That Riot of Colour
14 November 2020
As goat and camel herders, the Baloch had a ready supply of the hair of these animals, the basic raw material. The claim therefore that they were the pioneers of the colourful farasi may well be true. Moreover, deriving from the Persian, Balochi could just as well have carried farsh, later corrupted to farasi. Because of its demand in Sindh, the art quickly radiated out of Baloch homes to be learnt by the desert dwellers of Thar and Cholistan who also possessed a ready supply of necessary material.Camel and goat hair, spun manually into thread, is dyed in every conceivable colour. Time was when dyes came from natural sources such as acacia or jujube leaves, lac, cochineal and indigo. Primary colours were mixed together in varying quantities to produce the desired variety of shades. And the colours were made fast by cooking the dyed material either with soda or alum or with a mash of millets. Modern times have simplified the process, however: now farasi weavers buy manufactured chemical dyes cutting out the process of making colours.
As is the case for all hand-woven carpets, the loom for the farasi has no moving parts other than the axles. Consequently, in order to produce a firm pile each weft has to be seated tight against the other with the help of the weaver’s comb or peezug.
On completion of a panel – and not beforehand – the weavers decide what pattern the next panel will be. The singular consideration here is the overall harmony of design. So it is that centimetre by centimetre, pattern by pattern, panel after panel, the farasi becomes a phantasmagoria of colour and design to come off the loom.
Intriguingly, there is no pattern book to consult as the designs and forms, passed down through generations, remain etched in the minds of the weavers. Despite being unrecorded, each design has a specific name. As the two weavers begin laying in the weft they decide what the first panel will carry. And since there are sequences of patterns that go together, the first establishes the overall look of the finished product.
Interestingly, farasi making has clear division of labour. Men prepare the woollen thread whereas the cotton thread of the warp is mostly prepared by women on a traditional spinning wheel, now purchased readymade. Colouring of wool is again the matron’s job as is the weaving that is, without exception, done by women.
While they start to learn the art young, today one sees only elderly matrons, bent with age, labouring at the loom. And with good reason.
A 3.5x6.5 foot farasi takes up seven kilograms of cotton thread for the warp. The wool for the weft is approximately twelve kilograms. The cost for materials for the standard farasi therefore runs up to Rs. 12,000 to 14,000. With household chores to attend to, the weavers spend some six to eight hours at the loom every day in order to produce the standard sized farasi in two months’ time. Now, if their hard work is not made good with a sale price of at least Rs. 30,000 for one farasi, the work is simply not worth their while.
Hasan Mehri of Baghli Mehri village in Badin says there are few takers these days. It is now impossible, he says, to see a young woman at the loom because they know this dying craft will never butter their bread. Indeed, in this village there is not a single young woman apprentice for they all deem farasi weaving a waste of time in terms of earning a livelihood.
According to Mehri, the older women keep at it out of a peculiar loyalty to their art. Since they continue to weave, there is a store stacked with a few dozen carpets with no market. Visiting bureaucrats and politicians sometimes feign interest in the farasi and end up purchasing a piece. Other than that, there are no buyers. Worse still, there is absolutely no institutional recognition of this fast-vanishing craft nor any support for it.
What then will be the fate of this ancient art? Mehri smiles a melancholic smile. ‘When the last weaver passes away from this life, the timber of the loom will very likely end up as firewood.’
Labels: A Chorus for Craft, Crafts
posted by Salman Rashid @ 09:27,
3 Comments:
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At 15 November 2020 at 10:07,
Himanshu Vashistha said...
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Thank you very much Sir ! Very interesting article. Not sure whether its same or different, I hv seen such type material local craftsman come to sell along the highway which Runs from Jodhpur to Pali , Jalore. Material I think is cotton but designs are mostly same.
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At 15 November 2020 at 10:12,
Salman Rashid said...
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The Great Thar Desert whether on the Indian side or on ours, would have the same cultural traditions. Therefore the similarity.
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At 21 March 2022 at 22:18,
Ateeq said...
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Huzoor Adaab,
Many thanks for sharing this information about this unique craft. In your video, you mentioned that no one is buying these works. Do you know if these folk have access to some middlemen who can send the product to places like UK and USA? I would definitely buy one.
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