Storytellers of Wonder

Category: Tribes

  • International Rural Women’s Day: 15th October

    International Rural Women’s Day: 15th October

    International days are occasions to educate the public on issues of concern, to mobilize political will and resources to address global problems, and to celebrate and reinforce achievements of humanity. – United Nations To celebrate and reinforce achievements of humanity I start my journeys to the clusters I travel to for my work. Be it a…

  • Odisha Murals: Saura Tribal Art

    Odisha Murals: Saura Tribal Art

    Sauras are among the most ancient tribes of India, finding a mention in the Hindu epics of Ramayana and Mahabharata. Ram’s devotee Savari in Ramayana and Jara, the hunter in Mahabharata who mortally wounded Krishna, are believed to have been members of this tribe. Like other tribes of India, the unique style, diversity and detail…

  • The Geometric Genius of Toda Tribal Embroidery

    This red and black play on cloth is an embroidery so fine that it looks like weaving. Toda embroidery created by the Toda tribe inhabiting the Niligiris, is reversible and they consider the rougher underside of the fabric as the ‘right’ side. The Todas are a small pastoral community who live on the isolated Nilgiri…

  • The Embroidery of Life: Needle Crafts and Colors of Kutch

    Amidst the barren desert landscape of the western border towns of India, smatterings of color are a representation of life, appearing as adornments on the bodies of the beautiful tribes. Embroidery, here, is not a glorious vocation but part of the daily fabric of how a day is spent. It isn’t uncommon to walk among…

  • The Nomad Lyric: Embroidered Textiles from Kashmir’s Gujjar Bakarwal Tribe

    The river Lidder that flows through majestic mountains and meadows near Pahalgam in Kashmir had earlier this year taken on a ferocious form, threatening all life that breeds alongside its banks. But before nature played truant, perhaps in just retaliation against man, a community of nomadic tribesmen began to migrate southwards from their camps at…

  • Bridging the Old and New Worlds: Vintage Textile Collector Mr. A. A. Wazir

    The room is layered with brightly colored phulkaris, rabari embroidered cloths and cowry shell tassels. Among them is seated a man who has spent more than forty years painstakingly building what can easily become a museum collection. At his home in Bhuj in the Kutch region of Gujarat, the septuagenarian Mr. A.A. Wazir has passionately…

  • The Butchered Art of Mirrorwork

    For those familiar with an Indian flea market, the sight of a gypsy woman clad from top to bottom in beefy silver jewelry and a bright, ornate costume is probably not a new one. She may be found hard-selling here wares ranging from heavily embroidered shoulder bags, bedspreads or table runners. There’s truly nothing fascinating…

  • Odisha Renaissance: Reviving Languishing Crafts

    Along with Odisha’s famed ikats, there are many more art forms, designs and weaving techniques yet to be popularized and find a foot hold in the markets outside Odisha. We are already witnessing slow death of many such textiles – dhala pathar, kala pathar, siminoi, habaspuri, kusumi, original cotton Bomkai etc. In the post-liberalisation phase…

  • The Regional Flavours and Global Language of IKAT Weaving

    The word IKAT is derived from the Indonesian word Mengikat, meaning to tie. It is a technique that employs resist dyeing similar to tie and dye on warp and/or weft threads prior to weaving. Alteration to the bindings and dyeing in more than one colour and removal of all bindings produce multicoloured patterns on weaving.…

  • The Bauls of West Bengal

          “Emotions and essence of life has remained the same over the years, so have the stories. The universal message of love in Baul music draws people looking for relief from life’s troubles.” –          Lakhan Das Baul       Dressed in saffron robes, with their hair uncut and coiled, wearing beads made of…