Mamad Sharif Khatri a craftsman from Bhuj, Kutch have been practicing Ajrakh for the last 30 years. Being determined to his work he has earned respect and fame for his brilliant talent.
Even after witnessing the earthquake of 2000, he has established his work efficiently globally. He quotes that earthquake has brought us closer. He has worked hard to promote his traditional artwork.
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.