Through Naqsh, The Author Explores And Documents Exhaustively In Detail The Art Of Wood Carving Of Traditional Architecture Of Gujarat. Traversing From The History Of Wood Carving Of India, The Book Investigates Thoroughly The Tools And Techniques Applied By The Craftsmen Working Within The Trade Guilds. The Main Section Comprises Of The Ornamentations (Symbols, Motifs And Patterns) Witnessed On The Traditional Wooden Houses, Which Are Categorized And Analyzed In Terms Of Its Aesthetics, Its Occurence In Time And Its Physical And Symbolic Relation To The House. The Author Then Establishes Its Links And Connections To The Examples Found In Other Cultures And Explains The Dissemination Of This Art.
The textiles and dress of Gujarat in northwestern India are acclaimed for their design and craftsmanship. The sophisticated weaves, dyeing techniques, intricate embroideries, vibrant motifs and embellished garments, and the communities to which many of these are unique, have all been the subjects of extensive documentation. Textiles and dress play a central role in the construction of a visual identity of Gujarat and its people. This book examines the 'social life' of Gujarat's textiles, tracing the historical journey of cloth and dress up to the present day. It looks closely at dyed and painted textiles, and embroidery, and locates their place in culture, trade and commerce, and the role of entrepreneurship in the survival of these handmade textiles.
Mapping India's crafts was a mammoth task that took eleven years. During this period, many new crafts were born, skills rejuvenated and some may have languished and faded away. The nature of crafts production in India is both ephemeral and resilient. India's crafts journey resembles the progress of a river from the mountains to the ocean, picking up material, depositing some, changes course, disappearing underground to surface somewhere else. Yet, the tradition continues forever. The Dastkari Haat Samiti, a national association of craftspeople, undertook the enormous task of documenting whatever skills and crafts it could find and created artistic crafts maps of each state of India. Three new states were born during the process. A traditional art form of each state provides the backdrop for information meticulously gathered from first and second hand sources. The maps provide resource material to people working in different disciplines and a source of aesthetic joy to anyone who uses them as wall posters. The vibrant illustrations and academically rich content are recreated as an atlas of India's crafts, handmade textiles and traditional arts, covering India's cultural history. "Crafts Atlas of India" is therefore a unique documentation and a rare visual treat.
A lively and innovative collection of new and recent writings on the cultural contexts of textiles The study of textile culture is a dynamic field of scholarship which spans disciplines and crosses traditional academic boundaries. A Companion to Textile Culture is an expertly curated compendium of new scholarship on both the historical and contemporary cultural dimensions of textiles, bringing together the work of an interdisciplinary team of recognized experts in the field. The Companion provides an expansive examination of textiles within the broader area of visual and material culture, and addresses key issues central to the contemporary study of the subject. A wide range of methodological and theoretical approaches to the subject are explored—technological, anthropological, philosophical, and psychoanalytical, amongst others—and developments that have influenced academic writing about textiles over the past decade are discussed in detail. Uniquely, the text embraces archaeological textiles from the first millennium AD as well as contemporary art and performance work that is still ongoing. This authoritative volume: Offers a balanced presentation of writings from academics, artists, and curators Presents writings from disciplines including histories of art and design, world history, anthropology, archaeology, and literary studies Covers an exceptionally broad chronological and geographical range Provides diverse global, transnational, and narrative perspectives Included numerous images throughout the text to illustrate key concepts A Companion to Textile Culture is an essential resource for undergraduate and postgraduate students, instructors, and researchers of textile history, contemporary textiles, art and design, visual and material culture, textile crafts, and museology.