Embroidery – A Fading Art

by WMH-INDIA / Tuesday, 01 June 2021 / Published in Blog

India is well known for its art, crafts, and culture. It is a hub that stores various forms of beauty and diversity. And embroidery is an integral part of it. You must agree, our embroidery forms are famous all over the globe and the rich textile industry is a cherry on top, right? Embroidery initially was considered traditional and was limited to traditional clothing styles. But it slowly seeped into our daily lives.

Personified beauty with Originality.

Richness

Embroidery is a rich art that not only involves weaving threads together. But the origins, storylines, hard work, and a lot of dedication and concentration. Above all, it is a dynamic art that weaves stories of origins and happenings of the land, symbolizes fables, and brings a feeling of belongingness.

Reach

Talking about its impact on the fashion industry, have a look in your closet. Kurtis with rich embroidery borders, saree pallus flooded with beautiful patterns, and small beads are thrown here and there. And to much advancement, embroidery is making its way to contemporary and western-style too. Patterned pants, fancy shirts, and funky stitches, you can find varied embroidery patterns on these garments!

Well, India shines more with its festivals, varied and beautiful festivals. With the onset of the Navratri season, lehenga and choli come under great demand. Stitched, heavy embroidery, or net embroidery, which one do you prefer?

And embroidery? Well, it always adds shine to your eyes with its beauty.

But

Uncertainty floods swell the Embroidery sector.

Uncertainty and Lost Value

Sad Fact, we Indians are not realizing the true value of this live art form. Embroiders working day and night to produce handmade goods with originality are being replaced with machines. Without having a proper livelihood, working under faint lights with legs and torso straining, without proper food and resources, they work to create an unmatched art. Only to get neglected by the country.

But the work is still done, right? No.

Fact check, Machines will never be able to replace the work of these hardworking creators.

Uplifting the craft

The only source of income in some families is embroidery. What about them?

Creating a wholesome atmosphere for these creators will help. This helps them to take a step forward and also preserve the losing sheen of a historically carried-on gift!

How can we do that? Collaborations will help. As you know, designers are obsessing over embroidery patterns. They incorporate embroideries in many of their designs. If they work with these craftsmen, they will not only improve the quality but will also help them generate an income. And the quality will remain top-notch.

In addition, they will learn some new techniques in return too! It will be nice if everyone takes a step forward in their niche.

For instance, Parsi style embroidery, Danka embroidery, beadwork, Gotta-Patti, Mughal designs, and whatnot, the long-forgotten Karchobi, Aari work, and Zardosi. The list counts endless. These are some minutely made miracles that come under the categories of embroidery.

Treasured and Preserved

Talking about preservation, there are many people across the map, who are trying to save this drooping graph. The Munj family in Goa has preserved a 141-yeared saree. It has an age-old embroidery on a maroon fabric.

Various NGOs, trusts, volunteers from Kutch, Bhopal, and various other places are working hard to restore this lost art.

So what are you waiting for? Let us work hard for the preservation of Embroidery. You cannot let this art fade, can you?

In conclusion, with too much grief, this treasured art is facing its downfall. And we need to revive and treasure it at all costs. Most importantly, we should work to preserve this dying art so that artists spring it back to life and help the art flourish. However, we cannot bear seeing a gem dying. The number of people actually skilled is decreasing day by day. The machines are replacing them.

So, is technology and the use of machines a bad thing? Certainly, it helps in saving time and automating the production of creative embroideries. But the main concern is the loss of traditional embroidery skills. Because unique pieces, story depiction, imageries, lies lost in these machine-made goods.

Therefore, let us not let the originality die. Promote traditional embroidery, let it bloom once again.