Ajrakh Block Printing With Sufiyan Khatri

Sufiyan Khatri and Sara Lowes - Photo credit Sohail Wazir

After many visits to India, to travel, work and to source textiles, I was drawn to Kutch for the wide variety of exquisite embroidery styles, eco-friendly block-printing and dyeing techniques, and the deep-rooted heritage of these textile traditions.

Ajrakh block-printing is a traditionally eco-friendly and complex craft that uses a combination of block print resists, natyral dyes, and mordants to create geometric patterns. I was honoured to learn directly from Sufiyan Khatri - a tenth-generation master artisan - who deepened my appreciation for this intricate, time-honoured, art form.

Kindly given time to explore some of the complex processes involved, I became more aware of, and attracted to, the beautiful layers of accidental marks, patterns and colour being absorbed into the cotton tablecloths - the ‘Achadiya’. Layers of impressions built up over weeks and months of block-printing capture irregular shapes and distorted motifs, and trace the shadow of the artisans’ movements.This cloth is then re-cycled, re-used, washed and dried in the sun, absorbing the natural elements.

Among these rich canvases of indigo and iron, subtle recognisable Ajrakh designs surface, though with an asymmetry quite distinct from the geometrical precision of true Ajrakh designs. A glimpse of a tree of life here, the subtle silhouette of a star there. I had a strong feeling that the fabric was telling the story of the tradition itself through a new lens, and I was captivated.

Collaborating with Sufiyan on this concept further, we experimented with alternative fabrics, exposing them for various time frames, and capturing them at different stages of their transformation process.

New imagery began to emerge depending on what was being printed that day/week: dappled light on water; branches dancing in the wind; cascading blossom; an ancient mosaic. The depth of these fabrics had a poetic rhythm and each was a piece of art in itself.

Learning from Sufiyan, and being drawn to the quiet beauty of this cloth, inspired the very foundation of Studio Astray.