A new year and a new trip to India is booked...

...That will total up my India trips to once a year for the last 4 years. (well almost - I travelled twice in 2008 and again early 2010)


I travel on the 18th Feb which gives me five and a bit weeks to: get a visa and all the other practicalities, e-mail people to arrange visits and meetings, plan what I will do on these visits and meetings, have interview questions drafted out, buy a new computer, a video camera would be nice too, book train tickets.....


Assembling the bricolage
I am being drawn back to the vast, isolated desert region of Kachchh by the powers that I think drag so many people back to India time and time again, and also the need to collect more information for my research. Since I last went which was a year ago, (arghh) I have developed ideas, gathered pieces of information from various sources, and I am currently piecing them together like the bricoleur (french for handyman) or quilt-maker that Denzin and Lincoln describe the qualitative researcher as in their book Strategies of Qualitative Inquiry. ( I have recently been reading up heavily on research methods!)


I like this metaphor because I can relate to the title 'quilt maker', my previous textile projects involving drawing, printing, stitching and layering fabric, experimenting with new processes and media, and then trying to make sense of it by creating a final piece of work out of it, suitable for a gallery, a throw on someones sofa or a scarf.


The process is pretty much the same for my research, the main difference being that the end result will probably sit on a library shelf, hoping to be read and valued by future researchers, students, designers and artisans.


So as I'm gathering the pieces of data - interview answers, images, video clips, artifacts, dialogue and scores of book references, and trying to piece them together, I'm finding gaps that can only be filled in by going back to the country where the research is based, where it all started.


Dialogue and discussion
I have met, had tea and conversations about ajrakh block-printing and Indian crafts in general, with so many people in India. However, many of these have been one to one conversations. I have decided to arrange meetings with a few different people within the field to have discussions about the situation now within block printing, its designs, markets, its sustainability and future. These groups would consist of organisation members or directors, designers, the artisans working for them either directly or indirectly, and perhaps buyers if possible. 


These discussions will help me gain insight into the opinions of people from all sides of the industry and a group environment would initiate more lively and spontaneous conversation than a one to one interview. In an interview, both interviewer and interviewee are placed strictly in these roles, and there isn't much room for manoeuvre, whereas a group discussion allows for everyone to take equal stance, and each person involved can take part in the research.


Stories and symbols
On another level, I do want to gain more in-depth detail about the stories behind the block-printing tradition from both young and old block-printing artisans. This may be more effective as a one to one conversation and rather than an interview set out, the artisan would lead the conversation and tell the stories he knows and of his experience being a craftsman.


The reason I talk about stories is because I think stories will hold information on the origins and meanings of these designs. Various sources have led me to believe that there are more to these patterns than their aesthetic quality. Many have written of the myths and symbols behind such patterns. I am still trying to find out whether the patterns still have strong links to the ancient patterns of the Indus Valley Civilisation, or due to the strongly exerted Islamic influence at the time the oldest surviving examples of these fabrics were discovered, whether the patterns lie purely in Islamic geometry and cosmology.


Detailed descriptions of patterns found in Islamic art are given by Keith Critchlow. He says the circle ‘has always been regarded as a symbol of eternity, without beginning and without end, just being’ and later as ‘a symbol of simplicity and plentitude’. The circle when inter-linked and connected with other circles and shapes takes on further meanings.


It is thought by some such as Francois Cousin, that ajrakh could have its roots or influences in Sufism. Tahir Shah says 'Sufis used teaching stories as a way to package ideas and information, making them palatable to the mind' Symbols are also very important in Sufism and reflect the same ideas as in the stories. Could some of the motifs and patterns in ajrakh relate to, or have origins in these stories and Sufi ideas?


Tahir Shah in his book In Arabian Nights talks of the rich use of symbols in Christianity as well as Islam (there are probably symbols in most religions), and how the young generation hardly know anything of them, just of symbols seen in computing and the digital world. 'They have become separated from an ancient kind of thinking, oblivious to symbolism in religion, stories and art. The chain has been broken..' He goes on to say teaching this symbolism again would be like teaching a language that has been forgotten so that an ancient literature could be accessed again.


I hope to find out whether the language of ajrakh is still known, who knows of it and how it is being interpreted amongst its new international markets...

knitting, stitching and pairings

In spite of the weather warnings, I braved the journey to Harrogate on Sunday to visit the Knitting and Stitching show, at the harrogate international centre. The journey there was smooth, but the snow came six hours earlier than forecast so of course the whole town came to stand still, and on the way back, what should have been a 2 hour journey turned into a six hour feat.


However, I was glad I made it. Never having been before, I was overwhelmed at the amount of yarn, stitch, crafts, beads and all sorts of other curiosities and wonderments associated with knitting ans stitching in one huge centre.

The textile gallery was of the most interest to me, and I particularly enjoyed the exhibition of my fellow students and staff at Manchester metropolitan University. It was to accompany the recently published Machine stitch perspectives by Alice Kettle and Jane McKeating. Both the book and the exhibition celebrate the beauty of the sewing machine and the vast amount of results it can produce.

The two are now working an an accompanying book, Hand Stitch Perspectives. Jane's chapters will include some of the communities in India, particularly Gujarat, working in hand embroidery, and some of the projects that are working alongside the artisans to help create sustainable markets for them.

Alice and Jane's work also featured in the MMU project Pairings which was exhibited in the university library from July to November this year. I was intrigued at the outcomes of the collaborative of artists from different disciplines and how two contrasting mediums worked alongside together.






The above work must have been influence by the envelope dowry bags distinctive to embroidering communities in India. Below is the back of one of these bags made by the Dhebaria Rabari community of Kachchh.

Holi article

I'm please to see my article about Holi published in the new issue of Masquerade magazine. http://www.masquerademag.com/ - page 9. It fits nicely into the celebration theme, and I love the vibrancy of the images and the way its been laid out.

Celebrating with the locals, Holi 2008 in Hampi.

an unusual spot to find a rug

The other day I went walking in the Goyt valley in Cheshire and came across this scrap of fabric imbedded in the track leading to a farm. It was sad to see that a rug had just been left to perish. However I had to take a photo of it as I liked the effects of the textures of the woven patterned cloth intermingled with the stones of the path.

Men of Cloth

Gavin Fry

I've just come across lots of pictures from past exhibitions that I've visited. I meant to write about them earlier but have never got round to it.
'Men of Cloth' was at the Waterside Arts Centre in Sale, Greater Manchester from 3rd July to 4th Sep 2010. I can't seem to find out whether it is touring.

It was really refreshing to see a collection of beautiful art work in the textile medium produced by males when it has so often been an art associated with women. I though it was a really nice idea to collate this work into one exhibition, as it is a way of changing and challenging that perception of the textile arts.

This was especially after I had seen so much enthusiasm, passion and skill of the block-printing artisans whilst working with them in India, which is traditionally a male activity.

I have added some pictures of the work I particularly liked.

Michael Brennand-Wood I have always admired the forms his sculptural textiles take.

Matthew Harris explores the 'Symbiotic relationship between textiles and music'

James Hunting reminds me a little of Alice kettle. I love the soft painterly textures with striking details of delicate embroidery stitches in bold colours.

Kazuhito Takadoi This picture doesn't give justice to Takadoi's work, the delicate simplicity and sensitive homage to nature. I just found them so pleasing to look at.


Colin Jenkins - I was attracted to the way he brings what, to me seem like quite boring furnishing fabric swatches to life with quirky embroidered illustrations

Moroccan Islamic patterns

Above: The same star pattern seen in 4 different contexts. This was something that kept re-occuring.

Blue and white is a common colour combination in the tile work. This pattern can appear quite jumbled and like a random scattering of squares. But when you squint you can see perfectly shaped diamonds. It has many different dimensions, as have the majority of the Islamic patterns.

Paris

There were a few highlights during my trip to Paris which are worth mentioning. Of course we visited all the obvious sites. We experienced one of our few strokes of good luck arriving at the Louvre on the first Sunday of the month which meant free entry! However this did mean constantly squeezing through hoards of people, as if gallery visiting isn't exhausting enough already! Not too bothered about the over praised Mona Lisa, i went in search of ancient artifacts and any clues to some origins of my Indian block printed textiles patterns.

I thought the patterns on this important looking man's coat showed similarities to Indian Ajrakh block printing and in colour also. Looking back at my notes, I can only make out that it is dated 2600 BC. Although I'm now not trusting my roughly scribbled translations from french, as it doesn't look this old. I will always take a proper notepad to galleries in future, and create a clear coding system for the photos

Geese seem to appear constantly in ancient artifacts, and seem to hold important symbolic meaning for the ancient civilisations that created images of them. They are also seen in the patterns on the oldest textiles in evidence found in Egypt, thought to have come from India.

Many other geometric patterns painted onto pots used similar patterns and in the similar natural colours in use today.

By the side of the vast Louvre is Le musee des arts decoratifs. A beautiful old building, it exhibited fashion, art deco and nouveau interiors, jewellery and other styles of decorative art, including a temporary exhibition of design using animal imagery - collection of very garish objects. For me the exhibitions inside were not as impressive as the building, although I did enjoy the exhibits of fashion by some of Paris' famous designers.

In complete contrast to ancient art were the eccentric, eerie sculptures on the pond overlooked by the dominating Pompidou centre. I loved just sitting and viewing these crazy objects, but if sat at night with few people around, I imagine listening to their creaking movements would have created a really eerie atmosphere.

There was something good to come out of missing our train due to the strikes. We had an extra day in Paris and hadn't yet had chance to see the Institut du monde arabe, which I had wanted to visit. We picked up one of the public velos and took our own tour along the seine. Paris architecture does amaze at almost every corner. And this was yet another fascinating building because of its uniqueness and contemporary design. I loved the continuous symmetry in the building's surface pattern that is such a big part of Arabic culture and Islam.
I loved the way geometrical and symmetrical patterns that are so often used in traditional Islamic art and architecture, were here applied to a contemporary context to create quite a striking effect.

Unfortunately you weren't allowed to take photos inside. The building inside wasn't quite as striking as it appears on the outside, although they have an extensive collection of Arabic artifacts and art. Pieces of contemporary paintings were exhibited alongside Typically we were there when they were renovating a whole gallery as well, so usually there would be a lot more to see.