LOCATIONS OF INTEREST

If we want an idea of what kind of area we can look at..in terms of picking a region to implement our chair strategy. This region of Madagascar focuses on the production of rice and abundance of rice fields. The cultural/arts aspect also focus on weaving (silk weaving) but there are factories which produce lamba's [(Factory manufacture has by and large supplanted the local weaving of lamba)which are those rectangle shawls the women use to rap around their shoulders]. "Traditional lambas were commonly made of raffia or silk. Cotton, rayon and other fabric blends became more common as foreign trade increased over time. Today it is common to find lambas produced in India for the Malagasy market in addition to those fabricated locally." - so we can tie this in to the USEFULNESS OF THE CUSHION!!!!

http://www.culturalsurvival.org/publications/cultural-survival-quarterly/madagascar/solidarity-strong-silk
The above link is where i stumbled upon the information for this region

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betsileo_people
just and overview of the region's people

A Betsileo is simultaneously a member of several descent groups. One is the local descent group, with whom a man resides and cultivates his main rice field, usually from his father's or father's father's estate, although fields may also be inherited through the mother. 

Read more: http://www.everyculture.com/Africa-Middle-East/Betsileo-Kinship.html#ixzz11BjDyxy6


Arts. The major traditional Betsileo art was the weaving of raw silk coverings called Jamba; these served as colorful mantles for the living and funerary shrouds for the dead. Through the early twentieth century, there was an active husbandry of silkworms in southern Betsileo country. In Tsienimparihy, one of the Arindrano statelets, the ruler collected silk as tribute and oversaw the manufacture and distribution of lamba landy, the most magnificent shrouds, due individuals of high status on burial. Factory manufacture has by and large supplanted the local weaving of lamba.

Read more: http://www.everyculture.com/Africa-Middle-East/Betsileo-Religion-and-Expressive-Culture.html#ixzz11BjaeoXD


C.