Ramesh Virji Mangariya and his team of artisans make luxuriously soft, exquisitely designed scarves using Kala cotton, indigenous to India’s Kutch region in the western part of the country. One of the oldest kinds of cotton in the world, dating back to 3,000 B.C., this special varietal requires no pesticides, and for centuries was used…
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According to the artists behind painting collective Mahalaxmi Das, their work “is a combination of common and uncommon things.” Their work is created with resplendent and staggering complexity, and fantastic detail. Artists Shantanu and Mahalaxmi most often paint in the Madhubani style, which originated in Bihar, specifically in the Mithila region, which is in the…
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Avani Earthcraft was founded in 1997 by Rashmi Bharti and her husband Rajnish Jain in Tilonia, Rajasthan, a town in Northwestern India. For over 20 years, Avani has revived traditional textile methods of hand-spinning, hand-weaving, and natural dyeing. Many of these traditional techniques came from the Shauka community. The Shaukas, a nomadic group, specialized in…
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Expert textile artist Angana Bordoloi maintains a generations-spanning weaving technique to make a range of products that exemplify ancient traditions of the Mishing tribal people, who have lived in northeastern India for centuries. Bordoloi grew up in Assam, where India’s handloom culture remains especially popular. “Since childhood,” she maintains, “I’ve been nurturing a dream of…
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Master bandhani textile artisan Abdulbashir Fakirmamad Khatri hails from a family of weavers in Bhuj, India. “While studying in college,” recalls Khatri, “I learned bandhani from my uncle, and also through experimenting on my own.” In his early twenties, the precocious artist had already established a bustling textile workshop, where he managed and worked alongside…
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Hyderabad, India-based textile collective Ereena makes strikingly beautiful textiles. Using a type of ancient silk called “eri,” the group produces luxurious, sophisticated items suitable for a range of uses. Additionally, Ereena has provided steady work—and income—to thousands of talented artisans since its inception, while also renewing interest in an age-old artistic technique. Jamdani weaving yields…
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Designer Anupama Bose is a native of Rajasthan, India, but for nearly twenty years, the bustling city of Jaipur has been her home. Bose’s richly colored, dynamically designed saris are informed by tradition and professional training at India’s National Institute of Design. Bose incorporates block and vegetable printing with traditional methods of sari construction. In…
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In the urban Mumbai community of East Andheri, India, time-honored connections to the materials and processes that produce natural dyes for vibrant Indian silks and cottons have long been lost to the ease and accessibility of chemical colorants. In 2008, however, Rupa Trivedi, an ultrasonic engineer, set out to reclaim the power of natural plants…
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The nomadic Rabari tribe first came to India’s Kutch region in the 13th century. Their story is captivating, as it was just 15 years ago when the tribal elders banned the elaborate embroidery work made by women. QASAB, a collective enterprise of 1,200 rural craftswomen from 10 ethnic communities from 42 Kutch villages, works to…
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Artisan Siju Shamji Vishram was born into a veritable weaving dynasty. His hometown of Bhuj, India, is a hub for textile artisans, and in the middle of the twentieth century, his father began a weaving cooperative with the goal of preserving ancient techniques that were losing ground due to the effects of modernization. Today, Vishram…
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For master artisan Abdulaziz Alimamad Khatri, dying cloth is practically in his DNA. After all, his entire family has been engaged in this artform for at least 10 generations. Originally, the Khatri family made woolen bandhani (a tie dye technique practiced in Gujarat and Rajasthan) for nomadic Rabari tribespeople, and later for their own personal…
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Manvee Vaid is social entrepreneur and founder of two online platforms- Deccan Footprints and Terra Klay. With her background in Fine Arts, Manvee is passionate and inspired by the transformative power of art to bridge the gap between cultures. She is committed to create awareness and understanding of the beauty of diversity. She has been…
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The not-for-profit and artisan-owned Society DWARAKA PLUS (Development of Weavers and Rural Artisans in Kalamkari Art) was founded in 1998 by Anita Reddy along with her father Dwaraknath Reddy to revive the dying hand painted art form of kalamkari, build a sustainable platform for the artisan communities and empower women with livelihood programs along with…
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