By virtue of their provenance,
handloom fabric are known to have the reputation of carrying weaving defects.
For the uninitiated, some defects are intrinsic to the science of hand weaving
while some owe their origin to improper and sometimes careless pre-loom or
weaving processes.
First category of defects I call as
'effects of handwoven fabric'-lack of certitude and celebration of greyness.
Isn't it !
 |
| Prahladji teaching weaving defect at THS Photcredit: WomenWeave |
During my earlier association with
young weavers, our team tried to inculcate best practices to overcome the latter
category of defects. The young weavers, from the vantage point of their
sagacious elderly weavers, often used to narrate
'Sir, its handwoven and therefore
it has defects'
&
I had this witty reply ready to
reckon, which one Japanese client condescendingly told to one of my colleagues
'I agree its handmade but
whose hand it is, human or a monkey?'
This argument beckoned young
weavers and they tried their best to set the systems right for precluding
'avoidable' weaving defects.
However for hoi-polloi, handloom fabric still has immutable
and impermeable identity as having weaving (d)effects which powerloom or mill
based fabric cannot create.
Abhas (intution) and andaaz (estimate)
still are the key elements which a craft lover looks for and weavers fondly
explain so, despite the degree of textile engineering which runs behind the
handloom weaving intuitively.
Why am I talking about defects?
Powerloom community and other related
doohickeys have made strong inroads in the handloom weaving villages. Known to
few and unraveled by
experts for all, powerlooms make blatantly cheap imitations of handloom
fabric.
It is tough to discern a handwoven
fabric from its mill counterpart, save apart the unmistakable evidence of the d(Effects) which handwoven fabric carry. Such
attempts to imitate are innocuous but the recent story which I 'heard', if true, will be a big blow to
handlooms.
During my recent visit to Andhra
Pradesh/Telangana, I got to know about another expedient action
of the powerloom community to get the benefits reserved for
the handloom sector and sell as handwoven fabric.
I was informed that sarees made on
powerloom, are being given to children to 'artificially' create defects by
paying them Rs. 10 per Saree. This artificial 'defect imitation' makes it
difficult even for handloom experts to differentiate between a hand woven and
machine woven fabric. These are interesting times indeed !
I was intrigued by this human
ingenuity to challenge the very idea of handmade which will further denigrate
handloom weavers.
To make such a speculation will be
criminal but I am sure that its ramifications will be far and wide. Intent is
not to tarnish all for the sins of few but the real question is how will
handloom weavers save themselves from depredations and tricks played by the
preposterous powerloom community?
As much sincerely one can muster,
Handcrafts, afterall, are not just about financial numbers but more about
cultural legacy which they represent. This desire to imitate d(Effects) by
powerloom will be a double whammy for the handloom weavers.
Someone rightly said
" We either accept the
problem or live in denial, either ways we are right- it shall pass away"
1st May, Labor day is a good day to
reflect how we can help artisans transcend from being mazdoor to
karigar to kalakar
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