Preserving a 400-year-old artistic tradition

Known for their beautiful brocade saris and lehengas, Shanti Banaras – a treasure trove of Banarasi weaves – works intensively in the handloom and hand embroidery sector.

Led by Creative Director Khushi Shah, the label has recently taken a new initiative to conserve the dying craft of hand-embroidered tapestries via pichwai artworks.

Rajasthan’s pichwai paintings are a 400-year-old art tradition from India’s western frontiers. Over the years these artworks found themselves in places of worship and in homes lighting up spaces with their vibrance and storytelling.

Today, however, these motifs are slowly dying. In an effort to conserve this craft and make it accessible globally, Shanti Banaras brings the motifs of Pichwai paintings into cities around the world through exquisite embroidered artwork, paying a tribute to India’s rich handwoven cultures, says Shah as she talks to The News Drum about her new initiative. Excerpts from the interview:

You are working towards building patronage for India’s treasured crafts. Share your vision.

As a brand, we aim to conserve and make accessible Rajasthan’s Pichwai paintings by bringing exquisite embroidered motifs to cities around the world. By hand embroidering over 100 colours of silk or resham thread on handwoven fabric, this is our take on reimagining the traditional art of Pichwai. Taking over 60 hours to complete, each piece is a labour of love. A legacy passed down from generation to generation, Shanti Banaras truly honours and celebrates the rich handwoven cultures of India. Our intention is to build patronage for Indian crafts by commissioning these works of art.

The idea was that there are a lot of hand-painted Pichwais, but rarely do you see ones that are hand-embroidered. Through our initiative, we wanted to bring forward traditional Indian art forms while also empowering craftsmen. As power looms slowly take over weaving and embroidery, we wanted to promote the fantastic work being done by our weavers. Each piece is one-of-a-kind and very well detailed. The work is meticulous and takes around three to four months to complete.

How do you see your brand merging with this 400-year-old art tradition?

The ethos of my brand is rooted in traditionalism. Keeping classic textiles alive is what we strive to do as a brand with every product we offer. It’s even in our saris that we take traditional motifs and recreate them in our own way, with a more contemporary colour palette to appeal to a wider audience. We are trying to keep our heritage and culture alive through our products. Thus, we were naturally drawn to the idea of Pichwai.

What is your ultimate vision for these artworks?

Our success, I believe, will be determined by how we grow our community of artisans and encourage the younger generation to buy handmade/handloom products. We wanted to open up a whole new market for the embroidery community. People are always trying to move to more contemporary forms of art, but what we wanted to do was bring them back to the roots of our culture, showing the most intricate and delicate work done through embroidery in the past centuries. At Shanti, we try to preserve the traditional motifs of the art but reinvent it with our style of embroidery.

What went into the process of working on these artworks?

While creating these heirloom artworks, we wanted to take a slower pace to really cherish the process. It was something completely new that we were venturing into, and so, one of our first pieces took about 10 months. The backend work begins with ideation, to sketching, then creating a graph to finalise the art. After this, our team sits together to match the colours for the piece. Once this is all laid out, the piece is then stretched out on a khaka for embroidery which takes up to three months to complete. Since the task is extremely detailed, the craftsmen can embroider only about half a metre a day. Once the artisanal work is complete, the artwork is further sent for finishing.

How do you plan to work on this preservation?

Our plan is to take it one day at a time. It’s a small project right now that we hope will flourish when we meet the right people who understand what goes into each piece. Currently, the artworks can be found in our New Delhi showroom in Mehrauli. Depending on the size, the price ranges from Rs5-10 lakh.

While preserving this legacy, what has been your biggest learning?

Personally, I have learned the most from working with the weavers. One of our senior weavers explained how he was trying to convince his children to join the handloom industry. He expressed that the younger generation does not appreciate our legacy enough and we must preserve and nurture it otherwise these pieces will just become one-of-a-kind vintage pieces that will be found nowhere. This craft is dying and it is the need of the hour to get together and save it.

Tell us more about more such legacies that Shanti Banaras is trying to bring to life.

In our retail showroom in New Delhi, we are dedicated to preserving the art of real zari. In India, we are one of the few brands that produce more than a hundred real zari saris annually. In essence, it’s about going back to the past to restart the work that is so scarce now.

How do you look at empowering weavers and supporting local crafts?

As a brand, we work closely with almost 1,800 weavers. Taking handloom crafts forward one day at a time is our sincere commitment to the community.