'Zavamaniry': Things that Grow

Tanana Madagascar artisans draw inspiration from the natural world to design a new original series of wild silk and raffia tapestries for Proud Mary.

'The Art of Craft', an exhibition opening July 23, 2026 in Charleston, South Carolina at the Allegory Art Collective, will bring together original works commissioned from artisans across Mexico, India, Namibia and Madagascar. "Mediums include backstrap weaving, hand embroidery, wild silk tapestry, and painted works on paper. Each made within a living craft tradition. Each the product of a deliberate artistic vision. The work doesn’t blur the boundary between craft and fine art so much as reveal that it was never there," say Allegory Art Collective and Proud Mary. Pictured: 'Folera Mena', an original wild silk tapestry by Tanana Madagascar artisans, is among the selected works that will be exhibited this July through September.

The many inseparables

In northeastern Madagascar, the town of Maroantsetra lies at the mouth of the Antainambalana River where a maze of freshwater veins and tidal wetlands unite in a salty bay. This gateway to Madagascar's largest remaining contiguous rainforest was first settled by the Betsimisaraka people, whose name means, "the many inseparables." When the red sun sets, children play by the light of cooking fires, frogs sing, and wild silk moths emerge from shimmering cocoons. The remarkable endemic flora and fauna of this place, and its cultural identity, are captured in cloth in a striking new original series of Tanana Madagascar tapestries commissioned by Proud Mary.

Pictured: Detail of an abstract mosaic crafted by Tanana Madagascar artisans from tablet-woven raffia palm fibers, relief-dyed ethical mulberry silk, and sewn Certified Wildlife Friendly wild silk cocoons of the ghostly silk moth, Ceranchia apollina. In the humid rainforest of northeastern Madagascar, nocturnal life abounds. The moon guides moths on secret pheromone trails, leaf-tailed geckos hunt, and nocturnal lemurs forage in the canopy. Most plants and animals found here evolved in isolation and exist nowhere else are earth. Like the Betsimisaraka people, these species exist as 'many inseparables.' (Photo: Rachel Kramer/CPALI)

Beyond craft

If you've read Proud Mary's Substack on how this collaboration came to be, or have had a first look at Tanana Madagascar's new collection of five original wild silk and raffia tapestries, you'll know they're something special. "Their vibrant colors, abstract imagery, radiant silk, and sense of movement immediately captivate," says Rachel Kramer, Executive Director of Conservation through Poverty Alleviation International (CPALI), the non-profit that first explored wild silk-producing species in northeastern Madagascar together with Malagasy entomologists and local farmers.

For this original series of five Tanana Madagascar tapestries, Proud Mary offered a subtle brief. The creative process was left to the artisans, themselves. Small glimpses were shared over time on Instagram and Substack. The final series takes your breath away.

Behind each tapestry lies an unseen process of design, creation, and natural muses. Inspiration for many of the tapestries was drawn from the garden in the courtyard of the artisans workshop. In this tranquil space, dappled sunlight illuminates tropical leaves, natural dye plants like 'folera mena,' a red-flowering plant in the hibiscus family, grow tall, and caterpillars feed. The images that follow capture moments from how these original works came to be.

Pictured: Freshly dyed cocoons of the mulberry silk moth, Bombyx mori, sourced from farmers on Madagascar's central plateau. To uphold Tanana Madagascar's commitment to ethical silk, the chrysalises are carefully removed by the artisan team so that the silkworms can complete their lives as moths. This ethical approach is labor intensive, and diverges from most mainstream silk production methods. Dyed, naturally white mulberry silk is used for vibrant accents, like the iconic red flower, in select tapestries commissioned by Proud Mary. This red dye is sourced from W. Cushing & Co. of Maine and transported to Madagascar. It sets with vinegar and salt. (Photo: Rachel Kramer/CPALI)

Pictured: The cocoon silk of Madagascar's endemic ghostly silk moth, Ceranchia apollina, is naturally golden and lustrous. The inner and outer layers of these large wild silk cocoons have distinct textures. The outer cocoon (pictured) is web-like and open. The inner cocoon is tightly-bound yet porous. Both shimmer in the sunlight. To preserve their natural structure, the threads are not boiled and spun like conventional silk. Instead, these wild silk cocoons are washed, separated, and ironed flat. Golden strips of Ceranchia outer cocoon silk are pictured on freshly dyed raffia palm strands for tablet-woven accents in the Proud Mary-commissioned tapestry series. (Photo: Rachel Kramer/CPALI)

Pictured: Tanana Madagascar artisans like Sabine, who co-created one piece in the new collection for Proud Mary, have learned disappearing traditional Betsimisaraka loom-weaving technique from grandmothers in rainforest-bordering villages. Through their craft, they help keep traditional raffia weaving knowledge in the world. (Photo: Rachel Kramer/CPALI)

Pictured: Fabiola, a talented Tanana Madagascar artisan, tablet-weaves raffia fibers on a backstrap loom. This ancient, portable band-weaving method, was taught to the Tanana Madagascar artisan team by an American textile artist and trainer a decade ago. Traditional Betsimisaraka raffia is perfectly suited for this weaving technique, and inventing new patterns has become a specialty of the team. Tablet-woven bands are integrated into several of the tapestries designed for the Proud Mary collection. (Photo: Rachel Kramer/CPALI)

Pictured: Delphine, a talented artisan who co-designed one of the new Tanana Madagascar tapestries for Proud Mary, prepares flora-inspired tiles. A young mother from a Betsimisaraka village to the east of Maroantsetra, Delphine's medium of choice is sewn cocoon silk. (Photo: Rachel Kramer/CPALI)

Pictured: Zoelah, a Tanana Madagascar artisan and mentor of village-based trainees, applied her artistic vision to co-create the original 'Folera Mena' tapestry for Proud Mary. Here, she puts finishing touches on abstract silk elements using a sewing machine. When there is no power, her machine runs on solar panels. The courtyard garden that inspired the florals in this design lies just beyond her. (Photo: Rachel Kramer/CPALI)

Pictured: Detail from a new original tapestry for Proud Mary handcrafted by Sabine and the Tanana Madagascar artisan team from wild cocoon silk with tablet-woven and twisted raffia accents on a foundation of loom-woven raffia palm fibers. (Photo: Rachel Kramer/CPALI)

Pictured: Tanana Madagascar textiles are crafted at the intersection of science an art. The unique wild cocoon silks used in the Proud Mary collection were designed over a two-decade process of exploration between American evolutionary biologist Catherine Craig and Malagasy entomologist, Mamy Ratsimbazafy. Today, the Tanana Madagascar shared social enterprise is overseen by American conservationist Rachel Kramer and Malagasy artist, Lalaina Raharindimby. Together, their non-profits CPALI and SEPALI Madagascar support a full-time team of 21 artisans and technicians, build skillsets with over 90 vilage-based artisans, and source regenerative silk and raffia from a network of hundreds of trained farmers. The collaboration uplifts local economic lives, restores native species in deforested areas, and brings beauty into a complex world. (Photo: Matthew Scott Photography)

Tanana Madagascar tapestries in this collection will be exhibited July 24 through September 4, 2026 at the Allegory Art Collective in Charleston, North Carolina. Limited edition prints will also be available from Proud Mary. Learn more at ProudMary.co and TananaSilk.com.

Donate

Support initiatives like this one by making a generous gift today.