Kantha

de Rob Sidner, Courtenay C. McGowen, Pratapaditya Pal, John Gillow

The part of Bengal where the Ganges River flows into the Bay of Bengal has historically been the source of the finest cotton ever produced. The kind of embroidery known as 'kantha' is created from this material, for daily use in many different contexts and in many different sizes. It deploys a simple running stitch in quilting layers of used cloth; details are embroidered using satin and stem stitches with thread taken from the colored borders of cast-off saris and dhotis. The workmanship varies from the crude to the complex and refined, but they are all made for daily use for various household purposes. The tribal culture of this region and its sense of continuity were evident until the early part of the 20th century, but the true unraveling of the 'kantha' tradition came with partition, followed by the devastation brought on by the mass exodus of Hindu and Muslim populations in Pakistan, East Pakistan and India. Now, with global warming, the rising waters are resulting in the disappearance of villages, along with the livelihoods of the inhabitants. Exhibition: Mingei International Museum, San Diego, United States (27.05.-31.12.2017).