Wonderful world of Kantha

On my first visit to the eastern state of West Bengal, I had the opportunity to visit an artisan that lived in the small town of Bolpur. Bolpur is popular for its vicinity to Shantiniketan, which is the hometown of Rabindranth Tagore, and Kantha embroidery.

"Kantha" means story telling and is supposed to have originated in Dhaka, Bangladesh when a young woman pining for her love decided to express her story on a piece of cloth. In the villages of Bengal, the women stitch together old clothes and even use the same thread from the clothes to create beautiful blankets and bed sheets. In more modern times, the typical running stitch has been used to create a variety of motifs on silk, wool and even cotton. I had the opportunity to spend a few days with Salma Khatun, who runs a large network of women that create kantha.

Salma is the daughter of national award winner Alima Khatun, who learnt the art from her mother at the age of 7. She now runs an operation of 300 artisan women who provide neat beautiful embroidery. There are usually 10 artisans that come to her house to do the work while the rest of the women are scattered all over the villages in the area. I had the opportunity to go to a couple of villages called Bhatiya and Papuri where almost all the houses had women working on Kantha in midst of very humble surroundings. All the designs and color combinations are still done by Salma herself. She prints the design on the cloth by using silver color and kerosene and then distributes to various artisans based on their skill level. Her charisma, strength and talent has definitely given Kantha some fame locally but she is still not able to market her art outside of India. There is also the issue of more economically advanced villages not willing to propagate this art as much. Amidst all these difficulties, the art of Kantha is still living on with the help of these strong women artisans.

Attached are some pics and video of the trip and of the beautiful, humble world of Kantha.

The making of silk- from sericulture to fabric.

Silk industry in India is second to China and has a lot of interesting aspects. On my visit to Delhi I stopped by to see an organization called Eco Tasar. Eco Tasar is part of a non profit organization called Pradhan and mainly sells hand woven silk fabrics. I met Khitish, who had a wealth of knowledge about India's silk industry.

India is one of the only countries that grows all four types of silk in the area- Mulberry (the most common), Ari (usually has little sheen), Tasar (that grows wild), and Muga (gold like sheen and very rare). Pradhan's charter is to empower village folk in northern and eastern India, mainly Bihar, Chattisgarh, Jharkand, and West Bengal to be self sufficient agricultural entrepreneurs.

The whole process starts with the life of the butterfly that emerges from the cocoon. The life cycle of this butterfly is 72 hours within which is has to lay its eggs. The tribal in the area put the impregnated females in a small covered earthen pot and lets it lay its eggs and die in the pot. The female is then examined for any diseases to ensure the eggs are viable. The eggs are put on a tree in the farm area which is covered with a net for protection. Once the caterpillars emerge, they feed on the trees and after a period of 20-30 days start spinning their own cocoons which are sold in the market. These cocoons are bought by a women's co-operative that spins the yarn. Pradhan has developed these women to spin yarn and earn money during their down time from farming. The women make all the decisions for their organization, from pricing to profit sharing. They also decide their own working hours per their convenience. Once the yarn is spun, Eco Tasar takes over with weaving of the fabric which happens in Bhagalpur, Bihar.

Attached are some pics that were given to me by Eco Tasar showing the work done by Pradhan in empowering villagers through various parts of the process of making silk

Banaras Silk Weaving

Varanasi (Banaras) is known for its exquisite silk sarees and complex woven techniques. This crowded, religious town has faced some tough times keeping this craft alive. There have been stories of suicide, starvation and desperation that was faced by the weavers over the last decade. The rise of power looms and the reduction in demand has caused a variety of economic problems. I had the opportunity to meet a wholesaler, Niyaz, who is trying to keep this art alive by promoting it aggressively domestically and internationally.

Attached is a video of the process of weaving silk. The design is first punched on cardboard as seen in the first part of the video. Each warp/weft intersection is punched to ensure accurate measurement and quick weaving. The second part of the video shows the use of these holed cardboard pieces. The pit handloom (rare and seen only in museums in the western world) picks up the warp threads into the selected holes and creates the design with every movement of the loom. The weft threads are passed through by the weaver prior to movement of the loom as seen in the video. I have also attached some photos of the fabrics and sarees created by these weavers. Most of the complex work is done with silk and gold thread (zari).

After talking to the weavers and Niyaz, I was really sad to hear the various issues that are still faced. The next generation of weavers are unwilling to pick up this art because it is not economically lucrative. The government sees the teaching of children as a violation of child labor and do not encourage them to learn this art. My own opinion is that this is a grey area where children of weaver families should be encouraged to learn the art without risk of abuse. It is like learning painting or sewing which is generally taught at a young age to nurture creative talent. The demand for power loom fabric is growing fast and currently both handloom and powerloom have 50% of the market. In a nutshell, the future of this art is bleak and something drastic needs to be done to ensure it does not die with the current generation of weavers. I am definitely looking to do my part by creating awareness in the Western world. Food for thought for all of you reading this- How do we keep this art alive?

Rogan Art

Rogan art is a rare craft that is not well known even in India. Because of its rare qualities, its practiced by only one family in India and they reside in Nirona village in Gujarat. Most of the other artisans have lost their art as it was not passed on during partition or lost from generation to generation. Rogan art is currently the bread earner for a family of Khatris. Gufurbhai Khatri is the head of this family and he has kept the art alive by ensuring his entire family learns and practices his life's work. He is a National award winner and is currently in the process of opening a school that teaches Rogan art to children from different families. He has not marketed his creativity through any distribution channels so I feel fortunate enough to have met him, just by chance.

Attached is a video of some examples of this art form. The paint that is used is hand pounded castor oil that is dried and turned into paste with different colors added to it. The painting is done with an iron rod and the artist holds the cloth in order to ensure the correct shape and symmetry. Rogan art done on fabric can withstand weather and hand washing. The color is not going to faint as I saw in many examples at the artist's house.

Lifestyle of Hand Embroidery- Part 2- Soof Karigari

Soof embroidery was introduced into Kutch from Pakistan. Pakistan shares a border with Gujarat and there is an influx of people from both sides that has shaped the culture and arts of the land. Soof is practiced by a handful of communities and the art seems to be rare and dying because demand for these products has reduced significantly since the introduction of machine embroidery and printing. However, there is an organization called Kalaraksha that is trying to help artisans sell their art in the form of clothes, stoles or accessories so that the art is not lost as future generations move on to more economically lucrative trades. I was fortunate enough to meet a family of Soof artisans through this organization. The mother daughter team has been practising this art for generations and they are trying to pass on their knowledge to other members of the community.

Soof embroidery is extremely difficult and requires good geometric and artistic talent. The artist starts from the back of the fabric and creates the motif without any prior prints from either their own creative talent or from memory. The motif is created by counting the warps and wefts of the weave. I have attached a video of the daughter, Varsha, creating a small example of symmetric triangles. At the end of the video you will see examples of beautiful work done by her. One expert mentioned to me that Soof is so rare and beautiful that it is worth any price that the artisan asks for. Some of these pieces have taken over 6 months to complete. As always, housework comes first so the artisan practices the art in her free time. Personally, this was my absolute favorite kind of work not only because of its value, but because it was neat and had a modern appeal that other traditional embroideries lack.

The Lifestyle of hand embroidery- Part One

On my 3rd day in the wonderful area of Kutch, I decided to venture into the villages to see the work and lifestyle of the artisans. I started roughly 60 miles north of Bhuj close to the Indo-Pak border at a village named Hodka. As I entered the village, I was greeted by a bunch of small children and young girls all giggling and happy. The children were interested in what sweets I had got for them. Apparently, many tourists stop by with sweets and enjoy capturing the life of the village.

Initially I filmed two girls Jayva and Neeta, both probably 14 or 15 years old, doing embroidery that will probably take them 2-3 months to finish. The women in this village start doing embroidery when they are 7-8 years old. They don't get an education and are expected to do housework and embroidery only. The men of the houses do the marketing and selling of the finished products that range from purses, jewelry to quilts and wall hangings. The work is laborious and usually starts with a plain unprinted cloth on which the women create motifs from their experiences and everyday life. There is no prior print or design given. Once a woman is married she is expected to take her work to her husband's house where he will sell her products and get money for the family. What blew me away was how these artistic and creative women manage their homes (cooking, cleaning and children) as well as doing embroidery during their breaks that range from 5-7 hours.

The second part of the video is of Komaben and her family. She is the neatest and most talented artist in the family and tries to do as much embroidery as possible. These women seemed happy and content, contrary to the harshness of their lifestyle. I guess ignorance is bliss in some ways:). The two embroideries shown are called Kharek and Pako. Enjoy the video.

Artisan Organizations of Bhuj

I used all day today to visit various organizations that promote and preserve artisan work in Kutch. They work with variety of textiles, embroidery and some involve other crafts such as beading and woodwork.

First stop was an artisan park that is in the form of a large village which is meant to be a one stop shop for the various arts of Kutch. It is called Hiralaxmi Memorial Craft park which is about 20-30 mins from Bhuj. At first glance I was not quite sure where I was as I had expected to see lots of tourists and artisans. On the contrary, the park was empty barring a few local tourists like me and most of the artisans were not to be seen. My friend and guide mentioned the artisans not being economically satisfied with the set up, which is why a lot of huts were empty. I hid my disappointment but I did manage to see some hand embroidered purses, beaded jewelry, as well as Kharad which is a dying art of weaving camel and other local wool into carpets. Kharad is typical to the area and the weavers create beautiful geometric patterns as they weave. The artisan Dayabhai is one of the very few families practicing this art anymore. I almost picked his black and white rug which was stunning and had no artificial colors. I also happened to see an example of Mashru weaving which is only done in Gujarat. The weavers blend colorful cotton and wool yarns to create a typical striped print that is done on a pit loom. It is mostly worn by women as blouses under sarees.

Check out the video showing the embroidered purses,beaded jewelry (artisan Meena in background), Kharad carpet and artisan Dayabhai, and Mashru weaving handloom and sample.

I also visited Shrujan, Khamir and Qasab which are organizations driving the development and preservation of textile arts. Stay tuned for more details on them.