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Weaving knowledge between India and the UK – Ancient textile techniques for a new generation of designers

Tuesday, 7 January, 2025 — Textile design students and academics at Arts University Plymouth shared in cross-cultural knowledge exchange with master weaver Shamji Vankara while he acted as an artisan-in-residence sponsored by The British Council as part of Making Futures 2024, in partnership with Arts University Plymouth and the Delhi Crafts Council, India.

<a href="https://makingfutures.org.uk/">Making Futures</a>® 2024, ‘Beyond Objects - Materiality at the Edge of Making’, is Arts University Plymouth’s biennial research platform and symposium, drawing together an international community of interdisciplinary creative scholars and practitioners. Convened and curated by Associate Professor Stephanie Owens, Dean of Arts, Design and Media at <a href="https://www.aup.ac.uk/">Arts University Plymouth</a>, the conference explored creative encounters with current material research and innovation where artists, artisans and designers work across disciplines and communities toward a more equitable, sustainable and resilient world. As part of a British Council-supported residency, Arts University Plymouth hosted Shamji Vankar, a master weaver from the Kachchh region in north India and an early adopter of kala cotton (an indigenous variety from Kachchh free of toxins and chemicals), who directs Vankar Vishram Valji Weaving, a multi-generational craft initiative for weaving and dyeing of fabrics known around the world in partnership with Delhi Crafts Council. Shamji acted as an artisan-in-residence sponsored by The British Council as part of Making Futures 2024, in partnership with Arts University Plymouth and the Delhi Crafts Council, India. During his time in the UK, Shamji engaged <a href="https://www.aup.ac.uk/courses/undergraduate/ba-hons-textile-design">BA (Hons) Textile Design</a> students and academics in cross-cultural knowledge exchange.

Shamji Vankar at Arts University Plymouth

International responses to the residency

Shamji Vankar said: “I have very much enjoyed my time in Arts University Plymouth. Stephanie Owens, the curator of Making Futures, has made me feel very welcome. Working alongside the BA (Hons) Textile Design academics, Emma Gribble and Becky Dodman-Wainright, and their students, has been an excellent experience and I feel like we have learned a lot from each other. “I particularly enjoyed seeing the work with flax fibres to create linen, and visiting the University’s natural dye gardens and seeing the flowers harvested to create dyes. I was also inspired to see the straight loom that Becky uses at home and the way that she designs her patterns, which was like nothing I’ve seen before. Together with the staff and students here, we can see that artists around the world are all very similar. Sometimes we use different plants from our local areas, or different local techniques, but we’re working towards shared goals and have much in common. “At home in Kachchh, my parents taught me to weave and we would all make and work together. Now, I teach new generations the same skills. Our weaving is more than a business, it is a way of life. The students at Arts University Plymouth were inspired to learn about the way that we work and I hope can take some of these values forward in their studies.”

Shamji Vankar with Associate Professor Stephanie Owens

Emma Gribble, Senior Lecturer and Course Leader for BA (Hons) Textile Design at Arts University Plymouth, said: “The Making Futures conference this year examines the relationships between traditional crafts, technology, materiality and sustainability. It was important to us that we viewed Shamji Vankar’s residency through this lens, embracing the possibilities for mutually beneficial culture and knowledge exchange while thinking about ways to value sustainability and locality in our textile practices. “Early in the residency we identified a core group of BA (Hons) Textile Design students to work closely with Shamji and have an opportunity to really learn about his practice and processes. This was an intense experience for the students and they’re coming away with a better understanding of how and why we design in a certain way. Place is important to Shamji’s practice and so we worked to reevaluate the importance of place to our own techniques and teaching. “We’ve all learned so much about materials, process and place. This dedicated time with Shamji has in some ways allowed us to remove some of the noise away from the design process, reminding us to focus on the materials at hand and the place we create in."

<a href="https://www.britishcouncil.in/about/our-senior-leadership-team/ruchira-das-director-arts-india">Ruchira Das</a>, Director for Arts India at the British Council, said: “The British Council India Art programme in sustainable fashion and textiles champions the power of indigenous practices and creative entrepreneurship to drive the change towards a more climate positive fashion industry. “In partnership with Stephanie Owens and the Delhi Crafts Council we devised the artisan-in-residence programme to bring the focus on the ‘maker’ and the act of ‘making’ to Making Futures 2024. The artisan-in-residence, celebrated textile expert, Shamji Vankar, brought a unique element of tangible craft making to a conference exploring new ways of cultural production and exchange. For British Council, it set the stage for the larger narrative on artisan autonomy and academic contribution and knowledge exchange through practice.”

Bringing an Indian perspective on weaving and dyeing to Plymouth

Working in close collaboration with textiles experts from Arts University Plymouth, during the residency Shamji introduced BA (Hons) Textile Design students and academics to the history of the generations of Kachchh artisans who have continued the traditional skills of weaving and dyeing cotton and other indigenous fabrics in his Bhujodi village community of weavers. Shamji led a number of workshops to share the processes and cultural significance of ancient weaving techniques from western India, demonstrating the importance of place to the materials and practices that have been passed down through generations. By utilising key components of the ecology that was local to these methods, Shamji’s practice retains a level of sustainability that is often lost in pursuit of mass manufacturing techniques. Central to the residency was the concept of mutual cultural exchange, in a move away from extractive practices that have seen many modern industries derive value from indigenous skills and craft techniques without offering reciprocity.

Becky Dodmain-Wainwright with Shamji Vankar

21-year-old Izzy Hiscocks is a first-year BA (Hons) Textile Design student from Tavistock who completed a Foundation Diploma in Art & Design at Arts University Plymouth in 2022. Izzy said: “I’ve found it incredibly inspiring to hear about communities that have managed to hold on to traditions of dyeing and spinning, when so many traditions have been lost in the UK as we modernised. “Hearing the way that whole families can work together as a community, receiving cotton from local farmers, removing the seeds and helping to prepare it for weaving together, I’ve learned that weaving can be a unifying process, connected with nature and community, and this is something that I think we could all learn from. I’ve been inspired to use slower, more thoughtful methods in my own practice, and to look for connections to my local environment.”

Students Izzy Hiscocks and Poppy Victory

Focusing on locality in textile design and creation

BA (Hons) Textile Design and MA Textile Design students from across Arts University Plymouth, alongside students and staff members from across Arts University Plymouth, were invited to attend and participate in a number of events and workshops led by Shamji. A core group of first-year BA (Hons) Textile Design students also joined Shamji more intensively to learn from his experience for the duration of the residency, while in turn the academics from Arts University Plymouth introduced the group to local techniques and methods utilised by textile designers and artists in the South West of England. Shamji and facilitator and fellow designer Sachin Sachar were introduced to British wool spinners at the Natural Fibre Company, in Launceston; to linen production community interest company, the Flax Project; to the Peter Tavy Guild of Weavers, Spinners and Dyers; and to Pigment Organic Dyes, in Ashburton. Additionally Shamji, who regularly spins with cotton, was introduced by Arts University academics Emma Gribble and Becky Dodman-Wainwright, to the wool that is used traditionally in Devon, and the natural dye garden that they have piloted with the National Trust.

Non-extractive knowledge exchange

Lecturer Becky Dodman-Wainwright, whose practice-led research is focused on non-extractive knowledge exchange in community-based projects and collaborative creative practices, said: “One of the most exciting outcomes of Shamji’s residency has been the peer-to-peer learning that his sessions have resulted in. We allowed a core group of students to take part in Shamji’s sessions and learn about his traditional practice at the same time as learning about traditions in Devon and Cornwall, and now those students are becoming facilitators who will share that knowledge with others in the university. “We already knew that indigenous textile practices often prioritise ecological balance by necessity. Working with Shamji, we’ve seen how that looks in practice, and together have had opportunities to evaluate how modern textile production can be improved to become more sustainable whilst supporting indigenous artisans rather than exploiting their work and knowledge. I hope that Shamji will return to India feeling as enthused by his time in England as we feel having had the opportunity to learn with him.”

20-year-old <a href="https://www.instagram.com/poppyvictory.art/">Poppy Victory</a>, a first-year BA (Hons) Textile Design student from Bristol, said: “Learning from a master weaver like Shamji within my first month studying at Arts University Plymouth has been a fascinating experience. I’m a very tactile, hands-on person and I have loved the weaving workshops that Shamji has led. We’ve spun cotton in various ways and I found using the spindle to be very mindful, almost meditative. Learning the traditions of weaving in India will definitely influence my practice going forwards. “I spent a year studying crafts at another university but I missed working with textiles and was blown away by the facilities here when I visited for an Open Day. Learning about traditional Indian weaving techniques so soon after transferring has really made me feel secure that I made the right choice in coming to Arts University Plymouth.”<a href="https://www.aup.ac.uk/courses/undergraduate/ba-hons-textile-design"> </a> <a href="https://www.aup.ac.uk/courses/undergraduate/ba-hons-textile-design">BA (Hons) Textile Design</a> at Arts University Plymouth offers an exciting, industry-focused and experimental environment where students develop essential skills needed to design for different markets and audiences. Our course covers all aspects of the textile design sector, including trend forecasting, product development, branding, and marketing. Visit an <a href="https://www.aup.ac.uk/open-days">Open Day</a> to find out more.