Ajrakh: from caste dress to catwalk
- Submitting institution
-
Nottingham Trent University
- Unit of assessment
- 32 - Art and Design: History, Practice and Theory
- Output identifier
- 2R - 696644
- Type
- D - Journal article
- DOI
-
10.1080/00404969.2016.1211436
- Title of journal
- Textile History
- Article number
- -
- First page
- 146
- Volume
- 47
- Issue
- 2
- ISSN
- 0040-4969
- Open access status
- Compliant
- Month of publication
- September
- Year of publication
- 2016
- URL
-
-
- Supplementary information
-
-
- Request cross-referral to
- -
- Output has been delayed by COVID-19
- No
- COVID-19 affected output statement
- -
- Forensic science
- No
- Criminology
- No
- Interdisciplinary
- No
- Number of additional authors
-
0
- Research group(s)
-
C - Fashion and Textiles Research Centre
- Proposed double-weighted
- No
- Reserve for an output with double weighting
- Yes
- Additional information
- Ajrakh, a block print made and used in the deserts of Kachchh and Thar in India, and Sindh in Pakistan, has been transformed from the caste dress of cattle herders to a fashion fabric. Analysis of its trajectory from the desert to catwalk reveals the intercession of state agencies, entrepreneurs and scholars, and situates block printing in the economic and cultural renaissance that followed Indian independence in 1947. Tracing ajrakh’s roots to the medieval textiles trade with Egypt, the article reveals the influence of Islam and the spread of the faith through trade with South and Southeast Asia. Reviewing contemporary production, it identifies the intersection of the emerging Indian fashion industry and the ‘slow clothes’ movement, and analyses legislation intended to protect heritage crafts.
Drawing on extensive ethnographic research in India, primary data (including interviews with artisans, designers and entrepreneurs, and photographs of production, circulation and use of ajrakh) are allied to literary searches and study of museum/private collections. Analysis of initiatives in the craft sector by state/other agencies, and the development of formal design education in India reveals the role of craft in creating national identity.
The article was peer-reviewed by specialists in South Asian History and Textiles History, as well as the editorial team at Textile History; revisions were implemented in the light of their comments. The article creates a biography of a rural block print, placing it in the greater context of socio-economic and educational development in the postcolonial era, in which craft development has played a pivotal role. The time-span of the research has given the author-photographer a nuanced understanding of the textile, as well as its producers and consumers, highlighting its significance for designers and retailers in India and overseas. Research was funded by BASAS, British Academy, Nehru Trust, Dallapiccola Foundation and Leverhulme Trust.
- Author contribution statement
- -
- Non-English
- No
- English abstract
- -