Return to India

Above image: The toran – here a beaded hanging- is hung over the door to welcome entrants to the house

I’m looking forward to another trip to Kutch via Delhi and Ahmedabad in a few days time. I spent three months here in 2008, when I worked for a small organisation called Kala Raksha – a grass-roots trust working with the local textile artisans to preserve the traditional arts and provide sustainable livelihoods. It was an informal arrangement after being introduced to the founder Judy Frater through Carole Douglas who ran the textiles tour I took part in – Desert Traditions and Textile Treasures.

The tour took us travelling round Kutch visiting the villages and artisans, learning some of the crafts with artisans as our teachers, meeting very welcoming and hospitable locals, eating tasty food and experiencing fascinating traditions. We also stayed in Ahmedabad to sight-see, shop and immerse ourselves in the city’s crafts.

After the tour I went on to work with Kala Raksha. I was helping revive old products that weren’t selling by adapting them or re-designing them. In between work I attended weddings, a festival in the desert, and visited Tunda Vandh where the Kala Raksha Vidyhalaya, the design school was situated.

I will be returning to Kutch to conduct some research with the block printers for my MA. I will also be re-visiting Anokhi near Jaipur in Rajasthan, where I undertook a 2 month design placement in 2008.  Along with three other students from Brighton, I produced a selection of painted designs intended for block print patterns, had a go at block-printing in a few of the nearby villages and enjoyed chilling it out on the Anokhi farm -swimming in the pool, watching films in their mini cinema , eating home-cooked organic food and relaxing in our comfortable cottages. We were very well looked after!