Hyderabad-based textile designer Gaurang Shah’s Whispers of the Loom showcased a variety of handlooms from completely different pockets of India, to mark Nationwide Handloom Day on August 7.
| Photograph Credit score: Nagara Gopal
How properly do we all know our handlooms? A ordinary wearer of handlooms or anybody with a eager curiosity within the sector could be conversant in phrases equivalent to hand spun, handwoven, warp, weft, shuttle, loom and might differentiate a Pochampally ikat from a Sambalpuri ikat. However the extra we discover the intricacies of handlooms, we realise how little we find out about our various indigenous weaves and crafts. To mark Nationwide Handloom Day on August 7, Hyderabad textile designer Gaurang Shah invited a number of of his clientele for a present titled Whispers of the Loom. Fashions wove by way of the gathering on the spacious Gaurang’s Kitchen in Jubilee Hills, sporting the best of handloom saris, a few of which took three to 4 years to weave. Gaurang interspersed the showcase with a multimedia presentation, providing insights into weaving strategies.
The presentation was meant to assist the gathering, principally ladies wearing lustrous handlooms, respect the heirloom worthy saris. There have been loads of takeaways. The uninitiated learnt the distinction between a weaving sample (ikat) and a floor approach (kalamkari, bandhani, leheriya…). These acclimatised to weaves from completely different areas checked out attainable experimentations — can a Kanchi silk sari be given a Kota-like end to make the sari lighter? Or, what occurs when weavers in Kashmir are requested to work on khadi as an alternative of wool, to cater to the South Indian market?
Reha Sukheja (left) showcases a tremendous muslin Dhakai jamdani sari that took 4 years to weave
| Photograph Credit score:
Nagara Gopal
Gaurang started the presentation with give attention to jamdani, a method that he showcased at his Lakme Style Week debut years in the past. The famed jamdani from Dhaka, painstakingly woven on tremendous rely muslin, cotton or khadi, has a gossamer-like high quality and, prior to now, stated to be so tremendous {that a} sari may move by way of a hoop. The monochrome white and black jamdani saris worn by fashions Reha, Anita and Candice took three to 4 years to weave and, in line with Gaurang, one of many saris is okay sufficient to move the ring take a look at.
Gaurang Shah liaises with greater than 2000 weaves throughout India
| Photograph Credit score:
Nagara Gopal
Working with greater than 2000 weavers in 16 States throughout the nation, Gaurang explains how the Dhakai jamdani has weavers counting the tremendous yarn and figuring out precisely what to weave, with sheer follow. “It’s practised arithmetic and is handed on from one technology to the following.”
Then, the presentation confirmed how the jamdani approach takes on variations when completed in Kota (Rajasthan), Paithani (Maharastra), Uppada, Venkatagiri and Srikakulam in Andhra Pradesh and Banaras in Uttar Pradesh. Gaurang has additionally begun liaising with weavers in Kashmir who’re engaged on khadi jamdani saris.
From paithani to ikats and Kanchi silks, Whispers of the Loom showcases a variety of indigenous weaves
| Photograph Credit score:
Nagara Gopal
Gaurang added that a few of the painstaking weaves, a metre of an intricate Paithani design that takes a 12 months to weave, for instance, is woven by ladies. “Males inform me that they don’t have the persistence. For ladies, it’s a state of meditation. They end their family chores and weave from 12 midday to nightfall; they weave with a way of calm required to translate these patterns to the looms.”
Ikats from Orissa, Gujarat and Telangana, jacquards from Kanchipuram and Banaras, indigenous embroideries from Kashmir, chikankari from Lucknow, aari from Kutch, kasuti from Karnataka and mochi embroidery from Rajasthan on saris in vibrant hues took centrestage.
A bunch of girls dancing to ‘Piya tose naina laage re…’ opened the night, pausing to make approach for the presentation, earlier than lastly strolling alongside the fashions for the grand finale.