Kalamkari

Kalamkari refers to a method of painting with vegetable and natural dyes on cotton or silk fabric with a bamboo pen or kalam. Hence the name kalamkari which translates as pen (kalam) work (kari) in Hindi/Urdu, and was most likely derived from trade relationships between Persian and Indian merchants as early as the 10th century. Kalamkari is native to the Coromandel coast of South India. Two major styles of Kalamkari emerged around Masulipatnam (near Hyderabad) and Sri Kalahasti, also in Andhra Pradesh, While the origins of kalamkari in Sri Kalahasti are unknown, evidence from old texts indicate that the art form flourished throughout the Deccan plateau between the 13th and 19th centuries. It is possible that Sri Kalahasti also enjoyed local patronage from the Sri Kalahasteeswara temple, a prominent Shiva temple. Temples were traditionally centers for art and culture.Therefore Kalamkari from Sri Kalahasti received a largely Hindu patronage, and artists in the area continue that tradition, depicting a variety of Hindu narrative themes from the ancient epics of the Ramayana, Mahabharata, and Shiva Puranas. The Masulipatnam style evolved with the advent of Muslim rulers in the Deccan, and trade relations with the Persian Safavid Empire and brought a gradual inclusion of more intricate and delicate motifs like trees, creepers, flowers and leaves. Merchants and traders from around the world used Indian textiles, the majority of which were kalamkari, as a currency in the Spice Trade. European and East Asian markets demanded spices like nutmeg, clove, and pepper as well as aromatic woods and oils, which were available almost exclusively in parts of Southeast Asia and Indonesia. As time went on, Indian textiles were seen as luxury items in themselves, and a variety of textiles and textile-related products were sold to merchants throughout Europe, the Middle East and Asia. the Portugese called it pintado, the Dutch used the name sitz, and the British preferred chintz. The name kalamkari is used prominently today, and is synonymous with both painted and hand blockprinted textiles that incorporate natural vegetable/organically-derived dyes.

Hand painted Kalamkari art is created on cotton textile using only natural vegetable dyes. The process involves seventeen painstaking steps. The cotton fabric is immersed in a mixture of myrabalam (resin) and milk to obtain a glossy finish. Intricate designs are sketched onto the fabric by artists using burnt tamarind twigs as pens, or 'kalams'. Typical colours used are reds, blues and mustard on earth tones giving Kalamkari fabrics their distinctive look. After each step, the fabric is rinsed repeatedly in clean water and dried. The end result is a beautiful, individually produced work of art that relies on the imagination of the artisans drawing inspiration from ancient Indian mythology or in more contemporary interpretations for clothing and home furnishings.

Since the base fabric is either cotton or silk, or in more recent years, on chiffons or crepes, Kalamkari on clothing has become synonymous with ethnic chic.

Check out this stunning selection from http://www.yncimports.com/

An Artist in the Family

In the year 1990, at the age of 61, my Aunt, Padma, was felled by a stroke that left her paralysed on her left side. The fact that she pulled through and retrieved sufficient motor function through seven years of rehabilitative therapy, left her convinced that there was some divine dispensation in this, and perhaps some unfinished work remained for her to complete.
She had been a painter and the only activity that was really open to her, given her physical condition, was to return to her paint brushes again.

"Flowers are the smile of the Divine", said the Mother of Pondicherry. At a time when I saw only colour and beauty in flowers, I owe it to her that she opened my eyes to their divinity." Being a devotee of the Mother from Aurobindo Ashram, it was as if Padma was called to make this the theme of a series of paintings on flowers that figure so prominently in the Indian religious ritual.

The paintings were displayed in an Exhibition in the Shrishti Gallery at Hotel Chola Sheraton, Chennai, from the 4th. to the 9th. April, 1999, under the thematic title "A Divine Thought - Flowers for Deities".

These paintings became her offering...in a sense, a garland of paintings on flowers rather than the garland itself.

Five of these paintings are reproduced here.

My inspiration comes from.........

My Father, from whom I have inherited my good taste in fabrics......somehow he was the one who took us all shopping for Sarees or clothes and had an unerring instinct for what would look good, There were shopping trips to the famous Radha Silk Emporium in the heart of Mylapore, where he would pick out unusual Kanjeevarams and trips to see the amazing collection of Textiles at the Ahmedabad Textile Museum which was started by the Sarabhai family.

My Mother, who encouraged me to dress 'differently' !! For a person who came from a traditional Tam-Bram family, she was fine when I wanted to wear sleeveless cholis with my sarees or jeans or skirts as long as the 'look' was tasteful. As I grew older and moved to the USA, she and I collaborated on a collection of Tanjore paintings together. She cooked, kept house and raised two children. She wrote. She also had artistic talent, but never pursued it fully. But from her, I learnt how to search for excellence in the things I did, however mundane they were.

My maternal Aunt, Padma, a rebel, an artist, a painter, a poet....I could go on and on. She was a self-taught painter who had numerous art exhibitions all over India. Her last two exhibitions, however, were remarkable, as she worked on them after recovering from a debilitating stroke. From her I have learnt to be courageous and be persistent, how to laugh. She always encouraged me to strike out and do what I wanted to do because, as she put it, I have the 'eye' for such things.

Kausalya Aunty, my mother's childhood friend, from whom I heard countless tales of princely families, where women were cloistered behind 'purdah', even in the Hindu families. She used to have a saree shop when I was in college, where they sold Venkatgiri cottons, Kotahs, and mulls, with the most exquisite block prints. She pioneered the use of Kalamkaari on cotton sarees and made it chic among the young college crowd in Madras in those days. She went on to design the most amazing pieces of jewellery where she took old pieces and re-interpreted them in modern ways, while retaining their old-world charm. More than anyone else, she has fashioned my sensibilities towards textile arts and jewellery. And above all, I have admired her grace and strength.