• Abstract and Figures
• Public Full-text

* 29 Heidi F. Jie HREADS STORIES IN THE THREADS: INTERVENTION AND T REINTERPRETATION IN KANTHA-MAKING The art of mending is an ancient craft. From clothing to pottery, what was worn and damaged was repaired to be used again. The repurposing of textiles has long been appreciated as an art form. Quilting, or the sewing together of layers of fabric by stitching through those layers to produce a thicker fabric, has been practiced in many regions around the world, from Europe and Asia to the Americas and Africa, and has taken on many forms and techniques. Quilting refers to the activity as well as the stitching technique used to work through the layers, and there are similarities and variances in both of these across traditions and cultures. For the purposes of this essay, the term ‘craft’ will refer to the mastery, skill and effort involved in making a thing by hand, in this case, a textile work such as a kantha. Because these works are an expression of that skill, requiring the use of imagination and creativity, they are a form of art.1 TORIES IN THE S The word ‘kantha’ speaks not only of a textile used for bedding and the name of the stitch; it has come to refer to any object using the stitch as part of its design. It can be found on a variety objects from saris to home furnishings today. Very simple and versatile, it lends itself easily to many design possibilities and materials. The only criterion for the perfect kantha stitch is that it is even in size and spacing, an exacting task. Although there is a multiplicity of stitches in an embroiderers’ arsenal, the running stitch is by far the most prevalent. Kantha were originally made as bed coverings and wraps, for family and loved ones, marking important life events such as births and weddings. To make kantha, first old and worn clothing, traditionally old saris and dhotis that are worn and threadbare, but wonderfully soft, has to be collected. These fabrics are layered two, three, or more in thickness. The art is in the embroidered imagery that holds the layers together, creating a new, stronger fabric in the process. As a humble running stitch, its simplicity is deceptive, for it is difficult to execute well. Skill and practice is needed to create evenly spaced stitches, the sign of an experienced kantha maker. Easy to learn, and quick in execution, a little bit of thread can go a long way. This was important in earlier kantha that were made using thread pulled from sari borders. Today, embroidery floss in a myriad of colours is commonly used. The surface is filled with stitches pulled lightly, resulting in a characteristic rippling across the surface, with a unique texture and drape. Lastly, the stitch lends itself easily to design, leaving a world of potential open and allowing the stitcher to ‘draw’ over Fig. 1 the surface of the kantha. Pure cotton malmal or markin is favoured for Kantha (detail), 2 Nanoor, West Bengal, its softness, and is sometimes pre-washed before stitching. Even with 2016 easily available ready-made materials, kantha madeDownloaded from old from clothingBrill.com09/25/2021 are 10:04:08PM via free access 30 Fig. 1 Kantha (detail), Nanoor, West Bengal, author’s collection cherished, are never thrown away, and are often re-used when making another kantha. Depending on the size, purpose and creative ambition of the kantha-maker, it can take anywhere from a few months to a few years to complete one. Quiet expressions interrupted The kantha is indigenous to the region covering West Bengal and Bangladesh and its historical origins lie deep in the history and culture of the area. For centuries, the art remained in the home, and its designs remained relatively stable. Shaped by the Swadeshi and Khadi movements, these design evolutions accelerated when kantha were used to represent cultural and national identity in the early 1900s; the main proponent of this, Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore, did much to advocate and advance indigenous Bengali arts and crafts. Educational programmes to train rural people were created along with professional organisations that could turn these crafts into marketable goods. These efforts continued into the 1980s, culminating in exhibitions in New Delhi and Mumbai that brought the kantha into the public eye. Its resurgence was aided by using new materials and designs to cater to modern tastes. Designers, a major force behind these design changes, found new ways to use the stitch to make contemporary products that appealed to a wider market.3 Today, designers employ many kantha-makers, and are primarily responsible for the appearance of commercial kantha items, deciding on materials, colours and designs. Because of this, the makers have lost much of their influence on kantha design. The influences can be – but are not always – determined by market demands, Western trends, and the urban elite customer who can afford these often costly pieces. The rich Indian craft tradition remains an integral part and very relevant aspect of the designDownloaded process. from Brill.com09/25/2021 10:04:08PM via free access 31 Fig. 2 Twentieth-century societal changes and the decline in the teaching of Kantha sari being crafts in schools have affected kantha-making in the home. It is, however, embroidered, cotton on silk, Alcha Design still passed down through the women in the family, particularly within Studio, Santiniketan, the Muslim community where making ten or more kantha to win the West Bengal, 2016 approval of the prospective mother-in-law is still a current practice. This is similar to European and American quilters of the 19th century, who Fig. 3 had to prove themselves worthy as housewives by sewing a comparable Kantha sari (detail), embroidery cotton number of quilts. In the West Bengal region, fewer kantha are being made on silk, Santiniketan, due to demographic changes. More and more Hindu women work outside West Bengal, 2016 the home, leaving fewer family members to pass on the art to children. Moreover, commercial designers prefer to employ Muslim women to make kantha because of their expert skills, and the work enables the women to earn a supplementary income. The Islamic prohibition on embroidering animals and figures has resulted in a prevalence of floral and geometric motifs. Commercial market demands are causing a simplification of designs, changing how the kantha look. In a world where cookie-cutter goods are readily available, designers have wearied of having to justify the cost to their customers by emphasising the amount of time it takes to make a kantha item, and that each one is unique because the materials are hand-dyed and woven, sometimes resulting in unexpected but equally beautiful design variations. Moving forward The words ‘tradition’ and ‘craft’ have come to suggest a firm rooting in the past, something that is destined to repeat itself, unchanging. A mid-18th-century Western invention, ‘craft’ was separated from art. Though admired for its creativity, crafts and by extension folk art were not bestowed with the same value as art. What it meantDownloaded to from be Brill.com09/25/2021a craftsman 10:04:08PM via free access 32 was understood before the industrial period, yet today it continues to imply a mechanistic manner of working that is often far from the truth.4 Under these terms, the importance of kantha and crafts in general is shrouded within society. Other forms of craftsmanship such as dyers, spinners and weavers along with the use of commercially made materials support these craft industries as well as permit a greater repository for creativity and design development. A few kantha-makers have been able to become more financially independent, and some have built their own successful kantha-making businesses, contributing to the textile industry that, if strengthened, could provide even more benefits to all involved. Everyone involved in kantha-making is fiercely proud of the tradition of the craft and open to new ideas and creative exchanges. There is a concern that kantha could become disassociated from its cultural roots as the commercial aspect of the industry responds to the market. We can learn from these makers about this material culture and the processes of making to better understand them and their art. The understanding of kantha, and consequently craft, is vital to humanity as a counterbalance to technology, an outlet for artistic expression, a carrier of history, and as a means to connect across boundaries and cultures. • Heidi F. Jie is currently completing her MA in Asian Studies at Leiden University and conducted fieldwork on kantha-making in West Bengal. An avid quilter herself, she has a keen interest in studying arts and crafts, with a focus on textiles. Her work on kantha will not end with her thesis; she is also making a documentary film on the subject. literature Glenn Adamson, The Invention of Craft, London, Bloomsbury, London, 2013. Evelyn Payne Hatcher, Art as Culture: An Introduction to the Anthropology of Art, University Press of America, Lanham, MD, 1985, p. 10. Ritu Sethi, Embroidering Futures: Repurposing the Kantha, India Foundation for the Arts, Bangalore, 2012. Niaz Zaman, The Art of Kantha Embroidery, The University Press, Dhaka, 2012, p. 25. notes * Revised by Mark Poysden 1. Hatcher 1985: 10. 2. Zaman 2012: 25. 3. Sethi 2012: 41-47. 4. Adamson 2013: xvi-xvii. Downloaded from Brill.com09/25/2021 10:04:08PM via free access.

Load more

  4

Copy Link