‘Artisans should have better financial footing’

Bangladeshi textile revivalist Saiful Islam, now based in London, has been working towards reviving muslin since 2014.

On that feat, he has held an exhibition, authored the book ‘Muslin. Our Story’ and produced the film ‘Legend of the Loom’. He is also the CEO of the media company Drik and the managing director of the photo agency and social enterprise Majority World.

Saiful was in the city a few weeks ago for the screening of his documentary ‘Legend of the Loom’ at Threads of Tradition, hosted by Taneira by Titan.

Metrolife caught up with the muslin expert and he talks about his initiative and future projects.

Excerpts from the interview:

Tell us about your work towards reviving muslin.

The journey started at the end of 2013. For the past 6 years, I have been in association with Drik, which tries to highlight the identity of Bangladesh and of many other countries; we have tried to highlight our contribution to the world, not in a propaganda way but in a way which is authentic.

While in London, a group approached me for help regarding muslin, and I got associated with them in early 2014. What struck me was the paucity of information; I couldn’t find any in-depth literature on what had happened to the plant or the weavers.

There was a nice book written on muslin in the West, but it didn’t actually encompass the contribution that comes from our part of the world. So, I started to dig into it by talking to people who were in academic and textile institutions in Bangladesh.

Then I gravitated the work further to London and visited countries that had a muslin footprint.

By the end of 2014, we decided that this was a story that needs to be told -- the history, the heroes behind it etc. In 2015, we approached the largest museum in Bangladesh and held an exhibition, wrote a book among many other things. And lastly, in 2017, we came up with the film ‘Legend of the Loom’. It has been a journey of learning.

Do you think the traditional textile and weavers are at risk because of industrialisation?

Absolutely, they are under pressure in multiple ways. One is that artisans find it difficult to get by; present artisans find it difficult to for the later generation to follow their footsteps.

The economic pressure is also obviously there. As far as I can see, in the jamdani and muslin sector, there are middlemen who happen to take the major portion of the earning.

I think they need to have better financial footing, recognition and the benefits of technology.

On that note, what is the most important factor an artisan should keep in his mind?

An artisan should look at the system that is currently in place. I think to some extent they should also be a part of the market process; the industry should bring the market closer to the artisan so that they can understand its working and share their problems.

About your association with Taneira.

The association is fairly new. Taneira represents a large drive towards ethnic wear; it is a wonderful thing.

Future projects.

The story of muslin is not simply about the textile. What is important to us is to create pride in a nation’s identity.

We are often seen as backward and under-developed in the West. For me, it is important to project what we have contributed.

Muslin is an example that we can revive and write stories in the way that it happened. For us, similar projects are in the pipeline mostly in the creative area.

We bring stories to daylight and show people that techniques can be brought back, which can benefit a country, and leave it for the people to make choices about what they want to do with it. And that’s the direction we intend to follow.