The following project was an outcome of an entry for craft based storytelling competition by House of Gaurang Shah for International Handicraft Exhibition 2021. The project was done in collaboration with Vidya Devasia.
The brief of the project was to choose an Indian historical or culturally significant element and a textile craft from any state as a medium to depict the same on a 34" by 34" base. The topic chosen is Indigo revolt (Nil bidroha), narrated by the Craft of Kantha (West Bengal).
ABOUT THE CRAFT
INSPIRATION BOARD
TYPES OF STITCH AND DESIGNS
Some of the other stitches also used in Kantha are Herringbone, Darning, Double running, Buttonhole, Dorokha, Bending and Satin Stitch.
STORY BOARDING
FINAL DESIGN
34" by 34" layers of old dhoti, stitched through Kantha. Starting from the left in the clockwise direction, the series of events leading to the revolt are placed with the conclusion in the center, taking inspiration from the layout of Nakshi kantha.
DETAILS
The cultivation of Indigo where the peasants forced to stand in vats of indigo dye, which produces harmful fumes and is causes other skin disorders.
Atrocities suffered by the peasants during the cultivation of Indigo.
Bengali intellectual Harish Chandra Mukherjee described the plight of the poor farmers in his newspaper The Hindu Patriot.
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Bishnucharan biswas and Digambar biswas (two brothers) starting the revolt along with fellow farmers.
The mass slaughter.
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J.P. Grant, the Lieutenant Governor of Bengal, witnessing the riverbank lined with villagers praying for a Government order against the cultivation of indigo.
The border consists of the Nil Darpan and the chest of Indigo covered with drops of blood; they both played a crucial role in communicating the feelings of the oppressed while unveiling the brutality of Indigo cultivation. Their presence on the 4 sides of this artwork, creates a feeling that it has captured the cause of the revolt and has also been an eye-opener to the British.
The Central Motif is inspired from the sun Motif in Kantha, which also symbolizes power. As a result of this revolt, the indigo commission was formed and which in turn gave the farmers their right to choose whichever crop they wished and also freed them from the debt burden.
DETAILED SPECIFICATIONS
SOURCE
Indigo Revolt
Kantha
Poetry embroidered on cloth (book)