Weaving their magic

KOCHI: If you want to get a set of colourful, trendy, hand-woven sarees and dress materials,just drop in at the Bharat Hotel to witness the excellent collection by the Bengal
weavers displayed there. The exhibition has been organised with the support of the Bengal Weavers Service Society, an NGO, which works for the upliftment of the weavers.

Dipped in the kaleidoscopic colours of Persian Blue, Mustard Yellow, Bright Orange, Cherry Red and Maroon, each material is a masterpiece. “We conduct this exhibition every year
and this is the tenth time we have come,” says Sharmistha Das Biswas, the exhibition coordinator. “The hand-woven sarees, with intricate patterns, is the work of 250 weavers. They have spent at least five days to make one saree,” she said.

The show-stealers are the beautifully designed Shibori sarees, which has been made using an ancient Japanese procedure of resist dyeing, wherein some areas of the fabric remain
untouched, while others have Bengal style patterns and designs. The other attraction is the Ajrak printed sarees. The light-weight, colourful Tangail Nakshi sarees is also one of the highlights. The prices are fixed by the weavers.

And there are many fans. “Every year I come for this exhibition as they have a good collection of handlooms and Reshams. I have never been disappointed,” said a customer.
For the trend seekers, the Kalamkari designs, which is printed using patterned wooden stamps, is the best. The Shibori has natural dyes and the fabric is folded and unwrapped,
so that a geometric effect is produced.

“To make a Naxi-border saree, it takes about five days to do these designs because it is hand-painted”, says Amar Mandal, an artisan.The exhibition will conclude on July 17.

Source: http://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/kochi/2017/jul/05/weaving-their-magic-1624683.html