Kachchh Ji Chhaap: 500 years of Batik and Block Print

Bringing together the Block printers and dyers of Kachchh and Khamir, our exhibition ‘Kachchh Ji Chhaap’ is now open!

The exhibition is an attempt to tell the story of prints and print making as it unfolded from the time it was practiced on the banks of the Indus to its many facets today. Kachchh Ji Chhaap is an intricate tale of the craftsmen, bringing together narratives of their lives, their milestones and their challenges.

The Exhibition will be held at the Khamir Campus from 7th December 2013 to 28th February 2014.

History has its hands full

Working with the past, swimming in people’s memories from ‘back then’ and telling tales of a time that is long gone can be a challenging task. These stories take us into a world that is fondly remembered to be a more honest, more simple and a more happy one. And especially to the urban ones like us, the poetry of it all speaks to everything that we wish to be, but are uneasily aware that we are not.

Together with the Khamir and the artisans of Kachchh, “Kachchh Ji Chhaap : 500 years of blockprinting history” coming soon on 7th December.

A Blockprint Universe full of Silhouette Buffaloes

“How do you draw a camel?” A very valid question if one is trying to describe Kachchh in typical pictures. We are in our new second home, Ajrakhpur. Working on the poster for the upcoming exhibit. Rather than designing something on the computer, we want to print it on real cloth, fill the poster with life and real colour. So we went to design the poster together with Rauf and Khalid and especially Khalid, who would leave laughter lines on our faces.

Rauf is currently our source number one, who is accompanying us to visit many artisans across the region and helping us to connect to the Khatri community. Khalid, also a Blockprinter from Ajrakhpur, whom we met for the first time a few days back. A less worded, simple man. The kind of type I maybe would not recognize if he was walking by. Rauf told me he was the craziest man here in Ajrakhpur, I had some problems to imagine that “big boy” with the “I can not harm any fly” eyes to be the fanciest artisan around. But I was wrong. As soon as he started showing his pieces Krazy Khalid showed his face.

His pieces are different from everything we have seen until now. He does not care about traditional pattern, rules and the design of his ancestors.  He has his own head.  When everyone would print in the day he would print at night, when everyone bets on traditional pattern he would invent his own way of drawing. His own remark to his work: “There is no meaning at all, I am only taking some Blocks and putting them together to see whats happening.”
A real teaser. Stunned, amused and excited we decided to design the poster for the exhibition together with him.
We go the following day to his workshop.

Do we want something simple or complex? Should we layer it with colours and motifs? Should we use traditional blocks or make our own drawings?

What followed was a full day of work and play. Various ideas and laughing fits later we created several prints.

We used a resist dye on canvas cloth that we would later transform in colour by dyeing the cloth in indigo and red ( the traditional colours of blockprint)

Especially proud we are of the hand drawn camel and the little newspaper silhouette buffaloes which should represent the landscape of Kachchh.

So graphic designing with the artisans = success!
And what does the final design look like? You will see soon here on Made in Kachcch!