As a textile designer, I have been developing a hand-knotted rug collection during three months with Sarawagi Rugs in their office in Kathmandu. By being close to the manufacturing process, I got a thorough understanding about traditional dyeing and the hand-knotting traditional technique.
While conceptualizing and designing the collection, I have been completely involved in this handcraft process from the very beginning: the yarns, the dyeing to the weaving part.
Learning from the Dreamweavers how to weave and try the different techniques helped me a lot to understand all the possibilities in order to interpret in my designs. Furthermore, while working with these craftsmen, I could feel they wanted to share their knowledge and find other ways to communicate and to be understandable when the language was not the same.
The fact that the project calls upon craftsmen rather than machines opens up more possibilities as it leads to a re-examination of the know-how involved in rug making. Exploring the hand-knotting technique in my work as a designer is also a way to support skills, which bring cultural values to a final product. I believe that re-invention and innovation are possible when there is a concise understanding of traditional skills and practices.
"The fact that the project calls upon craftsmen rather than machines opens up more possibilities as it leads to a re-examination of the know-how involved in rug making. "
After an amazing and challenging few months of work, i am loving the end result. Stay tuned to our socials to see what i have been working on !
