Photographs document traditional Indian crafts

A melting pot of cultural heritage, Lucknow has always driven documentary photographer Taha Ahmed to dig deeper into the cultural civilisation of the city of Nawabs and document the legacy of its hidden crafts.
The artist who has closely observed the changing phases of art and culture in the city, has now documented the fascinating story of the almost dead 'Mukaish Badla' - the art of metallic embroidery on cloth, in a series of photographs titled, "Swan Song of the Badlas".
The ancient craft which flourished during the Mughal era can now be found only in a few narrow lanes of the city, says Ahmed.

"'Badla' referred to the artisans who practised this craft by inserting metallic wires of gold and silver into the fabric, eventually twisting it to create metallic embroidery.
"Most of them who are now aged over 65 years, make a bare minimum of Rs 100-150 per day while working in extremely harsh conditions for 10 hours daily," says Ahmed whose works are part of an ongoing exhibition titled "Framing the Living Traditions".
The group show which marks the fifth year of the Neel Dongre Grants, a platform for emerging photographers to showcase their work and receive funds to support their projects, also features works by Ankit Agrawal, Bharat Tiwari, Mrigank Kulshreshtha and Vikas Gupta.

The crafts and traditions documented by the photographers span across various regions of the country and showcase the dexterity of Indian artisans and their commitment towards traditional art forms.

Tiwari, an interior designer by profession, is showcasing 'Silk Routes via Chanderi', that narrates the journey of making Chanderi silk.
The artist documented the process during his stay in the Chanderi village in Madhya Pradesh.
"Chanderi silk is world famous but to reach the beautiful town of its origin, the 30 odd kilometres from Lalitpur railway station by road leaves no bone unshaken.
"Surrounded by hills, the town is one of the few places left where handlooms, a tedious and dying sari-making technique, are still used to make silk fabric," says Tiwari.

Kulshrestha has captured the beauty of Assam by focusing on the region's traditional Assam silk.
In 'Fading Whir of the Looms', he has documented the struggles of the weavers in the state.
"What we see are stacks of silk fabric arranged in stores but we are unaware of what happens behind the scenes. The project has been bifurcated into colour prints and screen prints on Pat silk. The colour prints detail the journey of a silkworm from its existence to its transformation into fabric.
"The portraits of handloom weavers on the Pat silk through the process of screen printing are a tribute to the indigenous and graceful Assam silk and the true hard work and dedication of the weavers," says Kulshrestha.

"The Craft of Tanpura Making" by city-based photographer Ankit Agrawal is a visual narrative of the farming of the gourds (tumba) in Pandharpur in Mahrashtra and the making of Tanpura in Miraj, also in the same state.
Although there are several popular centres of Tanpura making in Tanjavur, Rampur, and Banaras, the artist claims Miraj is one of the best owing to its proximity to music centers in the southern and western India.
"In the last century or so, Miraj has overshadowed other centres of instrument making due to the easy availability of good quality raw material and the city's proximity to music centres.

"Miraj's railway junction played an important role in the region which had no centre for instrument making and repairing. Later on, due to patronage, good climate, Khwaja Meersaheb's Dargah, and proximity to the vibrant classical music scene, a lot of artistes settled here," says Agrawal.
Curated by former INTACH director of cultural affairs Asha Rani Mathur, travel photographer Aditya Arya and judged by filmmaker Parthiv Shah, the exhibition also features 'An Aura of Analogue Age' by Vikas Gupta.
Gupta's series captures the last generation of analogue photographers in Kurukshetra.
"A documentary photographer has an important role in the society. I firmly believe they create histories by documenting the traditions and the constantly evolving societies. Their work has a great place in the archives.

"In an age where new inventions and new technologies of mass production are being announced every minute, it is essential to document the great traditions and crafts of the past for posterity," says Arya.
The exhibition is set to continue till May 2 at India International Centre here.