I recently visited Kota on my way from Jaipur to Maheshwar keen to learn about the Kota Doria sari weaving tradition. I was kindly helped by Victoria Singh, a local resident and founder of the Kota Heritage Society. After accompanying her on a few errands around town – she is involved in a lot of local charity and heritage work, she took me to the village of Kaithoon which is about fifteen kilometres from Kota, and the main centre for weaving in the region. Victoria Singh and Ritu Jain write more on the kora doria in an article for Hand-Eye magazine. We first went to meet Badrun Nisha, the secretary of the Women’s…
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Review: Tang Ke Sang – Traditional and Contemporary Ply-Split Braiding
Two exhibitions are currently being held at Khamir in Kukma village near Bhuj, Kutch. Read about Rohi: stories of the shoemakers of Kutch here. The second exhibition is Tang Ke Sang which showcases the unique and characterful ply-split braiding technique traditional to North West India, in the form of both traditional items and innovative interpretations by renowned maker Erroll Pires. History and technique The ply-split braiding technique, locally called ‘guthna’ as the English name suggests, involves splitting the ply of wool or cotton chords and interlacing them to create a very strong fabric. This fabric is therefore perfect for camel girths, harnesses and decorations which are made using this technique chiefly in North West…
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Indian block-printed textiles in the English countryside
The long jubilee weekend was the first that I’ve spent outside of London since I moved down just over a month ago. While I’m sure the river pageant and all the jubilee events in London were very exciting, escaping the crowds for some countryside air was much more appealing to me. So, along with a group of friends, I went camping to Cirencester in the Cotswolds. The campsite was chosen by my friend Laura, and as chance would have it, without Laura knowing, the owner of the campsite (on an organic farm no less – http://www.theorganicfarmshop.co.uk/), also owns…
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Ancient architecture and beautiful block prints in Delhi and Jaipur
We arrived in Delhi to cold, fog and smog. There was an eerie atmosphere in which you couldn’t see far beyond your immediate surroundings. The dramatic thunderstorm we awoke to this morning was even more strange for the this time of year. Although the weather was unexpectedly cold, we arrived to a very warm welcome. On arriving at the DIA university in Delhi we were welcomed with tilaka on our foreheads and gifts of roses. We felt like royalty! We were later told that guests in India are treated as if they are gods – this was very evident during our stay. In Delhi we visited Mughal architectural sites the…
