Sanskruti, the store for Indian Handiwork in Salmiya Kuwait, had the privilege of Dr.Gargi Jain, wife of His Excellency Indian Ambassador to Kuwait, releasing their new collection of Block Printed Indian outfits. The theme of the evening was titled “Timeless Beauty of Block Prints” and true to its meaning the fine work of Indian craftsmen on the textiles was truly breathtaking! The collection that was released included exclusive unstitched suit sets with ethnic block prints in Tussar, Ghicha, Raw silk and Mangalgiri cottons. Also on display were hand block printed sarees in Jaipuri kota tissue, Pashmina silk, Chanderi and Maheshwari silks.
Block print is one of the oldest known printing techniques and such printed fragments have been found dating back to 220AD. For the process, the wood “block” is carefully prepared as a “relief” pattern, which means the areas to show 'white' are cut away with a knife, chisel, or sandpaper, leaving the characters or image to show in 'black' at the original surface level. The block is cut along the grain of the wood. It is necessary only to ink the block and bring it into firm and even contact with the paper or cloth to achieve an acceptable print. For colour printing, multiple blocks are used, each for one colour, although overprinting two colours may produce further colours on the print. Indian artisans are keeping this craft alive up to this date and they continue to painstakingly create designs and patterns that have the grace, romance and beauty unmatched by machines.
Dr.Gargi experimented with the blocks and dyes provided at Sanskruti and experienced block printingfirst-hand. Among those who also enjoyed a first-hand block printing experience were Mrs.Anju Dheman, Principal of FAIPS (DPS) Kuwait, members of Bengali, Marathi and Orissa cultural associations, members of IWA , IWIK and many of our other dear patrons. Sanskruti is grateful to Dr.Gargi Jain for making the evening special by her presence and for allowing a lot of our patrons to freely interact with her.
Sanskruti is an exclusive showroom for Indian Handiworks located in Block 10, Salmiya and has a range that includes fashion jewellery, ethnic bags and clutches ,paintings, jharokas, home décor, furnishings, suits, sarees, shawls and more.
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