Rabari
Rug collection for Nani Marquina
Doshi Levien created a series of rugs that evoke the sensual and shiny world of tribal folk embroidery of India. Nipa already had in mind intricately hand crafted embroideries made by the Nomadic community of the Rabaris from Kutch region. Her aunt had an amazing embroidery workshop in Ahmedabad, with 25 highly skilled craftswomen, who were all experts in hand embroidery, working with glistening mirrors, silk and cotton thread and metallic sequins amongst other non-precious materials. The women sat together on rugs on the floor, surrounded by these jewel like elements scattered around them as they worked. Often collaborating in groups, the intricate embroideries took several days to complete. Doshi Levien wanted the collection for Nani Marquina to reference the unfinished embroideries like studies of different techniques in progress, as they gradually emerge over time. The spontaneous compositions of the rugs embody the serendipity and freedom to improvise inherent in each step of a handmade piece; Joyful, irreverent and unique.
Dimensions are 170×240 cm / 200×300 cm / 300×400 cm. Find out more about availability and prices for the Rabari collection at Nani Marquina. Photography by Albert Font.
Rabari is hand woven and knotted and the longest process is the weaving, that can take up to four weeks for the large sizes. First there is a process of drawing the map, meanwhile, the yarns are being dyed. During the weaving process, usually two people sit on the loom together. As Rabari rugs are woven horizontally there could be three weavers working at the same time on the larger sizes. Once out of the loom, there is a stretching process. You can see in the film how a man is pushing delicately the knots with a nail. This is to try to correct some defects of tension from the loom and to make the lines straighter. The rug is stretched to make it as square as possible. Then, starts the finishing, clipping all the knotted parts (dots and lines) and making the binding on the edges, changing with each colour. It takes approximately 8 to 10 weeks from map to finished product.