Kutch Embroidery Jacket

Kutch Embroidery Jacket

The cloth I am reading is an intricately Kutch embroidered jacket. Pinks and greens, 

yellows and purple, splashed with mirror work here and there, this jacket is a beautiful example of one of India’s greatest heritage in embroidery work.

The hub of the Kutch embroidery work is basically located in the regions of Kutch and Saurashtra wherein the local artisans churn out the most creative and exquisite designs. The tribal people, peasants and the womenfolk of that region have maintained their tradition, rich heritage and vibrant culture through their distinctive embroidery styles. The Kutch tradition of embroidery basically started off as a hobby amongst women who would embroider an entire outfit for their daughter after the harvest season and thus gather enough garments for her marriage trousseau. From mirror and bead work to usage of silk thread of bright colours, the Kutch embroidery basically ornates the entire fabric and embellishes it completely.

Historically, it is said that Kutch embroidery was brought about by ‘Kathi’ cattle breeders who were brought by the mythological figure ‘Karna’ from the Mahabharata.  Eventually these wanderers settled down and produced some fine needlework which displayed a variety of elements, designs, themes, patterns and moods- and this is how Kutch work was actually originated.  Kutch embroidery has been there for centuries and in the 16th and 17th centuries Kutch embroidery pieces were exported by western countries.  It is also believed that mochis or shoemakers were taught Kutch embroidery 300 years ago by a Muslim wanderer in Sindh and that is what started the tradition.  However, Kutch embroidery has been around in various clans that have produced their own distinctive styles such as Rabaris, Mochis, Kanbis and Ahirs.

A lot of the Kutch embroidery is influenced by various architectural designs and motifs such as the ‘Heer bharat’. Using the Heer Bharat as a mirror is easily fixed in the centre that adds more beauty to the embroidery work. Kutch embroidery is mainly done in colours such as Green, Ivory, Indigo, Black, Deep red, Yellow and off White.

The base fabric of Kutch embroidery work is particularly sturdy, however, owing to the delicate nature of the thread work, bead work and mirror work, the embroidered garments/pieces cannot be hand washed as they are liable to get damaged. Dry clean is the best option to ensure that no damage is caused to the garment.

Reading cloth:khadi

Khadi is hand spun and hand woven cloth.It can be cotton, silk or wool. Khadi is the cloth- and home-industry that M. Gandhi, during the independence-war, fiercely protected against the cheaper, imported cloth from England,the world’s textile giant of the time and colonizer of India.I am trying to study about Khadi because I had been to Sevagram recently and I actually saw how Khadi cloth is woven into different forms and how people over there regularly do the activity of Charkha atleast once in a day for sure.It is really interesting to read this cloth because Mahatma Gandhi began promoting the spinning of khadi for rural self-employment and self-reliance in 1920s India, thus making khadi an integral part and icon of the Swadeshi movement.Every village shall plant and harvest its own raw-materials for yarn, every woman and man shall engage in spinning and every village shall weave whatever is needed for its own use.

   In the first half of this century, and in many parts even now, farmers have not enough work to earn their living through out the year. About four months they may be idle due to the rainless dry season. Spinning would thereby supply the readiest occupation; it can easily be learnt. It requires practically no outlay or capital, even an improved spinning wheel can be easily and cheaply made. Gandhi saw it as the end of dependency on foreign materials symbolizing foreign rule and thus giving a first lesson or real independence. Raw materials at that time were entirely exported to England and then re-imported as costly finished cloth, depriving the local population of work and profits on it. Gandhi also felt that in a county where manual labor was looked down upon, it was an occupation to bring high and low,rich and poor together, to show them the dignity of hand-labor. What I understood is,cotton is first hand picked and the fibers are separated from the seeds by a sharp comb-like object.It is then ginned into slivers. These are spun into yarn on a spinning wheel.

    It was this hand-cranked spinning wheel called charkha that became a symbol of a free India.The spun yarn is wound onto reels which then go to the weavers. Handlooms are used to weave the yarn into fabric. The making of khadi is eco-friendly since it does not rely on electric units and the manufacturing processes do not generate any toxic waste products.It is light and soft making it comfortable to wear.Its weave creates air pockets which make it cool in summers and warm in winters.It has a handcrafted self-texture making each khadi cloth unique and expensive.Its inherent strength makes it highly durable. Khadi has to be dry cleaned or washed in cold water with mild soap.It has to be starched to prevent it from crumbling.Dark colors tend to run so have to be washed separately.Certain fine khadi, such as mulmul has a translucent quality.Khadi silk which has upto 50% silk is priced for it richness and sheen.It was for economic, cultural and social reasons and not merely political that Gandhi established the Khadi Movement.Thus Khadi is not mere a piece of cloth but a way of life. The freedom struggle revolved around the use of khadi fabrics and the dumping of foreign-made clothes. Thus it symbolized the political ideas and independence itself, and to this day most politicians in India are seen only in khadi clothing.The khadi fabric is slowly disappearing in India if it were not for a few innovative designers who try to give it a new life.

Kalamkari Kurti

Kalam- kari, a piece of work done using a kalam or a pen.

The piece of traditional cloth I am trying to read is a hand woven cotton kurti with block printed kalamkari. It is a right example of imperfection. The accuracy of the motifs has not really worked out efficiently for the craftsmen. There are quite a few areas where the motifs and the colour are overlapping each other, creating commotion in the subtlety of the cloth. Natural dyes are used in the shades of red and maroon. A finer black line is used to outline the motifs.

Since it is a block printed piece of cloth, I am guessing the source to be Machilipatnam in Andhra Pradesh. The process and the usage of the medium is purely local and for socio- economic reasons. This inclination towards keeping the design distinct denotes the tradition of a state. Thus keeping the traditional alive. Machilipatnam being the port town has seen different inspirations and has evolved to being what it is today. It has been the center of block makers and printers through centuries. The motifs are characterized by culturally diverse states that brought in their preference of style and taste.

Immense trade relationships during different rules and periods for example, the Islamic influence of art by the Qutub Shahi rulers who had strong trade relationships with the Persian Safavid Empire. Later export to the Dutch and the British, choreographed the style of motifs. Machalipatnam being a port town catered to major textile exports of the period. ‘Chintz’, displays varied imagery from stylized plants and creepers, also added to the contemporary style of Kalamkari motifs.

“The Land where every 80km language changes and so, does the art and craft, welcomed each pattern of motif with the same intelligence and intensity, no doubt, perceptions are meant to differ and art is born to evolve.”

I really cannot state if the motifs on the kurti are inspired by the Persians or Chintz. It brings to me the good looks of its handcrafted blocks, the softness of the hand woven cotton cloth. This piece has many errors in its making. Yet it deserves its right attention.

Reference

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalamkari

http://andhrakalamkari.blogspot.in/2013/04/motifs-saga-on-fabric.html

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-01-20/hyderabad/30646611_1_srikalahasti-qutub-shahi-fine-art

http://sahapedia.org/kalamkari-and-its-relation-to-other-practices/

Reading Cloth

One of my close friends recently visited Scotland and she brought a woollen scarf from there, completely hand-woven with a pattern consisting of criss-crossed horizontal and vertical bands in a couple of colours. The look of it suddenly reminded me of the pattern on bagpipers’ costume. I went further down to research about this piece of cloth and realised that I was absolutely right!

I then started reading about the traditional dress of Scotland and I came across the term ‘Highland dress’, which was characterised by ‘tartan’ pattern. Although the tartan pattern had been used since 3000BC in many parts of the world, tartan, in general, however came to be extremely popular in Scottish Highland culture in the 16th century. The ‘Dress Act of 1746’ attempted to bring the warrior clans under government control by banning the tartan (in order to suppress the rebellious Scottish culture) and other aspects of Gaelic culture. When the law was repealed in 1782, it was no longer ordinary Highland dress, but was adopted instead as the symbolic national dress of Scotland. Different Scottish clans have different tartan patterns on their costumes. The variations are in colour and slightly in the pattern. This difference gives the clans recognition.

Tartan originated in woven wool but now they appear in many different materials. The construction of tartan pattern involves the warp (vertical yarn) and the weft (horizontal yarn) to intersect at right angles, where each thread of warp crosses each same coloured weft to form a solid colour block. This block of solid colour is broken by another solid colour thin strip of woven warps and wefts forming a pivot in the centre.

There are three variations in the tartan: modern, ancient and muted. The modern tartan has more variety of colour and the colours are usually darker, which tells the use of chemical dyes as opposed to the ancient lighter coloured tartans, which were made using natural dyes. The colours that one usually finds in a tartan pattern are red (One such myth is that red tartans were "battle tartans", designed so they would not show blood), green (symbolises prairies or forests), blue (symbolises lakes and rivers) and yellow (used to symbolise various crops). In the present day the use of colour black is also seen in the tartan patterns.

After knowing the history of tartan cloth I used this knowledge to read and analyse the tartan scarf, which I spoke about earlier. I first checked the material and got to know that it was acrylic wool and not pure wool. The finish of the fabric was very ‘felt-like’ (compressed wool). Then I went further to study the pattern and the colours. The colours used are darker shades of red, green and blue. Comparing this to my above research I understood that the yarns are chemically dyed. The complete piece is woven using the weave called “twill weave” (diagonal). The scarf is hand woven, which one can tell by looking at the tasseled warp ends.

At present I feel the tartan pattern is more of a style statement because people use it without knowing its significance, its cultural value and the stories that are connected with it.

Reference:

http://www.scottishamericansociety.org/id21.html
http://www.kinlochanderson.com/highland-dress/history-of-tartan/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tartan
http://www.scottishtartans.org/tartan.html
http://www.igotyourrug.com/oriental-rug-blog/the-difference-between-hand-made-rugs-and-machine-made-rugs/

Reading Traditional Cloth

Reading Traditional Cloth

What is traditional cloth?

It’s just threads woven together in an intricate pattern in villages. But this cloth, particularly, undergoes a series of interpretation and restoration of history in one way or the other. It aims on educating you to understand a culture, a society, topography and most importantly it interpreting a way of living. It provides the community with an identity. It’s not just threads woven together, but a series of underlying layers of stories.

It’s a real task to find these associations and find a story within them, because the cloth goes through a lot of process of becoming attire or something to wear and to find the appropriate information. Digging for accurate facts is another big task.

According to my understanding, now, traditional cloth is an intriguing design or pattern as a whole that represents or resembles a culture or a region incorporated on the local material.

The cloth that I decided to read was this kurti. Last time I wore this was to a Garba (Gujarati dance function), held in my locality. What makes this kurti special is that it reminds me of Gujarat. The fall at the end of the kurti feels like I’m wearing a Ghagra. Most importantly are the colors and the beautiful print on the cloth.

Earlier girls, after reaching the age of 7 years or more, in Gujarat had a tradition of applying permanent tattoo to their body, Chundana (it still happens in a lot of regions there), dark green in color. The belief behind it was, the more you apply it to your bodies the more beautiful you look and it protects you from any negativity.

This pattern looks like a lady finger cross section.I remember in my crafts class using paint and then using the cross section as stencil to make prints on paper . My entire kurti is embedded with this vegetable print with a jari border at the bottom. This jhari border has a base of two most common colors used for Ghagra and choli, red and green. 

As a whole this cloth always reminds me of my native place,

ironically it is a produced by the brand ONLY.

Enaphi - Traditional cloth

According to my understanding, a traditional cloth is a piece of cloth that has some cultural value to it. Whether in terms of the way it’s been made, what significance do the motifs have and what story do they depict of a particular culture or region or a specific time period. A cloth can be called traditional also because of the fact that it has been passed on from generation to generation. I know a saree in my family that has been passed on by my great grandmother, which will one day be passed on to me. That particular saree has great value because every time not only a piece of cloth is being handed down but also a whole lot of memories, stories which would not have exited if it was not for that saree. So what I mean to say it that traditional cloth binds people together with unspoken messages and brings them closer in a way that even technology today cannot.

The cloth that I have chosen is called enaphi and it comes from Manipur. It is a stole and is worn with a traditional lahing (a wrap skirt) and an angei (blouse). In the small districts of Manipur weaving is only done by the women and the art of weaving is given much importance in the region.  

When I took this cloth in my hand the first few things i noticed were that it’s a pure cotton, plain weave fabric with a simple border running along the sides and motifs on the ends. Extra weft and extra warp have been used to show the border and the motif more distinctly. I could also notice ink like marks along the motifs by which I could tell that the weaver had first transferred the design from paper on to the warp before weaving the cloth. The weavers refer to the motif as kangla in the meetei language. All i knew before was that the motif looks like an entrance gate. What entrance gate, where is it located or why an entrance gate at all on a stole i had no clue. But now I know the importance of it. The Palace of Kangla is an old palace at Imphal in Manipur (Kangleipak). It was situated on both sides (western and eastern) of the bank of the Imphal River. But now it remains only on the western side of the bank. Only the ruins remain now. Kangla means "dry land" in old Meetei. It was the traditional seat of the past Meetei rulers of Manipur. This is where the kingdom of Manipur is said to have established. In olden days this was the official place to conduct erat-thouni (coronation ceremony). According to the result of prayers King decided for how long he will be able to rule the state.  The ruins is an archaeological site and is known to host political meetings and gatherings. I also figured that the site is given a lot of importance by the local people of manipur by looking at the motif. Which has figures of men standing in a line under the kangla gate and it looks they are holding it up over their heads as a sign of respect.

This assignment has already given me enough insight about the culture, history and people of Manipur. And this is exactly what i think a traditional cloth stands for. 

Reading Cloth: Silk

Silk is strong, fine and lustrous fiber that was said to have originated in china. There are many myths that are associated with the discovery of silk one of them being about the Chinese princess into whose cup of tea a silk worm cocoon accidently fell. The fiber separated from the cocoon and there was a soft, shine fiber that the Chinese then began cultivating.  For the longest time China kept its production of silk quite a secret and was the only producer, however as time passed, with the opening of trading routes it began to spread to Japan, Western Europe, Gujarat and Persia. This resulted in the Chinese luxury silk market as it wasn’t the only producer anymore. However after the advent of the jacquard loom, the industrial revolution and the invention of synthetics, China once again regained its position in the market for selling fine, natural silk.

Silk came to different parts of India starting the second century. There are many stories. Its said that a Chinese princess after her marriage carried silk to the country she was married into and they began cultivating it there from where it spread into India. Also a tribe from Persia (the Parsis) is said to have migrated to India brining in the traditions of cultivating and weaving silk. The emperor Akbar is said to have given royal patronage to the weaving of silk during his time. The weavers from Gujarat had been brought to the weaving centers in Lahore, Agra and Fatehpursikri. This resulted in different kinds of weavers to work together and therefore exchange of creative techniques, which was good for the silk industry in India.

It is one of the oldest textiles man discovered and since then has been reinventing it. Its inherent properties already make silk an expensive and luxurious cloth that back in the day was reserved for the royals and the wealthy. But as time passed and production and duplication became both easy and rampant silk has become one of the most commonly used cloth, not only as fabric to wear, but also in medicine, industry etc.

When I look at the cloth I see luxury and occasion. Its beautiful to look at and also feels soft. Today the market for silk is large as is the market of synthetic silk which shows that the demand for the material was always high and it failed to remain a possession of the wealthy. Also there have been remarkable developments in the area where they have been able to make blends that are much better than the original sometimes. The fact that china kept its production of silk secret for the longest time just shows how much it was valued and still is.