Maiwa is on the road again. We are in India working on a rather epic journey that will take us to both coasts and down the lower two thirds of the subcontinent. On this trip one of our goals is to give copies of our book Textiles of the Banjara back to members of the Banjara community, especially those individuals who appear in the book or who made a large contribution to our research.

Our first stop on this project was an encampment located about an hour south of Jaipur. Bapu is a Banjara man who helped us quite a bit in this area.

When we explained to Bapu that we wanted to return to his community and present him with a book, he was puzzled: "Why? Banjara are labour."  So we explained that most of the Banjara in the book also worked as labour. Still the Banjara culture is very very important.

It was a pleasant visit with Bapu's community. We arrived at mid-day. Everyone was calm and the book was handled with great care. We all felt a sense of deep happiness to be able to make this  gesture to their community.

We will be posting more about our trip when time (and our internet connection) permits. If you follow instagram check our #maiwaontheroad.

The book Textiles of the Banjara is available throughout North America and Europe. We sell it in the Maiwa Online Store.