Hand-block printing is one of the many arts of handcrafted fabrics that take space in the most luxurious items of our contemporary lives. These artisanal works are a gift to cherish over generations for their beauty deepens with time. Ajrakh being one such craft form that has been loved by people of all ages across the globe. This art is one of many that is practiced by small communities in India among the millions of artisans working with various other crafts.
The first use of color on garments can be traced back to extracts obtained from vegetables, fruits, leaves, roots, barks or other natural material including mud/soil. These natural materials found a way into people's lives to bring colors to the garments, draped or sewn. As humanity and civilization progressed in their endeavour for new materials and techniques, the color remained no longer an ingredient for merely dyeing the fabrics but took a more advanced form by combining with printing techniques.
Hand-block printing is one such art form that remains in use since ancient times around the river Indus in India. This craft once admired by royals was an integral part of the attires in western India. As the artisans moved to different places commissioned by royals for their exceptional work, they made settlements and passed on the crafts to the natives. This resulted in various technique improvisations and use of new raw materials to achieve new designs. Ajrakh have many variations with dabu, bagru, kalamkari printing techniques. Evolved from same roots of block printing these new techniques were a result of migrations of artisans from place to place.
A labour intensive craft, Ajrakh- involves resist printing along with dyeing, starts with de-sizing the fabric then undergoing process of harda dyeing, resist print, datta print, gad print and eventually indigo dyeing and washing of the fabric. The whole process involves 7-8 craftsman and it can span between 3-5 days.
The beauty of this craft is not just in the technicality however the way whole process takes place. For artisans, the craft is their religion as it provides for their families and for same reason it has the spiritual and emotional connect in their lives. To become a master craftsman, it can take 8-10 years, and here in India these are heritage crafts passed on from generations to generation once the children starts to observe and help in the littlest ways possible. It is not only part of their lives, but of the community, the cattles, the trees forming a complete natural ecosystem for the process.
The aesthetic of Ajrakh manifests at every level as the fabric passes through various techniques. The artisans singing folklores, the twisted fabric making its own song , the rhythm of the colors as they evolve deeper with every process, the winds adding its fluidity, the sun adding warmth, the playfulness of children helping in gathering the layers. A handcrafted fabric thus is not just like any other as it have emotions dissolved in it, it sings the many songs as it flows on the bodies that adorn this rich luxury.