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Re-Worn: Getting a New life
A weaver sits on his loom patiently weaving ‘Khesh’ – a weaving technique that uses new yarn in the warp and strips slashed off old sarees in the weft. The weaver chooses these strips randomly off a pile sitting next to him; the result is a stunning piece of fabric where the colors of the…
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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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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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Reviving the Lost and Forgotten
When the history of India’s crafts and textiles is written, it will speak of treasures that once occupied a pride of place in the lives of royalty. These are today lost in the annals of time, fighting to survive the dynamics of the contemporary marketplace. However, there is a breed of revivalists and designers who…
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Event Focus: Devi Art Foundation Presents ‘Fracture – Indian Textiles, New Conversations’
Fracture is not a break. It is a continuation and a cycle, of tradition, which itself is ongoing and ever evolving. Drawing from India’s rich handloom and textile tradition, the Devi Art Foundation spearheaded by Lekha and Anupam Poddar, alongwith three co-curators – textile curator Mayank Mansingh Kaul, designer Sanjay Garg and textile author and…
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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…
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The Vankars of Bhujodi
The festive vibrance of embroidered textiles is the natural show stealer within Kutch textiles, but the subtler, elegant outcome from the rhythmic clacking of Bhujodi’s Vankar family of weavers is not far behind in appeal. The Vankars or weavers of Kutch weave colorful threads on the loom, with the yarn coming from Bhujodi, Ludhiana, Rajasthan…
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Mashru Project by Raw Mango: Celebrating A Lost Legacy
The word ‘mashru’ comes from the Arabic word ‘shari’a’ that means ‘permitted by Islamic law’, an allusion to the prohibition of wearing pure silk fabrics by Muslim men, citing laws in the Quran that restrains luxury in their lifestyle. Mashru is a mixed fabric composed of a smooth silk surface and soft cotton backing, thus making…
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Silken Threads: Romancing the Lustrous Kanjeevaram Saree
Distinguished by its wide contrast borders and rich motifs, a traditional Kanchipuram (or Kanjeevaram) saree is a sight to behold. Deriving its name from the town of its birth, a Kanchipuram weave has long been a treasure of the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Located about 72km from Chennai, Kanchipuram gained eminence during the…
Storytellers of Wonder 