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.

So what are you doing in Ajrakhpur?

Abdul Rauf and Mansukh, both Khatris, both Blockprinters, but two men who could not be more contradictory.
Rauf, the businessmen. He knows about the value of his craft, he knows how to sell it, how to present it. He knows why it is important to preserve his craft.

And Mansook? He considers himself as a laborer, is working for the same customers since he started, the same pattern, the same cloth. He has never visited other Blockprinters, never came out of Bela and had never met Rauf…Until Now.

“So, what are you doing in Ajrakhpur?” asks Mansukh.

This is the first conversation between two worlds who are rooted in the same thing but couldn´t be more different. Who they are? What is their story?

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Bringing together the Khatri Blockprinters of Kachchh – The Blockprint Collective – coming up soon in December 2013 at Khamir

I put my soul in it

“Your Batik piece is beautiful kaka!! What price would you like to sell it for?”
“Price? I don’t know about price my dear. All I know is that one afternoon, I was dyeing this piece when they served me chai. I asked them to leave it by my side. I was so consumed in my work that a couple of minutes later, I drank the small pot of dyed water instead! I cannot put a price on it. I put my soul in it.”
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Together with the Printers and Dyers of Kachchh
– The Blockprint Collective – an exhibition coming soon in December 2013 at Khamir