Publisher's Synopsis
The exhibition of "A Dyeing Art" combines the results of international academic research into the tradition of craft techniques with comments on the craftsmans' contemporary practice, and thus reveals the outstanding quality of telia rumals, from South East India. It presents telia rumals from historical and contemporary collections and draws attention to the dangers which both Western expectations and textile production methods impose on the continuing survival of craft weavers in India. This book accompanies the exhibition and offers a commentary on this art, highlighting old and new dyeing techniques and examining the use of pattern and colour. A personal profile of one family of weavers and dyers offers a first hand account of this ancient craft.