Thursday 3 May 2012

Varanasi Weavers – Revival of Varanasi Art of Weaving

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Varanasi Silk Gold Wrap Saree
Varanasi, also known as Banaras and Kashi is one of the most religious city of India. It is famous for its rich heritrage and art of weaving on handlooms and carpets. Varanasi houses various small cottage industries that produce handloom silk sarees that are commonly referred to as 'Banarsi Silk' sarees. As per the data fetched on 2009 Varanasi has estimated 300,000 weavers.


The intricate weaves of handloom silk sarees are something that any Indian woman would love to wear.  Over time the cheap imitations of silk sarees impacted the market and so Banarsi Silk being an expensive piece due to its fine work and quality reduced its demand in India. As a result most of the looms have shut down and most of these weavers lost their work or moved somewhere else.


This crisis situation of weavers caught attention of Upasana, which is a design firm in Auroville. Then Upasana along with a partnetship of non-profit organization of Denmark Bestsellers, launched a project called Varanasi Weavers in 2006. The mission of Varanasi Weavers was the revival of silk and hand-weaving techniques of Varanasi. Their aim was to make it a profitable business again and to provide weavers an economic stability.


Art of Weaving
In 2008 Varanasi weavers became a company who works as an interface between buyers and weavers. In near future this company will work as a social company run by the weavers themselves. This way Varanasi Weavers empowered weavers and utilized their skills. They presented traditional weaving of Varanasi into a whole new form and also generated awareness about the same by using the best possible marketing resources. This also helped weavers to keep in tune with current times.


Thereafter weavers started getting orders directly from the designers and other groups. Now they earn sufficient income to fullfill their and their family needs. On the other side the traditional techniques have been coupled with contemporary trends in the right proportion resulting in the rise of interest in Varanasi textiles.


Helpful Resources:
http://indiagovernance.gov.in/bestpractices.php?id=882
http://indiagovernance.gov.in/download.php?filename=files/VaranasiWeavers_BP.pdf
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varanasi
"
Varanasi Silk Gold Wrap Saree
Varanasi, also known as Banaras and Kashi is one of the most religious city of India. It is famous for its rich heritrage and art of weaving on handlooms and carpets. Varanasi houses various small cottage industries that produce handloom silk sarees that are commonly referred to as 'Banarsi Silk' sarees. As per the data fetched on 2009 Varanasi has estimated 300,000 weavers.


The intricate weaves of handloom silk sarees are something that any Indian woman would love to wear.  Over time the cheap imitations of silk sarees impacted the market and so Banarsi Silk being an expensive piece due to its fine work and quality reduced its demand in India. As a result most of the looms have shut down and most of these weavers lost their work or moved somewhere else.


This crisis situation of weavers caught attention of Upasana, which is a design firm in Auroville. Then Upasana along with a partnetship of non-profit organization of Denmark Bestsellers, launched a project called Varanasi Weavers in 2006. The mission of Varanasi Weavers was the revival of silk and hand-weaving techniques of Varanasi. Their aim was to make it a profitable business again and to provide weavers an economic stability.


Art of Weaving
In 2008 Varanasi weavers became a company who works as an interface between buyers and weavers. In near future this company will work as a social company run by the weavers themselves. This way Varanasi Weavers empowered weavers and utilized their skills. They presented traditional weaving of Varanasi into a whole new form and also generated awareness about the same by using the best possible marketing resources. This also helped weavers to keep in tune with current times.


Thereafter weavers started getting orders directly from the designers and other groups. Now they earn sufficient income to fullfill their and their family needs. On the other side the traditional techniques have been coupled with contemporary trends in the right proportion resulting in the rise of interest in Varanasi textiles.


Helpful Resources:
http://indiagovernance.gov.in/bestpractices.php?id=882
http://indiagovernance.gov.in/download.php?filename=files/VaranasiWeavers_BP.pdf
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varanasi

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