‘It’s time to dress Parisians in a lehenga’

In every brushstroke there is a storyLike layers of history the fabled waxresist dyed Indonesian batik tells stories of intricate blooms mythical beasts and tropical foliage They read as the fundamental building blocks of material culture The craft said to have been invented in Java more than 1000 years ago is a demanding one designs are created carefully with canting pronounced CHANting an etching tool that holds liquefied wax The word batik is rare in that it is both a local term and also an expression of indigenous cultureJumping through geographical cultural and craft hoops batik travelled to West Bengal after Rabindranath Tagorersquos visit to Java in 1927 Renowned artistarchitect Surendranath Kar and artist Pratima Devi are credited with simplifying the process by using brush tuli instead of canting in Shantiniketanmdashpossibly why Shantiniketan batik came to be known as tuli batik ldquoHere batik was embraced by the artists in Bolpur and they added their own nuance flavour and cultural contextrdquo Monica Shah explains about the craftrsquos crosscultural crosstime pollinationSoof also known as lsquoSodha Baratrsquo finds its origins in the Sindhi community who in 1971 migrated from Pakistan to Palanpur in Gujarat Itrsquos marked by mathematical precision and involves creating geometric motifs through small triangles ldquoSoofi hamari parampara hain Soof is our culture At 10 I learned it from my mother who learned it from her mother Most of us have a high eye power as embroidering intricate patterns is stressful for the eyesrdquo says Dayaben who with her husband Bhurabhai Dohat right has toured the world sharing her four decadelong expertise with college studentsTraditional craft versus contemporary culture painstaking efforts to preserve ageold techniques versus the wild necessity of everyday functions an old theme but an important one looms in Grassroot Artisans Project a ldquopassionrdquo project by Shah and Karishma Swali of Jade a bridal couture labelThe two launched Mumbairsquos Chanakya School of Craft a nonprofit endeavour that focuses on formalising the craft and providing women from lowincome communities with highquality education in hand embroidery The goal is to enable them to maximise their creative potential and enhance their livesThe other mission is to go where craft communities reside and have them modernise the skillset for a global audience ldquoFor example we have previously used the leheriya and also worked with Gopalji an awardwinning Jaipur miniature artist to make wearable art Because this year marks Jadersquos 15th anniversary we got a little ambitious and decided to take up six craft pocketsrdquo says Shah while offering midday a walkthrough of the collection at their Peddar Road flagship store Two years of on the ground research trips by their eightmember team was followed by design and fabric interventions at the brandrsquos atelier for a year This has culminated in their inaugural festive line of overlays crop tops dresses jackets tunics and trousersNasrinbanu and Salehaben on the right is fifth generation in her family to work with bandhani from Bhuj create figurative designs by the tedious plucking and tying of cloth with the fingernails into miniscule bindings that reveal a pattern once dyed ldquoBandhani comes from the word bandhan bond thatrsquos why Gujarati families prefer the bandhani when the couple takes the pherasrdquo says Monica ShahThe collection spotlights batik and kantha from Bolpur West Bengal bandhani from Bhuj in Gujarat pattu from Barmer in Rajasthan ikat from Pochampally in Telangana Kanjeevaram from Salem in Tamil Nadu Soof from Palanpur in Gujarat The walkthrough is part shop and part gallery featuring videos of the artisans at work in their spaces playing on monitors raised on the whitewashed walls discussing their process following and breaking of rules and living in the comfort of tradition Their voices often compete with the shifting sounds of birds and the hum of silence Above all it confirms that tradition moves in ways both mysterious and notAlso read Mumbai Four booked for abetting 25yearold manrsquos suicideShahrsquos interest in traditional crafts had propelled her to work with Rajasthanrsquos batik artists specialising in handblock prints ldquoBut I was fascinated by handpainted batik and it took three years for Devesh Chafekar project manager to locate artisans in West Bengalrdquo says Shah throwing a proud smile at ChafekarIn handpainted batik no two pieces are identical There are no regular repeat of patterns they repeat only as the mind and eye of the artist dictate ldquoIf you see the batik work on this jacketrdquo she says steering our attention to a mannequin dressed in a long jacket and collared tunic painted in botanic motifs with the fine bristles of a brush ldquoit is high coutureworthy because of its customised placementrdquoHand skills like weaving dyeing and embroidery stand the danger of extinction as demand fades in a digital age Unlike China which quickly caught up with mechanised production India continues to have the largest artisanal base ldquoIt is our soul and culture While there are ample examples of handmade techniques these are usually historic rather than contemporaryrdquo Gopalakrishnan and Chithaiyan are proof They hail from a long lineage of craft families from Salem who have kept the legacy of Kanjeevaram silk sarees aliveDevesh Chafekar Kavita Saini Smita Jain Dhananjay Singh Monica Shah Krushika Thosani Mansi Vora and Darshana Bhave worked on the artisans projectIn Salem language was a barrier Smita Jain who led the Kanjeevaram arm of the project had to employ a translator ldquoWe were able to impress upon the artisans why modernisation is a sustainable model and also shift focus beyond sarees by working with lighter grammage of fabricsrdquo Woven into Jadersquos festive collection are lightweight Kanjeevaram trousers tunics and dresses featuring ldquodancing linerdquo silk threadwork all tailormade at the brandrsquos atelier Challenging the supremacy of Benarasi brocades Shah says ldquoWe want to make a concerted effort to integrate Kanjeevarams and ikats into our everyday wardrobe Wearing a Kanjeevaram kurta or trousers is more suited to our onthego lifestyle than say a saree which is typically reserved for special occasionsrdquoIn September during Jadersquos store launch in New Delhi someone asked Shah about the next steps ldquoI said it is about time we dressed Parisians in a lehenga We have all grown up wearing western silhouettes and adapted them beautifully Now we need to take our crafts and silhouettes to the world and switch the narrativerdquo