6 December 2019 opening at WG Kunst

“We have deep respect for the craftsmen and – women who printed our fabrics with great care and patience.

On 6th of December 4 artists will showcase their collaborative work created with crafstmen and -women in India. The artists travelled to India in Deecmber 2018 and spent three weeks there, learning and understanding the art of kalamkari, a technique which also influenced the Dutch traditional costumes. 

The artists are: Stan Klamer, Anita Manshanden, Elma van Imhoff and Irma de Bruijne. 

4 artists in search of a common thread in Indian printing techniques

Stan, Anita, Elma and Irma, spent three weeks in Machlipatnam. Every morning they organized an autoriksha who would drive them 10km further to Pedana to work at the kalamkari printing unit of Srinivas, his son Varun and family. They got to know the artisans, but also engaged in printing their own designs themselves using the ancient technique of kalamkari. They got to work with the famous blockmaker Gangadhar, who carved their designs in wooden teak blocks.

The art of kalamkari 

The art of kalamkari is a complex, slow process in order to achive a good result. The entire process consists of 16 different steps: preparing the materials, making dyes, printing the fabric, which is difficult to do neatly. Finally, the last and most beautiful and poetic part of the entire process is the washing of the fabrics in the flowing water of the holy river Krishna. 

Photo credit: Irma de Bruijne