Reading a Traditional Cloth

Reading a Traditional Cloth

 The Oxford dictionary defines the term “tradition” as the transmission of customs or beliefs from generation to generation. A traditional cloth would be a textile of a certain culture or society that has been passed down from generation to generation. The cloth could be traditional in the sense of the material, weave or print.  

The cloth that I’ve chosen is Enaphi that is considered traditional in Manipur. The woven cloth is soft and I assume that it is cotton. The weave of the cloth is simple and not tight. Simple in the sense that the yarn goes over only one yarn and then goes under the next. The fairly loose weave allows the cloth to breathe. What I find interesting in the weave is that there seems to be an extra weft for the triangular design pattern. There are only two colours that have been used and both have used a dull shade. By looking at the colour, it does not seem that the traditional design uses bright or stark colours. Also the design of the cloth has been kept fairly simple with the use of triangles and simple straight lines.  

As I’m a space design student and the field of textiles is fairly new to me, I find this assignment of reading a cloth particularly interesting as it allows me to feel and understand a cloth for myself. By reading the cloth myself it helps me grasp a better understanding of the weave, texture and colour.