Friday, August 26, 2011

....OF LIGHT & SHADE

FULIA
(THE PRESENT CONTEXT : SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC BACKDROP)
Though I was always interested in weaving I had never got a fair chance to study the Fulia cluster of weaving villages and delve deep into the social and cultural back ground of the craft here. So when the opportunity came I first decided to study about the history of the place briefly and then start working. Trips were made to Fulia and discussions were held with the weavers for a first hand experience about the craft and the craftsmen.
Fulia is a weaving village and the weavers are mainly from the neighboring country of Bangladesh who had migrated during the partition of Bengal. Apart from the plain weave saris the tradition of “jamdani”(technique of discontinuous extra weft) had also seeped in Fulia. Hand woven Fulia saris are known all over the country for its fineness and beauty for generations. Traditionally the Fulia saris are very simple and very comfortable for regular every day wear. But with the advent of the cheap polyester fabrics and the onslaught of industrialization, women now prefer not wearing saris. With busy schedules and more fast paced life they have switched over to western dresses (“salwar – kameez”) and the market for saris is not that great what it used to be.
Fulia is situated in Nodia district of West Bengal. It is easily connected by trains and buses from Calcutta. It takes two and a half hours from Calcutta by train and around three to four hours by bus.
There is very little scope for romanticism left here at present: the fact is that most weavers cannot afford even two square meals for their family, and that women cannot afford the saris for themselves. The result: the looms of Fulia are shutting down by the dozen by the day, and a time will soon come when their familiar rat-a-tat will stop. A weaver is paid anything between Rs 60 and Rs 100 for a sari, which takes more than two days to make. Deduct the amount that the middleman makes for raw materials, and the net earning is only Rs 20.
These days a lot of weavers have stopped producing saris and have shifted to making stoles and scarves for the export market since the foreign market fetches them comparatively more profit.
Both the Hindu and the Muslim community practice weaving here.
The women folk take part in the spinning, winding, twisting and bobbin making of the yarns while the men weave the fabrics on the looms.

STRENGTH AND WEAKNESSES (TECHNIQUES, SKILLS, LIMITATIONS):
1) They use 2shaft and 4 shaft hand looms as well as jacquard looms of as many as 200 hooks.
2) They use natural as well as synthetic materials for weaving at Fulia. A wide variety of yarns are used in Fulia. While studying the types of yarns used for weaving in the region, the ones I came across are:
• Cottons (hand spun and mill made)
• linens of various counts,
• wool (both fine and coarse),
• tussar silks,
• matka silks,
• ghicha silks,
• eri silks,
• dupion silks,
• fresua silks,
• cho-cho silks,
• Murshidabad silks,
• several types of silks from Bhagalpur (Bihar),
• Bangalore silks,
• imported Chinese silks.
• Apart from these natural yarns they use different types of fancy synthetic yarns also.
3)The strength of Fulia is in sari weaving and “jamdani’ is also being practiced here for ages now.
4)They have lot of dyeing units in Fulia and these helps in quick dyeing of the yarns.


MOOD BOARD.


Stole Developed at: Fulia (W.B),
Material: Cotton and Silk.


Stole Developed at: Fulia (W.B),
Material: Cotton and Silk.


Stole Developed at: Fulia (W.B),
Material: Cotton and Silk.


Stole Developed at: Fulia (W.B),
Material: Cotton and Silk.


Stole Developed at: Fulia (W.B),
Material: Cotton and Silk.


Stole Developed at: Fulia (W.B),
Material: Cotton and Silk.


Stole Developed at: Fulia (W.B),
Material: Cotton and Silk.


Stole Developed at: Fulia (W.B),
Material: Cotton and Silk.


Stole Developed at: Fulia (W.B),
Material: Cotton and Silk.


Stole Developed at: Fulia (W.B),
Material: Cotton and Silk.

4 comments:

  1. How can I contact you regarding These scarves and stoles? email/phone/fb ???

    ReplyDelete
  2. Where can I find these ? Could you give me some leads on wholesalers / suppliers ?

    ReplyDelete
  3. you can email me at arnabsenapati@gmail.com
    thank you

    ReplyDelete
  4. Such sweet photos of this fabric by you. I am unable to read articles online very often, but I'm glad I did today. It’s a pleasure that I come across your article that has surfaced complete benefit to my knowledge.

    Ghicha Silk Saree

    ReplyDelete