Artisans Around Us: Sunita Mohanty

"If you dream it,you can do it": Sunita Mohanty

For each person out there who desires to realize their goals, their dreams however have faced tons of Obstacles, Doubters, have created mistakes and so finally given up…Well here’s the story of 1 Odisha woman who made it all on her own by breaking out of all the prevailing stereotypes. Mrs. Sunita Mohanty, associate businessperson and also the owner of Neena Crafts, five years past was a bit like the other Painter trying to find a chance to touch the lives of others through her work however rather than waiting, she set to form for herself a platform wherever she may level up in achieving her dreams and thus Neena Crafts was fashioned.

Neena Crafts is presently concerned with creating and commerce of Paintings together with the illustrious Pattachitra art form that is understood for its involved details and mythological narratives inscribed in it. Not solely Pattachitra however Neena Crafts additionally features a form of Wall paintings, hand paintings and even saree paintings that are splendidly referred to as Kalamkari. However what interests me a lot of is that the Pattachitra art form, for it's galvanized by the Hindu Mythology and to create only 1 Pattachitra it takes months or maybe a year of labour and patience to place in such a big amount of range of natural colours and portray a story out of it. The saree paintings and even the wall paintings created by Neena Crafts might be of our own alternative, it’s like we tend to may wear art in our sarees and walk and even adorn and style our dream house with all the fashionable nonetheless ancient wall paintings.

As we all know that there's a lot of demand of the hand sewn merchandise within the market and particularly paintings like Pattachitra and Wall paintings would need masterful artists of that, Neena crafts has recruited well-trained and economical operating individuals which permits it to finish the received orders from customers over the year and even reach resolute more audience by putting up their work in several Craft Exhibitions. Until currently they have their store in Odisha wherever the demand of Pattachitra paintings is extremely high however they're yet to create their on-line presence within the market.

It's true that Mrs. Sunita Mohanty broke out of the notion set that says that ladies shouldn’t work after wedding for she took a step and created Neena Crafts which is with success running nowadays, for at that point she gave her Painter Self an opportunity to Evolve!

(Interviewed by Neha Dash, KSOM 2nd year Student during her internship)

Read More

Textile traditions of India: The awe-inspiring world of Ajrakh

Ajrakh is that awe-inspiring block print fabric, gratifying the senses and the soul, steeped in 400 year old history. How about enriching your sartorial taste with a dash of this vibrant fabric that defies geographical boundaries and connects us with the abundantly rich textile traditions of India. I'm happy to share my second blog in this series, featuring the world of Ajrakh.

Synonymous with the region with of Kutch and Sindh (in Pakistan) today, authentic Ajrakh is striving hard to revive and survive - it needs our appreciation, care and concern.  Patterns and designs that are rooted in our composite culture, tracing back to the Mohenjodaro civilization, bind us with our neighbour Pakistan and trace our links with the Egyptian glory.

Ajrakh takes me back to those days when Hyderabad had very few stores that sold ready-to-wear handlooms and hand block printed garments. I got introduced to Ajrakh at this small store in Lal Bahadur Stadium, run by Sohan Shetkari Sanghathan. I can still remember vividly how the store manager explained to me why Ajrakh garments cost more than other prints and how constrained I was to buy with with my measly pocket money in student days!

I always cherished the longing wish to own at least a kurta and a dupatta; here’s a stole from Fabindia that I usually pair with my tops and tunics for that awesomely earthy feeling!

Ajrakh is symbolic and and literal at the same time. The paradoxical name of aj-rakh (keep it today) actually refers to a process that takes days  as the fabric undergoes magical changes, transforming itself into something beautiful and ethereal.  As this richly informative source says: "The word Ajrakh also relates it to the Arabic word 'Ajrukh', meaning 'deep blue'; referring to the 'universe". The sharp geometrical patterns resembling stars and the indigo dye denoting the sky is a symbolic representation of the ‘universe’, originally depicting Islamic forms of architecture.

Here are some interesting facts about Ajrakh  that give its unique colours and shining finish no matter whether it’s done on cotton, silk or any other fabric:

• Authentic Ajrakh is printed on both side, with pure natural dyes
• A mixture of  camel dung soda ash, castor oil is used to soak the cloth and soften
• The resist method uses Chuna (quick lime ) and gum arabic to get the exact natural effect

This video captures the process in detail and shows the ingredients and the delicate intricacies that are followed traditionally

My interest in learning more about the textile, took me to the books and videos of Ms. Jasleen Dhamija, the well-known textile historian and author, deeply connected with crafts and handlooms of India. Spare a few minutes to watch Ms. Dhamija narrating interesting incidents that takes us back to historical moments:

It's almost impossible to say many nice things about Ajrakh in a short write-up. However, it's heartening to have so many online sources to learn from. I wouldn't have been able to compose this piece without referring to many online sources, particularly Youtube and Wikipedia.

(Contributed by Madhuri Dubey)

Read More