In February 2023, I put on my first exhibition at Liverpool John Moores University Public Exhibition Space. It drew on several years of travelling to India conducting research and collecting textiles and the stories of their makers. This exhibition showcases a selection of these textiles and stories, including ones that have been designed and made by artisans in the region of Kutch, western India and the small town of Maheshwar in Madhya Pradesh, central India. It also includes a selection of garments from small fashion brands that incorporate traditional crafts from these two regions and a film that was made during my PhD research which documents the handloom weaving process…
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The impact of coronavirus on Indian artisans
In these strange and difficult times we are living in, I have been thinking a lot about how the coronavirus pandemic is having such a huge impact on the whole world, creating a knock-on effect in every corner of society and the way we live our lives, as well as how our futures look. In particular I have been thinking about how the virus will impact the many craftspeople I have had the privilege to work with for my research and write about for this blog and other publications. While in India there have been less people infected than here in the UK, the steps taken to prevent spread have…
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Review: Textile Society of America Symposium 2018: The Social Fabric: Deep Local to Pan Global
I was delighted to receive the TSA Student award to attend and present my research at the biennial symposium which this year was held in Vancouver, Canada. It was my first TSA symposium and first visit to the city and I was impressed with the attention to detail in the organisation and schedule, and the variety of inspiring, thought provoking and quality papers by scholars and practitioners responding to the symposium theme ‘The Social Fabric Deep Local to Pan Global’. Many of the papers and keynotes did well to respond to issues relevant to the locality of Vancouver, such as decolonisation, reconciliation of First Nation communities and the repatriation of…
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Responsible Crafts Tourism in Kutch
‘I want to teach weaving to as many people as possible. I want to contribute to this craft and make it as popular as possible in the whole world. This is what I want.’ Dayalal Kudecha, SKV graduate, weaver-designer and teacher, Bhujodi, Kutch. Weaving is just one of the many textile crafts of Kutch that form an important part of the cultural identity, economy and social life of the region and both the individual and collective maker and user. The many Kutchi villages, home to weavers, block printers, bandhani (tie-dye), batik artisans and embroiderers, have become popular destinations for visitors seeking to escape from busy city life or learn more about…
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The role of traditional crafts in contemporary India: an interview with Rahul Jain
Feature Image: Drawloom for patterned silk velvet, Rahul Jain’s workshop, Varanasi, 2015. Photo courtesy Textile Art of India, New Delhi ‘I describe my work as a continuation of a heritage, a legacy, that is 2,000 years old’ (Rahul Jain, personal communication, June 2016) I had known about Rahul Jain’s work for a while, read some of his huge range of extensively researched books on Indian, Iranian and Turkish textiles, desperately trying to understand the complex weaves they document, and had heard about his inspiring work reviving ancient weaving techniques in Varanasi. An interview with the weaving connoisseur published by Live Mint revealed some of his views on craftsmanship and crafts in India,…
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Contemporary Gadwal Saris by Vinay Narkar
Gadwal is a small town in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh. It has long history of handlooms. The Gadwal sari has strong links to the Kornad saris of south India, which Kanchipuram is most well-known for today. Both share similar techniques and designs including the interlocked weft technique used for the borders. The kundi technique used in the Ilkal sari that I have discussed in a previous post, also shares close similarities, and as Vinay mentions below, belongs to the same group of saris as those from Solapur, Vinay’s home town. Gadwal saris, like many across India usually carry a temple design locally known as a reku. Local women often wear the…
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Learning to weave the Kutchi way
For 21 days starting on the 28th December I learned the basics of weaving under the masterful and patient guidance of four skilled and experienced weavers from Bhujodi village in Kutch. The course was organised by Somaiya Kala Vidya whose primary aim is to teach design education to craftspeople of Kutch (find more information on SKV here and here). The ‘Crafts Traditions’ courses are a side project that aim to extend the awareness and appreciation of Kutch’s crafts further afield, welcoming visitors from all over the world to come and learn a new skill and also gain a deeper understanding of the crafts’ context. In three weeks I learned the whole…
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The 2015 design graduates of Kutch – continued
There is a buzz of excitement in the region of Kutch as Somaiya Kala Vidya prepares for the convocation and fashion show of this year’s design graduates on 9th January in the village of Bhujodi, just 9 km from Kutch’s capital, Bhuj. In my previous post I wrote about the jury. The awards the jury decided will be presented during the convocation, and select pieces of the graduates’ final collections will be modelled on the runway. The graduates also got the chance to mingle with the Bombay craft and design enthusiasts and potential new clients at Artisans’ Gallery in Kala Ghoda for an exhibition of their collections from 21st –…
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Textile Travels in India: November
Highlights – Introduction to the weaving of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. – Meetings with influential and inspiring people in the textile and craft world in Hyderabad, Chennai, Bangalore, Kanchipuram. – Visit to Weavers’ Service Centres in the cities above and the Indian Institute of Handloom Technology in Salem. – Visit to shops, designers and NGOs creating innovative designs using local handloom fabrics. I’ve just arrived in Ahmedabad, via Pune on the same train I caught on my way down to Bagalkot two months ago, the Lokmanya Express. This time I was coming from Salem, about 80 km east of Coimbatore a big industrial hub known for its long…
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A tour of artist Geeta Khandelwal’s Bombay home
On a recent visit to Bombay I was privileged to visit the home of eminent quilting artist, textile collector and author of Godharis of Maharastra, Geeta Khandelwal with Judy Frater and a group of artisan-designers from Kutch and Karnataka. The exhibition of Bhujodi and Bagalkot weaves and Suf and Lucknow embroideries (I have written about the project in a previous post) had finished the day before and there was a free morning before everyone had trains to catch home. The idea was for the artisans to experience the home of the kind of customer who buys their textiles, to further their market knowledge and have a first hand insight, which is…
