Issue #007, Winter, 2021 ISSN: 2581- 9410 As a teenager I adored going with my mother to one of the many handblock printers then in […]
One Block at a Time – Memories with Block Printers.
Article Keywords: dastkar
Dastkar and the Marketing of Craft
Many of those entering the big orange doors of the Dastkar shop in Hauz Khas Village, in search of a hand-crafted gift or embroidered kurta, are quite unaware that anything except lower prices and the absence of air-conditioning mark it out as different from the other 70-odd shops and boutiques that surround it. Others, activists […]
Death knell for handlooms?
Changing lifestyles and market structures mean that weaving is not a viable profession anymore. What’s the way out?Hand-woven fabric is the product of Indian tradition, the inspiration of the cultural ethos of the weavers. With its strong product identity, handlooms represent the diversity of each State and proclaim the artistry of the weaver. It is […]
Bihar Journal
6th: Its 8 p.m. and we’re finally in the train to Muzaffarpur – en route to Bhusara for the Asia Society Sujni Design Workshop. As always there has been this crazy rush getting ready – with no proper time to psyche oneself into a proper state of creative inspiration and calm. The last three days […]
A Designer in Development
The female octopus is born, grows to maturity, gives birth to her clutch of children, and promptly dies. I often think it must be wonderful to have ones role in life, its purpose and parameters, so clearly defined. I, on the other hand, for the last fourteen years in DASTKAR have straddled, often uneasily, the twin […]
A Sari Is A Many Splendoured Thing
A radical feminist expressed pain that I painted my toe nails while having pretensions to being a real person. One of India’s brightest young designers sat at my feet, amazed that I could wear a saree, grey hair and a jooda with “attitude”. People stereotype you by what you wear. No wonder that the unconfident […]