Khatri, Adam

Khatri, Adam

Adam Khatri is a member of the tenth generation of his family to live and work as a block printer and dyer in Dhamadka village, Kachchh district, Gujarat. Like his father, Abduljabbar M. Khatri, and grandfather, Khatri Mohammad Siddik, Adam is well-known for making a textile known as ajrakh. Resist- and mordant-printed, ajrakh is printed on both sides of the cloth with complex geometric and floral patterns. It is part of the cultural heritage of the desert regions of Kachchh and Thar in India, and Sindh in Pakistan, where it has been integral to the visual identity of cattle herders, expressing their faith and occupation. In the past twenty-thirty years, ajrakh has been translated into a fashion fabric popular in the urban markets of India and the West, and Adam’s family has taken a central role in its transformation, led in the early days by his late grandfather, Mohammad Siddik.

     Adam studied for a diploma at the National Institute of Fashion Design, Bhuj, gaining awards for Best Fabric Use, Most Wearable Garment, and Best Designer (2005). Since completing his education, he has added new designs to the established repertoire produced in the family workshops while remaining faithful to the technique passed down to him by his forebears of block printing with natural dyes. In recognition of his prowess as a block printer specialising in the use of natural dyes he received a National Craft Award from the Government of India in 2011. In recognition of this accolade his alma mater conferred him with a Best Achievement Award in 2012. His work was included in the Madame Hall Collection (an Australian brand) at Lakmé Fashion Week, Mumbai in January 2017.