Japanese textile designers collaborate with Indian artisans in Uttarakhand

Japanese textile designers Chiaki Maki and Parva Tanaka have laid deep roots of Japanese tradition in India by collaborating with the Indian artisans and manufacturing traditional hand-woven Japanese outfits in Dehradun, Uttarakhand.

Chiaki and Parva started working with the Indian artisans and opened their own work station in 2017, Ganga Maki Textile Studio in Bhogpur, Uttarakhand. Rakesh Singh is the Indian director for their textile studio.

Beautiful and distinctive Japanese outfits are manufactured in their studio with the help of hardworking weavers and artisans, putting in their efforts to produce authentic outfits."We have been working with weavers in Delhi for 27 years, in co-operation with Ms Neeru Kumar, one of the most prominent textile designers in India. We distribute our products through Maki Textile Studio Ltd in Tokyo, Japan" Chiaki told ANI.

Chiaki met Rakesh, a chef in Delhi and hired him for the Indian Cafe in their textile shop situated in Tokyo. While working there, Rakesh was impressed seeing Chiaki and Parva's Japanese customers admiring their handmade prints and unique designs.

Soon he proposed an idea to Chiaki and Parva to build a bridge between India and Japan by teaching Indian artisans the art of handmade Japanese textile printing and designing and manufacturing the authentic outfits in India. Parva and Chiaki started organizing workshops in Athurwala, Uttarakhand in 2010, where they trained local villagers in weaving, hand spinning and naturally dying the fabric.

"Our wish is to become a model for villagers to keep their living out of hand work in their village. Currently, there are around 20 families in the villages of Uttarakashi, 10 families in Uttar Pradesh, 10 families in Jharkhand, 20 families in West Bengal, 20 families Chattisgarh and 10 families in Assam, who make handmade yarns for us. " Chiaki said.

They started exporting hand-woven fabrics from India to Maki Textile Studio Ltd in Japan. Gradually they constructed a more comfortable workplace for the Indian artisans in Bhogpur, Uttarakhand. The workplace in Bhogpur is constructed using limestones, bricks, mud, bamboo, wood, etc.

Gradually they started cultivating their fields to grow materials for natural dyes and fibres. They cultivate natural dye plants such as Indigo, Henna, Marigold, Harshingar, Anar, etc in their own fields.

Currently, about 50 workers, including, 10 weavers, five tailors, women workers for various hand-woven tasks, caretakers, and farmers are working at Ganga Maki Textile Studio. Their products range from woollen coats, jackets, silk scarves, silk shawls, silk dresses, bed covers, table clothes, fabrics to rugs and much more. They conduct exhibitions twice a year, displaying their hand-woven outfits for the visitors.