MAIWA ON THE ROAD

Thursday April 7 at 7:30 pm

In the Net Loft on Granville Island

Come to a Maiwa slideshow.

Compelling documentary photography of 

craft techniques, travel, and peoples. 

With a discussion of our travel route and itinerary.

There will be food and refreshments.

The main Maiwa Store will be open 

with a special discount of 20% off everything in the store. 

100% of all sales will go to the Maiwa Foundation.

No charge, but space is very limited.

Please RSVP to Maiwa

to hold a space.

604 669 3939

Net Loft, Granville Island

6-1666 Johnston Street, Granville Island,

Vancouver, BC Canada V6H 3S2

Always check the ropes.

Two posts back we talked about Banjara Embroidery. We are picking up that thread again here.

It was already dark when we landed in Hubli, the closest airport to Hampi and Surya's Garden. We spent some time tying our luggage to the roof (some of it dislodged en-route, but never hit the ground, hanging, as it was, by the ropes). And we are off for a quick four or five-hour drive.

For those of you in the United Kingdom, the BBC has just broadcast (and enabled for on-line viewing until March 18th) an hour-long feature on the textiles of the Kutch Desert in Gujarat, India. Hosted by Griff Rhys Jones, it is very well done, beautifully filmed, and has many of recognizable names from our podcasts.

Maiwa and the Maiwa Foundation have been trying to work with traditional Banjara embroidery for a number of years now. We've had a long and successful relationship with KMVS in the Kutch desert of Gujarat, and we've hoped to implement that model to the exquisite and bold Banjara embroidery.

Banjara community visited in 2004.

The Banjara (sometimes called Lambani or Lambada) are a semi-nomadic people who reside mostly in Southern and Middle India. They share a common ancestry with the Roma. who migrated through the mountains of Afghanistan and settled in the deserts of Rajasthan. Since the 12th century, the Banjaras have gradually traveled down to the south and large numbers worked for the Moghuls transporting provisions and trading goods. They traveled with herds of thousands of pack bullocks, buying and selling sugar, salt, and grain. Their habit of living in isolated groups away from others, which was a characteristic of their nomadic days, still persists.

In this post we feature two of the artisans from the Aranya Natural Dye Unit. The Maiwa team touched down in Munnar (in state of Kerala located in the southern tip of India) after our visits to artisans east of Hyderabad, we scheduled some time with Victoria Vijayakumar and Aranya.

The works being made at Aranya are impressive by any standard, but there is an added element of wonder when one realizes that the artisans at Aranya are physically challenged and so unable to work in the area's largest industry - the tea plantations. In an effort to provide suitable employment for these individuals Tata Tea runs the Aranya Natural Dye Unit, a jam factory, and a paper making facility.

Kalamkari - printed with natural dyes.

As our car gets closer and closer to the ocean our main goal has been to connect with artisans who produce kalamkari blockprints. “Kalam” means “pen” and “kari” means “work.” – so the kalamkari is traditionally a form of decoration done with a stylus. Kalamkari have figures outlined in thin black lines.

Out in the street a giant brush is used to starch the warps.

The Maiwa team is now in the south of India. Once we leave Hyderabad we are off the tourist routes and our pauses for chai, dosa, or coconut water create a bit of a sensation. Our first stop is to visit one of the masterclass workshop participants, Shrinath, who barely had time to return from the masterclass before our rendezvous.

Kolkatta - easy to get around and a pleasure to visit.

A strip of printing tests.

February 1, 2011 Day 5

This is the second-last day of the class. It seems that Bengali time passes much more quickly than regular time.

Yesterday, in addition to the woven shibori, Michel Garcia continued to teach natural dyes. Printing tests were done with ferrous - alum combinations, lac and cochineal to show a variety of shades. The blockprinter's dream? Deep rich colours with a clean white background - no easy thing as any printer can tell you.

Catharine Ellis (far right) speaks to a group about woven shibori.

January 31 Day 4

Today is a special day because today some of us go along with Catharine Ellis to see and create some woven shibori. This is a technique whereby supplemental threads are added to either the warp or the weft. When the piece comes off the loom these threads will be pulled taut to crumple the cloth and then tied tightly to keep it crumpled as it is dyed. This will create a special resist pattern when the work is dyed.

Rural Bengal has many charms. One of them is the loudspeaker bicycle man who passes by just before sundown. What is being broadcast over the loudspeaker? We wish we knew.

January 30, 2011

Today is mordant day. For those who are new to natural dyes, know this: dyes require that fibres be treated with a mordant if the dye is to live a long and joyous life on the cloth or yarn. Exceptions are substantive dyes (like walnut and tannins) that can bind directly unders some conditions. The plot thickens when we understand that for cotton the mordant will not stay with the fibre unless it is first treated with a tannin. Michel encourages us to think of this more complicated relationship in terms of friendship: the friend of my friend is also my friend. Cotton is friends with tannin, tannin is friends with the mordant, and the mordant is friends with the dye.