Woolen Stole

The younger generation of kani shawl weavers in Kashmir became fascinated with the idea of bringing words into kani weaving. For many months Majid and Altaf drew designs on paper, worked out the talim (instruction sheet) to weave the shawl on the kani loom, and came up with single and multi-coloured experiments in calligraphy and calligrams (called as such when letters are artistically placed within a shape, such as of a horse, bird, or deer).

The result that most satisfied the two young weavers was a combination of calligraphy and the traditional time-tested paisley shape accompanied by coloured stripes typical of kani borders. Inside the paisley are the words of 17th century Mughal emperor Jahangir who is famously said to have exclaimed 'gar firdaus / ruhe zamin ast / hamin asto / hamin asto hamin ast', on seeing the beauty of Kashmir. It means, “If ever there was a heaven on earth, it is this, it is this, it is this.”

This has become an oft-repeated phrase used to extol the natural beauty of the Kashmir valley. A kani weaver has applied these words for the first time to demonstrate his newly learned skill of artistic writing.