Between a clutch of high-end textile designers hopping on the handloom bandwagon and an ageing community of textile artisans, a few have been working with traditional craft clusters across the country to preserve the heritage of crafts forms in various ways. One such recent initiative is that of Crafts Council of Andhra Pradesh (CCAP) who are taking efforts to support the textile craft of Shibori through a two-day tie and dye workshop being held in the city by liaising with Rajasthani craftspeople. Giving a new spin to indigenous textiles crafting techniques is the new collaborative concept that entail a fusion of two different crafts from the regions of Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh. The two-day workshop that was inaugurated on Friday at Anmol Villa, beside Palm Beach hotel on Beach Road, saw artisans of Angara, Chitrika, Uppada, Bobbili from remote villages of Andhra Pradesh turn up for the joint effort to infuse the tie and dye technique to the fabrics and styles produced in the region.
Nikki Joshi, a traditional textile craftsperson from Jaipur, is in the city to introduce Shibori - one of the oldest known Japanese dyeing techniques - to the weavers of AP. Explaining about this ancient cloth dyeing technique which includes stitching, binding, twisting, clamping and folding, Joshi says that the aim of the workshop is to educate the participants about the different techniques of Shibori and open up possibilities of a new form of art. While the Shibori trend pops up on every Pinterest board devoted to home décor, the art today is facing its own challenges for existence. "Screen printing techniques have allowed for the pattern to be mass-produced. This is killing the market for handcrafted Shibori. It has also created an imbalance in the price structure. Handcrafted Shibori is a laborious, painstaking process and thus is costlier," says Joshi. According to him, workshops are the biggest platforms to connect with the end customers and spread awareness on the difference between screen prints and the proper handcrafted Shibori technique. However, from the past one year with the handloom revival movement gaining momentum, the craft technique is slowly making a comeback in the repertoire of fashion and interior designs as well as the consumer retail space.
Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh 25-05-2018: Nikki Joshi and Pragati Nagar from Jaipur explaining about Shibori craft at a workshop organised by Crafts Council of AP in Visakhapatnam on Friday.---photo: C.V.Subrahmanyam.
CCAP's initiative of the workshop is supported by Jaipur based startup The Craft Tree, founded by Pragati Nagar Bhattacharya. Her passion for India’s traditional crafts, helping the craftspersons find viable markets and preserving their heritage took her on an entrepreneurial journey. "The idea is to conduct similar workshops across cities in India and spread awareness among people about the making of these textile craft techniques - many of which are struggling for existence today," says Nagar. Her next event in Visakhapatnam would be a natural dye workshop.
Because of its handmade nature, a true Shibori print varies in design, depth of color and no two pieces are alike. From deep, saturated hues and washed-out indigoes to a new trend of pastel shades, the tonal diversity of Shibori is broad, and the range of patterns are even more varied. "Traditionally, indigo used to be the most popular shade in Shibori. Now pastel shades have come up and patterns have moved from geometric designs to animal and floral patterns," says Joshi, who has done a masters in Shibori and also runs his own label called Syahi. "Through the tie and dye workshop, we want to introduce the Shibori techniques to the Andhra artisans and help them come up with contemporary patterns by infusing two different crafts. Design intervention is a significant way to bring about a revival in the handloom and handicraft sector," Ammaji Rayudu, joint secretary of CCAP.
As part of the workshop, a summer pop-up collection is also being showcased at the venue. The workshop will be on from 11 am to 6.30 pm on Saturday.
