rashmi bidasaria maps artisans' movements into individual sewn signatures

this project by mumbai-born design student, rashmi bidasaria, shines a light on the laborious work of block printing artisans in india. ‘kaarigari – कारीगरी’, which translates to craftsmanship in hindi, records the movements of artisans in their workshop and turns them into a unique pattern to highlights their individuality.

block printers in their ‘kaarkhana’ (workshop)

all images and video courtesy of rashmi bidasaria

hand block printing is a 500 year-old traditional craft in india, but it’s now becoming redundant due to advanced digital printing systems. working an average of 10 hours continuously everyday, the mundane and monotonous nature of the printing can be quite tiresome. to help give the craftsmen a sense of pride in this ‘mechanical’ work, rashmi bidasaria began this project by first observing their craft: ‘I realised that each artisan prints very uniquely. there is a notion of performance or dance that is complemented by their movements, their signature move. I began to record those little nuances of movements to translate them into patterns using analogue techniques like light and motion, study and digital tools – long exposure photography and virtual reality,’ explains bidasaria.

artisan mr. mohanlal kumar printing his 1208th block for the day – upon observing the artisans, kaarigari begins to document each individual’s unique prints

the final patterns beautifully illustrate the movement of the artisan on his printing table, specifically the individual finger points. pink and yellow represent the left hand, while blue represents the right hand, and the bigger the dots, the more time the artisan has spent there. the patterns highlight each person’s swiftness, skill, and dexterity – in other words, their signature. the project is supported and funded by the textielmuseum | textiellab netherlands.

a visual map of the finger gestures of mr. mohanlal kumar – this concept gave an insight into their movement and workspaces

gesture comparison – these patterns depict the gesture mapping of two artisan brothers. the dots clearly showcase how differently they practice their craft. yellow is the left hand, blue is the right.

finger gesture mapping of multiple artisans – this graphic is a representation of the spatial workspace the particular artisan is printing in

kaarigari aims to give recognition to the artisans and their work by highlighting their individuality

this fabric is a representation of block printing artisan mr.mohanlal kumar, his craft and his practice

the patterns on the textile illustrate the movement of the artisan on his printing table, specifically finger points of individual artisans (yellow is the left hand, red is the right)

metallic yarns, paper, rubber, natural fibers and recycled mono-filaments are used to create this composition – the bigger the dots, the longer the artisan has spent there

underside – paper yarn backed by rubber yarn on the underside allows for expansion and fluff

the project is supported and funded by the textielmuseum | textiellab netherlands

project info:

project name: kaarigari – कारीगरी
design: rashmi bidasaria

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: lynne myers | designboom