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Home Artisans and Producers Ismail Mohammad Khatri

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Dr. Ismail Mohmed Khatri

Brand: Dr. Ismail Mohmed Khatri

Company: Dr. Ismail Mohmed Khatri

Locality: Ajrakhpur

Ismail Khatri Story

Being an archaeologist, Dr. Ismail Mohmed Khatri discovered the oldest art form of South Asia. Around 5000 years ago, a block printing method was used which is still being practiced by the artisans from Kutch.

He is basically from Santreja, a village in Sindh. The technique was being practiced by his ancestors who had faced a lot of challenges from 1991 when the water in the river started drying up resulting in the lowering of water level in rivers, tanks, and wells. The earthquake of 2001 destroyed the village causing the migration of Dr. Ismail Khatri along with so many other people to the Ajrakhpur.

The passing time and increased use of machine printed clothes and adoption of a new lifestyle and dressing pattern by the locals became a reason for another challenge for the artisans. Ajrakh is a time-consuming process and involves several steps which demand patience. But, later Dr. Ismail Khatri Started a workshop of his own to sell on a global market and contributed a lot in the establishment of this art form.

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Ajrakh

Ajrakh is a subtle block printing artwork which came into existence back in the civilization of Indus Valley around 2500 BC- 1500 BC. Ajrakh is derived from the Arabic word “Azrak” which means blue that is one of the principal colors in the Ajrak printing. Earlier, ajrakh was made for Maldharis or cattle herders by the Khatri community in the 16th century. They used the natural dye colors and water which was locally available from the river Dhamadka.

The 2.5-3 meters long cloth is painted on both the sides with the method of resist printing. The hand-carved wooden blocks are used to craft the painting on the cloth. The handmade prints employees a recursive pattern in the form of a grid distinguishing different patterns.

Ajarak printing is a long procedure including numerous phases of printing and washing the texture again and again with different characteristic colors and mordants, for example, harda, lime, alizarin, indigo, and even camel fertilizer. The strategy of opposing printing permits selective ingestion of a color in the coveted territories just and forestalls retention on the regions planned to be left uncolored.

The complete process of painting a cloth takes a lot of patience and time. The cloth is first prepared, then mordanted and then dyed. The process involves pulling full-length cloth through river many times, scouring, beating, steaming where every time the water will influence everything – from the shades of the colors themselves to the success or failure of the entire process.

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