6th: Its 8 p.m. and we’re finally in the train to Muzaffarpur – en route to Bhusara for the Asia Society Sujni Design Workshop. As always there has been this crazy rush getting ready – with no proper time to psyche oneself into a proper state of creative inspiration and calm. The last three days […]
The Deccan Herald of Bengaluru last month published an excellent article by Geetha Rao on the Ilkal saree, which reminded me of my visit to that legendary weaving center in March 2001. Here are my notes of the visit: The Guleds of Ilkal are textile merchants. Phaniraj Konappa Guled’s father was Konappa Guled, and his father was […]
Visiting Northern Italy gave me a chance to get a feel of a countryside that has gone through cycles of industrial change since at least the 1600s. The Eastern part, particularly the Marche region is a perfect example of sociologist Charles Tilly’s observation that industrialization is not a linear process “…a straight-line model of industrialization […]