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Uzbekistan : A Thriving Culture
Uzbekistan is one of the oldest civilized regions of the world. First settled by Iranian nomads, Uzbekistan has been in turns ruled by the Greeks, Turks and Arabs, the much feared Genghis Khan and Taimur; the ancestor of Mughals. By the time Uzbek tribes became powerful in the 15th century, Uzbekistan had already cemented its…
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An Uncommon Journey
Design in India permeates everything we do. Its in our clothes, our buildings, our temples, even in the pots and pans we use in the kitchen. In this plentiful land of many seasons and myriad languages, of ancient civilizations and constant influx of new peoples; every material possession has become a canvas for expression. It…
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Sacred Art – From Temples to Homes
India has a long and storied tradition of art, tracing its origin back to pre-historic settlements in the third millennium. Nearly every civilization that has since occupied the sub-continent for any span of time has left an indelible mark on its culture and artistic consciousness. So has every major religion that rose from its soil…
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Koraput – Reviving Odisha’s Timeless Craft
Koraput – rough, coarse to the touch, yet soft on the skin and completely organic. Like a wildflower’s unrefined beauty, Koraput’s elegance lies in its unassumingness and simplicity. Woven for centuries in Kotpad – a dusty little town in Odisha, this fabric is entrenched in Kotpad’s regional identity. Traditionally woven by the Mirgan community, Koraput…
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Silken Wildflower by Jaypore
With a wildflower plucked off the roadside, tucked in my hair… Two bare feet up on the dashboard, hands waving through the pleasantly unfamiliar air… Jaypore launches a breezy collection of hand-dyed kaftans, dresses, waistcoats and more in habutai silk, showcasing fun solid-color palettes. This collection also includes hand-block printed stoles in crepe silk and…
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The Untold Tales of Khesh Weaving
The khesh weaving process is simple. The warp is with new yarn and the weft is with strips of thin cloth obtained by tearing old sarees length wise. Because of the tradition of khesh weaving in Birbhum in the last many years, a market for old sarees has come up in Amodpur, where old sarees…
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Reborn: Recycled Designs for a Sustainable Lifestyle
Gudri is a fine layered coverlet which was originally created in Gujarat by putting together patches of fabric, usually old saris that were carefully saved for the purpose. The fabrics are layered and held together by the use of a running stitch, painstakingly done by hand in parallel lines running from end to end. The…
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In Harmony with Nature: Bina Rao Talks Textiles and More
Designer and scholar Bina Rao, of Creative Bee, talks to Jaypore about her organic dye farm, collaborating with her artist-husband Kesav Rao, and starting off in Hyderabad at a time when it sorely lacked facilities for the creative folk… here are snippets from our conversation with her. Creative Bee’s textiles and apparel are produced by…
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A Garage Converted into a Workplace: Inside Dhvani Behl’s Studio
Not having had enough of artist Dhvani Behl‘s illustrations and its adaptations in textiles, garments and art, we even dared to show up at her studio for a peek. (We’d heard it was a garage turned into a printing studio/ workplace, now who can resist that?!) Raw, industrial and bare, yet so romantically detailed, this…
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National Handloom Day, India: Jaypore Speaks with Experts
The Indian government announces 7th August as India’s first ever National Handloom Day, with the unveiling of the brand ‘India Handloom’. “The National Handloom Day and honouring of handloom weavers will not only provide an impetus to the handloom industry of India but would also serve to promote handloom as a genuine international product of…
Storytellers of Wonder 