Hand woven stoles

The master weaver, naqaash (pattern-maker), and a dozen others who worked on creating new calligraphy for the famed brocades of Varanasi were fascinated with the idea of making patterns out of words. They researched from the 15th century poet Kabir’s works.

The single word banaras, also known historically as Kashi and Varanasi, became the smaller motif to be paired with the larger end motif of this stole.
The brilliant colour known among weavers as “rani pink” carries the Urdu script. The design on the larger end motif is an interweaving of the words kargha (loom), kapda (cloth), kaagaz (paper) and qalam (pen) to form an elegant stylized bird. The interconnected words are obvious and become a leitmotif of Akshara that is about literacy and, therefore, pen and paper, connecting with the weaver, hence the loom and cloth. The smaller matching motif, scattered on the body of the stole, is the word resham, “silk”. Happily, it is also the name of the master-weaver’s establishment.