ကရင်ထည် (Karen Hte)
Karen textile weaving is the back-strap loom tradition of the Karen people (ကရင် Karen) — one of Myanmar's largest ethnic minorities, occupying Karen State, Tanintharyi Region, and the Thai-Myanmar border. The Karen tradition encompasses two main sub-group weaving styles: S'gaw Karen (predominantly white ground with red and black supplementary weft in geometric diamond forms — distinctive tubular dress for unmarried women and split-skirt dress for married women) and Pwo Karen (more elaborate color palette, horizontal stripe combined with supplementary weft). The S'gaw Karen tubular dress (hse) is the most distinctive object — woven as a seamless tube on a circular warp (same principle as Palaung, CRAFT-0443) but with supplementary weft diamond patterns incorporated within the tube weave. The marital status dress code — white tube for unmarried women, split-skirt with red pattern for married women — makes the textile a social document as well as a craft object.
Risk level: Endangered · Myanmar national ICH list
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