Living Lineage

This work is a slowly evolving collection, created in collaboration with artisans in India and rooted in the ancestral process of making traditional garments.

“Unlike shards of Neolithic pottery, which retain their physical form over millennia, textiles perish. Their survival depends on the hands of living artisans, who carry forward the memory of ancient ways through practice and tradition.”

From the fertile river valleys once celebrated in the Vedas, principles of ahimsa—non-violence and harmony with all life—have guided the cultivation of fibres and the making of cloth. In these traditions, every step of the process is an offering: from seed to spindle, loom to garment.

In Kutch, the Rabari shepherds and kala cotton farmers share a symbiotic relationship with the Vankar weaving communities, sustaining an interdependent ecosystem of craft and culture. Natural dyes, drawn from indigo and medicinal plants, embody a deep reverence for the Earth, while Rabari embroidery stitches map ancestral stories into cloth.

The soft forms of these traditional garments hold more than beauty—they are symbols of resilience and continuity. Each piece carries the legacy of ancient seeds and desi fibres, grown, spun, and woven using techniques passed down through nomadic and weaving communities for centuries, even millennia.

Ashok, a master indigo artisan, speaks of his vats as living colour—a spiritual alchemy that connects him to Mother Earth. In his words, indigo is not merely a dye but a living being, breathing and transforming, a reminder that true craft is an act of devotion.

FILM and image - SOHAIL WAZIR