Block print - The Fabric of Rajasthan

Since I first came across block-printed fabric while travelling in Rajasthan I was fascinated by the craftman-/craftwomanship involved – and by the colours’ earthyness that greatly appealed to me.  When my son and filmmaker Tiemo Weidemann came up with the idea to go to India together for a video project, I proposed doing something involving block-printing and/or weaving. He liked the idea – especially because both crafts lend themselves easily to rich metaphorical use and are – of course – visually appealing. Incidentally my long-time friend Ram Narain Choudhury was just at that time doing business with a block printer near Jaipur and happily arranged for us to film and photograph in the workshops. He also showed us around so we would get to know and witness all processes invoved – from carving the wooden blocks, printing, dying and drying to cutting the farbric and sewing of garments.

Special thanks therefor go not only to Ram, but also to Abdul Matin and family in Junia (kadi and rug weaving); to  Sataynarayan Nagar, Nikhil Nagar, Ashok Nagar, Manju Nagar as well as Parbhu, Hemraj, Sirajudin & Geeta in Bagru for showing us block printing from start to finish; and last but not least to Rajendra, Jitendra und Mahindra Neel and their staff in Pushkar for giving us access to all corners of RJ Expo where they produce garments for an international clientele.

Apart from doing a lot of behind-the-scenes shots for Tiemo I of course took a lot of photo for myself, too …

For a more detailed desciption of the film (and photo) project have a look at Tiemo’s website where you casn also see a first short film he has produced: https://www.tiemo-weidemann.com/projects/fabric-of-rajasthan