Announcing this Spectacular Event!
CELEBRATING EDUCATION FOR ARTISANS IN INDIA
Author & Artist Talk, Trunk Show, Book Signing,
Textile Dye Workshop & Weaving Demonstration
November 21 - 23
For the month of November 2024, author Judy Frater and two artisan designers from India will launch Frater’s new book Artisans by Design: An Odyssey of Education for Textile Artisans in India with talks, a dye workshops, a weaving demonstration, artisan designed textiles, and book signings.
21 November A Talk, Trunk Show and Book Signing Artisans by Design
10:00 am – 8:00 pm Trunk Show, 6:00 - 8:00 Book Panel*
*Book panel with Judy Frater and artisan design graduates Adil Khatri and Pachan Siju
Judy Frater with Adil Khatri, a bandhani artist, and Pachan Siju, a weaver, both graduates of the design program will discuss their experiences of traditional artisans learning design, their understanding of traditions and the role of markets and innovation.
Copies of the book and the artisan participants’ exclusively designed collections of scarves, shawls and kaftans in cotton, silk and wool will be available for appreciation and sale.
Artisans by Design chronicles the journey of developing the first design school for artisans in India and fifteen years of artisans learning design. Spanning 50 years, the story is told in vignettes of artisans who were part of the journey, intertwined with the author’s story. Through this dialogue, the reader experiences what happened, how and why, and what its impact has been on traditional artisans in the contemporary world. A rare, intimate portrayal of artisans, the book offers personal connections to people usually glimpsed from a distance and insights into tradition, craft, and the creativity of traditional artisans. It provides textile afficionados and people concerned with sustainability an authentic, fresh approach to development, illuminates sustainability as cultural heritage and presents development as human centered.
The book will be published with Schiffer Publishing LTD on October 28, 2024.
Register for the Talk, Trunk Show & Book Signing -Artisans by Design- Here:
https://www.manitouartcenter.org/event-5876610
The Talk, Trunk Show and Signing are free* to attend!
*Donations to support the visiting artists traveling here from India and the fabulous author, organizing this event ,on their tour are greatly appreciated. You may donate online when you register online with us to attend or donate cash in person as a walk-in. Thank you!
22-23 November: opportunities to learn unique Indian traditions from masters.
22 November: Bandhani workshop 10am-4pm
Register Here: https://www.manitouartcenter.org/event-5865682
Adil M. Khatri’s* imaginative and skilled bandhani work has earned him many awards and brought him opportunities to work with designers, scholars, and customers from all over the world. In this workshop he will teach traditional Kutch bandhani (tie dye), using techniques that combine bandhani (tiny dots), shibori (stitched resist), and clamp dye.
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23 November: Weaving Demonstration 10am-4pm Donation Based / Free to Attend
Register Here: https://www.manitouartcenter.org/event-5865668
Pachan P. Siju’s* weaving skills and imagination have also brought him opportunities to work with designers, scholars, and customers from all over the world. In this workshop he will teach traditional Kutch supplemental weft designs using finger manipulation, finishing and joining techniques, and twill and weft-faced weaves.
Walk-ins to the weaving demonstration on the 23rd are welcome!
Judy Frater Bio
Ashoka Fellow Judy Frater lived with artisans of Kutch for three decades, where she founded Kala Raksha Trust and Museum, Kala Raksha Vidhyalaya, the first design school for artisans, and reinvented the school as Somaiya Kala Vidya. She has been honored with the Sir Misha Black Medal for Design Education, the Crafts Council of India Kamla award, the Designers of India Design Guru Award and more. Previously Associate Curator at The Textile Museum, author of Threads of Identity: Embroidery and Adornment of the Nomadic Rabaris, and The Art of the Dyer in Kutch, she has written and lectured extensively on craft, and has an over 8,000 following. She now lives in Santa Fe.
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*Adil Mustak Khatri Bio
Adil revived his family tradition.After twelfth grade, he learned bandhani, then took the KRV design course to learn more. He pushed as many boundaries as he could, creating airy resort wear highly textured with bandhani and shibori. “I lost mental limitations,” he said. “Now I think I can do anything in bandhani.” Winning awards for Best Collection, Best Presentation, and Best Student, Adil signed up for the pilot SKV graduate course in Business and Management. He created Nilak, envisioning it as a global brand. “The course taught me that ethics is as important as good quality work,” he recalls. Adil married his classmate Zakiya, and they started a joint business, beginning an ever-evolving collection inspired by Islamic architecture. Adil learned natural dyeing and continues to experiment with natural fabrics. Though Kutch has hundreds of bandhani artists, and bandhani is ever-present in markets, Adil and Zakiya’s work is memorable. Adil won the 2015 Gujarat State Award for Excellence in craft, and in 2018 the Crafts Council of India created the Kamala Award for Young Artisans in his honour. He received the World Crafts Council seal of excellence, and in 2020 and 2022 was juried into the highly competitive International Folk Art Market| Santa Fe. In 2021, Adil won the first AIACA NextGen Entrepreneur award. In 2022 he traveled to Oaxaca to conduct workshops through the Museo Textil de Oaxaca. In 2023, he participated in an artisan exchange with Denmark and traveled to Denmark, Norway and Sweden. An avid photographer, Adil adeptly translates concepts to contemporary designs. But he cares deeply about his tradition. Outraged at screen printed copies of bandhani and dubious about mass production, he says artisans must do what machines can’t: quick innovation, with excellent skill.
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*Pachan Premji Siju Bio
A renowned weaver, Pachan's father told his sons weaving had no future. When he passed, Pachan had to weave. Then, seeking better income, he worked the night shift at a mining factory. The pollution affected him, so he returned to weaving. Meanwhile his brother Puroshottam studied design at KRV, and the three brothers began their own business. Pachan knew weaving but had little exposure. In 2015 Puroshottam sent him to SKV. In one design class, he learned that education did not mean reading and writing. “This is a course for me!” he declared. He graduated with the award for Most Marketable Collection. Designer Ritu Kumar showed his collection at Rajasthan Heritage week. “Before, I thought design was a fixed notion,” Pachan reflected. “Now I am able to play! More than livelihood, weaving is art, a source of respect, and a thread that links me and my brothers.” He designed a logo Three Threads, symbolizing warp, weft and extra weft-- and the three brothers, now their brand. In 2018, Pachan mentored women weavers in Kumaon. “We had to really grasp what we knew,” he said. He realized that teaching was building creativity and confidence. On return, he designed and wove two saris inspired by the pinecones he had seen. More impressive, he wove a collection of one-of-a-kind saris. He later mentored women artisans in Ladakh and participated in a co-design project with Oaxacan artisans. Pachan’s next collections using intricate extra weft figures to express his concern with climate change, the imagination in clouds and the wisdom of his mother were juried into the International Folk Art Market 2020, 2022 and 2023. In 2022 he traveled to Oaxaca to conduct workshops through the Museo Textil de Oaxaca, and in 2023 he attended IFAM in Santa Fe. “I have woven all my life,” he said. “What I have done with my weaving is what is important.”
For more information, contact judyf@textileslive.com
Organized by Textiles Live LLC www.textileslive.com