than I had seen anywhere else. I started bringing them to Dhaka, selling them from a small tin shed,” she says. Her efforts started a jamdani revival, which has meant the craft is now passed down to the next generation – providing an alternative to a rural workforce which otherwise is pushed into low-paying jobs with unsafe conditions. “This is much better for us. We can stay in the village and work nearby our families. And it’s not dangerous, we only use our brains here,” says weaver Mohammad Azim.
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Nepali soldiers and civilians try to pull down a dangerous section of severely damaged wall that is in danger of collapsing in Bhaktapur, Nepal on April 30, 2015. On April 25, 2015, Nepal suffered a magnitude 7.8 earthquake killing over 5,000 people and injuring thousands more.
The earthquake, measuring 7.8 Richter, that hit Nepal on Saturday, April 25th, left behind death and destruction. The capital Katmandu was heavily damaged, leaving temples, stores and buildings reduced to rubble.
Earthquake survivors pass by collapsed buildings in Kathmandu.
Three earthquake survivors (a women, man and child) sit amidst the rubble.
Neighborhood residents sleep, wash, and cook behind the buddhist Stupa.
Every square, yard and open space in Kathmandu is now a camp for survivors who lost their homes in the earthquake.
A man walks through Gangalal Marg, a busy path that connects the tourist area of Thamel with Basantapur and Durbar Square.
Rubble and garbage from the earthquake litter the streets of Kathmandu.
Rubble from Durbar Square's temples.
Policemen remove dangerous pieces of the Maju Dega Temple's ruins.
Locals help salvage goods from a building deemed unsafe after an electrical fire. Power infrastructure was significantly damaged by the earthquake and locals now struggle to find electricity.
The rubble of Durbar Square's temples.
Locals walk through Kathmandu's ruins.
Locals collect souvenir bricks from Darahara tower's pieces.
Locals walk through Kathmandu's ruins.
The remains of the UNESCO-listed Dharahara Tower in Kathmandu.
It is unclear how many people were killed in the tower, one of the city's premier attractions for both locals and tourists.
The remains of the UNESCO-listed Dharahara Tower in Kathmandu.
It is unclear how many people were killed in the tower, one of the city's premier attractions for both locals and tourists.
Every square, yard and open space in Kathmandu is now a camp for survivors who lost their homes in the earthquake.
Rubble and debris on street corner is Kathmandu.
Trucks collect debris and rubble from Durbar Square's temples. Many of the most important buildings and temples in Kathmandu were destroyed by the earthquake.
The entrance of Kakeshwar temple in Durbar Square ruined by the earthquake.
An old woman watches the Taleju Temple in Durbar Square, one of the few temples that did not collapsed during the earthquake.
A relief tent in Indra Chowk.
Every square, yard and open space in Kathmandu is now a camp for survivors who lost their homes in the earthquake.
A man in a street in Kathmandu.
Every square, yard and open space in Kathmandu is now a camp for survivors who lost their homes in the earthquake.
A woman stands behind a ruined building in Thamel, where shops, hotels and temples collapsed during the earthquake.
The remains of a shop in the tourist district of Thamel.
This picture shows the ground floor of a 6 floor building that is leaning on the neighboring building and could collapse at anytime.
The entire area is not safe, with many damaged and unstable buildings.
The building housing the tourist shop in Thamel leans on the neighboring building and could collapse at anytime.
The entire area is not safe, with many damaged and unstable buildings.
The remains of a collapsed house in Kathmandu's Chhetrapati Chowk.
This building was severely damaged after the 1934 earthquake.
Luckily, the family that was living there during the 2015 earthquake evacuated as soon as the first tremor came and nobody was injured.
Ayunda, a local Indonesian, wearing batik in rural Java.
Ayunda, a local Indonesian, wearing batik in rural Java.
Ayunda, a local Indonesian, wearing batik in rural Java.
Ayunda, a local Indonesian, wearing batik in rural Java.
Ayunda, a local Indonesian, wearing batik in rural Java.
Ayunda, a local Indonesian, wearing batik in rural Java.
Ayunda, a local Indonesian, wearing batik in rural Java.
Ayunda, a local Indonesian, wearing batik in rural Java.
Indonesian girl wearing batik in rural Yogyakarta.
Making traditional batik in Yogyakarta's Special Region, Indonesia.