About craftman

Artist Talkies: craft story

It has been around 22 years or more since Vankar Devji learnt and excelled the art of weaving. Hailing from the Kutch community of Marwada Vankar, he reminisces about the family tradition that has made him the man that he is today. Tradition is of a lot of import for him because it is the reason that made him take up weaving. His father and his grandfather were weavers in their time and parampara (tradition) made him pick up this wonderful art himself. His father, Premji Bapa was a master weaver associated with the Bhujodi Weaver’s Cooperative and Devji bhai sources him and his brother Hirjibhai as his inspirations to take up weaving.

Now, he is a self made weaver who wants to continue this family tradition. He has 10-15 artisans working alongside him to promote Bhujodi village’s otherwise dying art. Many of them are his relatives, some directly related to him while others are distantly related to him. In a village of about a few hundreds of weavers, Devji bhai wants time to be his ally so that this fading handicraft finds appreciation in a growing modern India.

Devji bhai as he’s fondly called by many who know him, talks us through the process of weaving. From the olden days, his village had tie ups with the nomadic clan of the Rabaris who’d provide dhaaga or thread from woolen fleece from the local sheep and goats that would be used for weaving to be exchanged as shawls and other such necessities. For his predecessors, wool has been their trademark material in the production of shawls and blankets for the community.

But since India’s independence in 1947 to the protectionism phase of Indian economy till about 1991; that saw the local markets opening up for national markets, to the impact of globalization a few decades later has seen wool losing contention against the acrylic wool counterparts and cotton. He rues the slow process of converting the yarn to thread that has made the community to shift to acrylic wool.

With the open market leading to increasing opportunities, the materials and their handloom weaving business progressed by incorporating designs and patterns to their products. They started fusing their traditional patterns with market trends to improve their business and name. One of the biggest motto that Vankar Devji abides by is the elaborate yet intrinsic fusing of traditional and modern methods but incorporating the insignia of his community; of weaving with hands and working the traditional loom to weave fabrics dipped in warmth and affection. Thereby reiterating that time is not the essential factor in the completion of his products.

Over the years, the Bhujodi village has found recognition with Vankar Devji Hamir’s weaver organization where a group of 10 weaving families along with 20 women experiment with their traditional form due to mutating fashion trends. Changing times have seen them bringing together weaving and designing techniques together; nowadays, different block printing, embroidery works and tie-dyeing art forms are learnt by them to combine with their traditional weaving methods.

                        

Devji bhai recalls devoting time for a designing course in 2008 with a childhood friend at Kala Raksha Vidhyalaya in Kutch, Gujarat. And that was one of the biggest moments of inspiration for him and his organisation. His final project for the academy was named “Miri” and it was inspired by the Dhablo weaving method, called ghoontni wherein he placed an extra finger weave over the handloom weaved cloth. This became his specialty and has been his trademark method ever since.

One of the biggest credits that one can give to Devji bhai is that he loves learning more about his tradition and improving on it. But that doesn't mean he’ll forego the importance that technology bears on his art. He and his team are constantly on the lookout for trends that help his products in the market. He is constantly working with Kala Raksha Vidhyalaya, local NGOs and other organizations like The Color Caravan wherein he keeps in touch with not only the market trends but the virtual world. He believes that “age is no barrier when it comes to learning” and his best teachers over the years have been his customers.

Currently, Devji bhai is attending exhibitions in and around India where he displays his weaving prowess. His organisation specializes in shawls, stoles, jackets, sarees, mufflers. They have even expanded to bed sheets, cushion covers and even curtains. When quizzed about his children’s reaction to his growing fame, he says that his three children themselves question him about his art. He wants them to learn because he says this craft is his sole lineage, an essential part of his community’s identity. It’s his identity. He wishes his son would grow up to be a “loom ka engineer”. But he also has great designs to include his daughters into his business, thereby breaking tradition of allowing women in the weaving business.

He signs off by echoing his family’s words; our identity lies in our craft. We wish to see Devji bhai climbing great heights on the basis of his works because amazing artists like him are a rarity in this age of blind consumer capitalism which has seen many traditional art forms in India dying out. He knows that struggle is unavoidable since he’s an independent artist but he has not lost heart. He’s rather inspired and sees a bright future for his craft and his community.