Editorial: A realistic utopia!

Here we are at the end of our fourth summer together… Some of you will have set off with the summer edition of LLC under your arms (or wrapped in your beach towel), ready to enjoy it during the holidays. Just the idea of that fills us with pleasure! For us it is a sign that the dream continues… a tangible proof that the adventure goes on.
This Autumn edition also has a holiday air, thanks to Kim and his visit to the Kogi Indians in Colombia… These are precious moments that we must savour. Occasions for “real” exchanges with people from other cultures are becoming rare and are often under the artificial conditions of “Eco or Ethno tourism”, even if happily, they are sometimes equitable. But these wonderful exchanges don’t always take place at the ends of the earth and we can ask ourselves how it is sometimes easier to raise interest or funds for cultures far away, than it is to save our own cultures. Our cultures are also part of nature, or rural life and the last remaining practitioners also “struggle” to highlight their work and their choice of lifestyle. It is important to keep this in mind and to mobilise as much for one as for the other, otherwise they will both be sacrificed upon the altar of economic development.
This compassion which we feel for the exotic, is possibly due to a sense of guilt which eats at the collective conscience. A sentiment which is the result of the actions of our forebears (colonisers or missionaries), which continues today with the dominant effect of the economic steamroller. This effect is driven by multi-nationals, many of which are more powerful than governments. As they strive to impose their economic model, to create a standardised way of life for the whole of the planet, they become a major danger for cultural diversity. To fight against this there is nothing better than shedding some light on the simple things which are are accessible to us here and elsewhere.
Our central dossier in this edition touches on this theme. The universal know-how, that is sewn spiral weaving, which is practiced around the globe with different results and universal pleasure. We will see through this subject, that inspiration and creativity are great sources of diversity. Our forebears across the globe practised weaving that was above all practical, yet this practicality has not been a barrier to diversity of design, in fact quite the contrary.