After Chennai

After being gone for almost a week, I returned to the Weavers' centre where just over one week remained. My trainer was still not back from his surgery recovery, but I was free to spend some time with the block printers and dyers.

The printer produces bedsheets and pillow cases, bedcovers and other textiles, as well as teaching as required. There is a lot of skill required to produce a design where the print doesn't show the individual blocks, helped by years of practise.

Since I had the time, I took a walk along MG Road, where the metro is in full operation. Contrary to my expectations, it looks quite reasonable.

I have also spent some time at the gym, gymming away all the effects of too much food (hopefully).

I've been busy with the dumble and barbel exercises. :-) 

Catching the train from Chennai back to Bangalore

Because of the bandh in Bangalore the day before the conference started in Chennai, I decided to fly there, but return by train. (Bandhs are political protests in India where all business is shut down for a day, and political rallies are held to show support for the undesirable activity of the day. In this case, the government of Karnataka, Bangalore's state, objected to being forced by the central government to release water from the river Cauvery to the next-door state of Tamil Nadu. Trouble can occasionally be whipped up, which leads to stone-pelting and rioting, so most people stay home for the day.)

The Central Station in Chennai is not quite as busy at the VT station in Bombay, but it still is an overwhelming sight for those of us used to non-Indian stations. :-) People were sitting in groups, sleeping, eating and chatting while awaiting their trains. It was very calm and orderly.

Our train left from platform 1, and since I was required to wait on the platform until shortly before the train was due to leave, I saw a lot of life! There were many people sitting along the side of the platform,  who appeared to have been there for hours. They were chatting, eating, snoozing away while they waited. I provided quite a bit of entertainment, but they were all quite friendly. Many large bundles passed by on their way to the goods carriages, fish (judging by the smell), post, and other unknown items. 

We were traveling 2nd Class A/C, which was very comfortable, once we got on board. It was a hot and sweaty wait, though! 

Although the train was a day trip (6 hours, approximately), we had sleeper accommodation, with sheets and pillows (very, very small). The a/c worked well - a bit too well, really - and we had time to get tea or coffee along the way. 

We stopped at only a few stations on the way, and the scenery was very beautiful for much of the journey. At a couple of the stations, people got onto the train to sell tea, coffee and snacks.

We arrived in Bangalore a little late, but it was a very pleasant journey. 

Visiting Chennai for the World Craft Council Conference

I flew to Chennai from Bangalore recently to attend the World Crafts Council Summit, which was held at a lovely new ITC hotel in Chennai, and attracted over 800 attendees, from over 50 countries. The WCC objective is to improve the future of the craftspersons of the world, which, since the number of people employed in that sector is higher than we might think in many countries, affects very many people.

Amongst the attendees were well-known designers and master craftsmen, sporting their wares. There were also many Indian ladies displaying an incredible selection of hand-crafted saris from all over India - woven, tie-dyed, printed, embroidered and any combination of these. It is amazing when you start to recognize the variety of techniques used, and the skill with which they can be employed.

In addition, many experts in the field of government and NGO support of crafts gave lectures which described efforts to account for the number of people in the handicrafts sector, revive extinct crafts and products, align ancient craft techniques with modern usage, and find a path to brand recognition. All the speakers were of high standard, as they had to be to compete with the shopping opportunities laid on for the conference attendees. :-)  In the crafts expo at the hotel were goods from Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East. In a separate venue were many excellent local craftsmen with their goods.

Along with this, the Crafts Council had organized demonstrations and displays of items made by people designated as Living Legends, from Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Cuba, Haiti, Thailand, India, Niger, Mexico, and other countries. There were many incredibly beautiful objects on display.

One afternoon we visited Dakshina Chitra, a village just south of Chennai where a number of traditional South Indian houses have been re-erected as a tourist sight. This is a lovely village, with some craftspersons selling small items.

You can walk through traditional houses from all over South India, and see the types of crafts that were executed in them;.

They are all well-signposted, as well as having a guide present to answer any questions.

We were also given a music and dancing show.

The final dinner was at another new hotel in Chennai, at which we saw a performance of the Whirling Dervishes from Turkey. Both the dance performance and the dinner were an excellent end to a worthwhile conference.

Dyeing and Block Printing

Making tea in the dyeing section

The work day at the Weaver's Centre starts at 9:30 for the workers, and finishes at 5. They take a break for lunch for an hour at 1, and stop for tea briefly during the morning and the afternoon. During the day, work proceeds at a leisurely pace. Chandra has been making lunch for us, which we eat at the desk of our trainer. Most of the others eat together in small groups, and then sit outside on the steps watching the traffic go by.

I have been going for a short walk to get a coffee during the lunch hour.

Towards the end of the week, since my trainer is out, I have been hanging around in the block-printing and dyeing areas.

There is another student attending training, and he's signed on for the dyeing, so I've been watching what he is doing. His trainer has worked in the Weavers' Centre for 33 years, and knows everything about dyeing. They do mostly chemical dyeing, but occasionally will train and execute natural dyeing techniques. They are well organized, and are able to do some amazing things, despite the low-budget equipment that they use.

Here you see the dyeing trainer working on re-dyeing a sari. He used the colour sample books they have constructed to calculate the possible colours that could be used, and then formulated the dye required. Cleaning, boiling, mixing, stirring, steam, water, etc. It was just like an alchemist's laboratory!

A second week at the Weavers' Service Centre

This has been a busy week at the Weavers' Centre, and very productive for me, despite the holiday we had on Tuesday in honour of Gandhi's birthday. (It's one of the three annual dry holidays in India.)

I spent time with the trainer, who has a very full desk, and many distractions. The form of the session was for him to write in my book, explaining a particular type of weave and how it is documented to be set up on the loom, and then to give me exercises on further weaves. On Monday, a few hours passed this way before I was told I should take some time off, and come back on October 15th when he would be ready to teach again. It appears he needed surgery on his ankle, and a week to recover. Of course, this doesn't fit with my plans to leave India on the 19th, so I was a bit put out. I told him I would still come in, and work on anything available - perhaps the dyeing or printing.

The weavers were continuing to work on the student's samples, so my spare time was spent hanging around the looms watching what was going on. Here you see the weaver preparing the cloth to be cut and removed from the loom, leaving behind a setup which could be used for the next textile.

One of the people who works at the Service Center has the job of winding bobbins and pirns (these hold the thread which is fed from the shuttle), and of cutting samples as they come off the loom. He's not very busy.

Once the three sample pieces were cut and folded, work on the next set of samples continued.

On Wednesday, Chandra and I went back to the Service Centre, where she spoke to some of the more administratively responsible employees, and a small loom was set up for me to do some actual weaving. :-) 

It is definitely hand-weaving - hand operated lifting and lowering of the warp thread, and hand operated shuttle operation for the weft thread. My only comment is that it's more difficult than it looks to get a good piece of cloth. :-) As in any other field, experts make the work look very easy.