In 1986, Shamlu Dudeja formed a small NGO, Self Help Enterprise (S.H.E.), with a few KANTHA artisans. She was supported by her daughter Malika, who was the first one to market kantha textiles, through Malika’s Kantha Collection.
These few women became “team leaders” who fanned out into the rural outskirts of Kolkata, connecting with willing artisans, and trained them in the nuances of fine KANTHA. They commuted between the SHE studio and the villages, giving the trainees fabrics with designs and threads to turn into exquisite embroidery pieces. As the demand for KANTHA grows nationally and internationally, nearly 1,000 rural artisans are given ‘dwar pe rozi’ or an income generating opportunity, which they can benefit from during their spare hours while they continue to tend to their families and flock.
More than profitable employment, the embroidery sessions become their socializing time and a welcome break from the drudgery of monotonous chores as they work on their individual panels, or a big one with more hands crafting a single piece. Efficient product control at SHE Studio, where the team leaders often meet, ensures a high standard of stitchery, fostering greater appreciation for this tangible cultural heritage of rural Bengal.
Shamlu Dudeja’s efforts have elevated ‘KANTHA kaaj’ from a poor man’s quilting stitch to decorative stitch craft in a myriad of colors for fashion and home furnishings. Her KANTHA textiles have tremendous appeal for the socially conscious citizens all over the world. Shamlu has taken KANTHA beyond its native shores to grace the walls of some of the most prestigious museums and art galleries in the world with unique specimens of heirloom quality stitch art. She has brought KANTHA out of the box, in a manner of speaking. Laundered old saris are still used as middle layers in wraps and wall hangings. Nimble fingers adept at working on multiple layers of old cotton fabric have been retrained to work on a single layer of new cotton or silk with equal finesse. Fiercely loyal to the region’s iconic motifs, the jobas(hyacinths) and lotuses, its flora and fauna, and deities such as Durga, mathematician Shamlu has guided her artisans to include concentric circles, geometrical motifs and zigzag lines into the KANTHA repertoire. Even the novelty of new designs in embroidery would not have given KANTHA the lease of life as her endeavors have done to catapult it on the fashion scene.
In her recent exhibition in Delhi, Shamlu Dudeja displayed Kantha panels as panels of StitchArt on the walls of the Art Gallery, at the Indian International Centre Annexe. Mrs Gursharan Kaur, Mrs Isher Ahluwalia and Mrs Sharmila Tagore were invited to inaugurate the exhibition. The themes were varied … there were…
- village scenes such as a ‘biye bari’ (scenes from a Bengali wedding), Adivasi dance, and a village Mela.
- Jungle scenes with a shikari and a variety of animals
- Raas Leela, Nauka Vihar and other scenes from the Mahabharat
- Scenes from the Ramayana
- Different forms of Ma Durga
- Busts of Rabindranath Tagore and Swami Vivekananda, crafted to celebrate 150 years of their birth anniversaries
- Several depictions of Jamini Roy’s paintings on the palloos of saris
And many others…
The audiences hugely applauded the efforts of the rural artisans in crafting these unique productions. Mrs Gursharan Kaur congratulated Shamlu Dudeja for encouraging S.H.E. artisans to produce such wonderful work. She said that S.H.E. artisans were truly skilled women, and that she was proud to be ‘a part of S.H.E.’. Mrs Isher Ahluwalia spoke about her association with Kantha for more than 15 years, and said that this kind of Kantha would not have been possible without Shamlu’s tireless efforts. Mrs. Sharmila Tagore complimented the artisans of rural Bengal for producing such magnificent Kantha panels.
Due to Shamlu’s efforts, KANTHA remains priceless as much in its ethnicity and traditional appeal as in its contemporary allure.