During my visit to Kutch I had talked about the world of Bandhani and the women who make this intricate art of tie dye come alive. I had the opportunity to meet Naushad Khatri and his family who are involved in all aspects of making Bandhani in Bhuj. As with most other artisan fabrics, the men mainly print and dye the fabric while the women take on the art of tying. Each little dot needs to be of same consistency as the one before, and some Bandhani's are so tiny that a pin point is used to lift the fabric and tie it. Naushad has just had the honor of winning the national award for Bandhani, but the award is rightfully earned by his family members as well, as he will say so himself.
One of the myths that was shattered for me was that Bandhani is dyed with natural colors and no chemicals are used as was done hundreds of years ago. This myth is still all over the internet, but unfortunately it is not true. Today the use of chemicals is highly prevalent and one will not find truly natural Bandhani anymore. One of my goals is to bring back natural dyeing to the world of Bandhani to make it truly eco-friendly and ethical.
Attached is a video of the true art of tying Bandhani. I have also attached the current printing mechanism. Historically the use of block prints was prevalent but in order to increase speed the faster approach of printing was adopted.
No comments:
Post a Comment