Revival of a rural craft, with a modern twist

Weavers Chandrashekar Vadigeri and Shanta Vadigeri in Guledagudda, Bagalkot district. 

Weavers story for Spectrum 

Weavers story for Spectrum 

Siddeshwar mukuta stole 

Navilu pari stole 

The looms in Bagalkot’s Guledagudda, popularly known as the ‘Khana town’ of India, were silent during the Covid-19 lockdown. Most of the artisans here had taken up odd jobs to sustain themselves, while others had migrated outside of the town in search of a livelihood.

The efforts of Bengaluru-based textile designer Geeta Patil and her venture
‘Kubsa’ provided work to some handloom weavers and their families even during the lockdown.

Kubsa was started with the aim of reviving the dying textile traditions of North Karnataka including Guledagudda Khana (blouse fabric) and Ilkal sarees, by working with the local weavers.

Geeta, a native of Kalaburagi, had just begun working with around 10 handloom weavers, when the country was hit by the pandemic.

Undeterred, she used this time to experiment and train the weavers, who had strayed from the core of their craft and had moved on to powerloom work. What followed was long consultations over phone and video calls with the weavers, who worked with available materials. Finally, Geeta and her team led by Ramesh Ayodi came up with their maiden collection of handwoven stoles and sarees called ‘Nurita’.

Blending generation-old techniques with modern aesthetics, the team focused on using uncommon colours like black, grey and white, giving a new look to the Khana fabric which is otherwise known for its bright and deep colours.

While experimenting with natural dyes made of locally-grown fruit and vegetable extracts, they also came up with beautiful Ilkal sarees by combining silk, cotton and khadi, giving a luscious texture to an otherwise plain saree.

The Kubsa team ensured work and fair pay to the weavers who contributed to creating the products during the lockdown. They also gathered funds to provide three months’ ration kits to around 50 weaver families in the town.

A disappearing tradition

“Over the past two to three decades, the number of handlooms in Guledagudda has come down from 30,000 to 50. The main reason for this is underpaid labour,” says Geeta.

She says that the only condition the workers had when approached with the idea of creating these new handloom weaves was to ensure continuous work.

“So, during Covid, it was our moral responsibility to hold the hands of our weavers,” she says.

Currently, there are 40 to 50 motifs like ‘Navilu Pari’, ‘Siddeshwar Mukuta’, ‘Kedagi’ (mostly named after deities, local flora and fauna) that the workers are working with, but there are many other old weaves that seemed to have slowly disappeared over time.

So, there is also an effort to document these weaves to revive the entire textile culture of Guledagudda.

“I worked as a handloom weaver for nearly 30 years but had to give up and run a hotel to earn a living, as we could not compete with power looms in terms of production speed and wages earned. I am happy that I have been able to take up weaving again,” says Janakka, one of the weavers Kubsa is working with.

Handloom weavers Chandrashekar Vadigeri and Shanta Vadigeri also acknowledge the support extended by Kubsa.