CRAFT TECHNIQUE: Khadi + Kutch Embroidery (Suf)
KHADI is any cloth that is hand spun and hand woven. A 5,000-year-old craft that Mahatma Ghandi rekindled in India almost 100 years ago. Khadi became not only a symbol of revolution and resistance, but also the face of an Indian identity! It marked the start of a democracy in the true sense.
SUF is a painstaking embroidery based on the triangle, called a "Suf". Suf is counted on the warp and weft of the cloth in a surface satin stitch worked from the back. Motifs are never drawn: each artisan imagines her design and then counts it out in reverse! Skilled work thus requires an understanding of geometry and keen eyesight. A Suf artisan displays virtuosity in detailing, filling symmetrical patterns with tiny triangles, and accent stitches.
KALA RAKSHA is a grassroots social enterprise committed to documenting and promoting existing traditions of art and craft of Kutch region in north Gujarat, India. The Trust maintains a collection of heirloom textiles that functions as a resource base for artisans to study and create exquisite contemporary work.
MANO ETNA TRAVEL STORY
