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Ikat of Central Asia: The Cloud-Woven Silk of Heritage
Ikat is a weaving technique where threads are resist dyed on either the warp or weft before they are woven to create a pattern. While ikat has been practiced for centuries in many parts of the world, it reached its artistic peak in Central Asia during the nineteenth century.
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A little white… a little color…
On this blazing summer Saturday, as we sink into a couch and into dreamland… on a search for the perfect summer decor palette… we stumble across.. …the Summer of the White linen, of the morning yoga lessons in the cool shade of the neem tree.. and then there is the other Summer, of Colorful sarees,…
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Bandha Re-Interpreted: The Famed Ikat of Odisha
Indian Ikat particularly from Odisha is admired for extraordinary illustration in resist technique. Nuapatna village in the cuttack district of Eastern Odisha is famous for the religious weft ikat textile – Geeta Govinda. It was inscribed with 12th Century poems of Jayadev written in the praise of Lord Krishna. In this village weavers belonging to…
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Resplendent Legacy: The Beloved Patola of Gujarat
“Padi patole bhat faatey pan phite nahin”, “The design laid down in the patola may wear out, but it shall never fade.” True to this ode to its beauty, a Patola is a coveted silken textile that is believed to have been woven since the 4th century AD. According to historians the weaving was certainly…
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Clouds of Color: Imaginative and Vibrant Central Asian Ikat
References to Central Asia conjure up images of flat, rolling sandy deserts and a vast arid landscape. However, upon closer look it throws up colors so vivid that the eyes are mesmerized by their distinctive beauty. The vibrancy of an Uzbeki ikat robe or wall hangings adorning a carved door does justice to their name.…
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Textile Discoveries
Excavations at Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro have unearthed bone needles and wooden spindles, clearly suggesting that homespun cotton was used to make garments. In fact, fragments of woven cotton have also been discovered from these sites. Historically renowned for it’s textiles, India’s woven love story dates back several centuries. The first mention of textiles in India…
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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.…
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For the Love of the Loom: A young textile designer finds her passion in the weaving villages of Odisha
Like most fashion school graduates, Gunjan Jain began working in the apparel export industry based in the urban centres of Delhi and Bangalore. But soon she was disillusioned with the industrial process of making clothes and their resultant commoditisation. Factory and assembly process of creating clothing lacked the collective union she wished to be associated…
Storytellers of Wonder 