HYDERABAD: Ramesh Ramanadham, the director of RS Krafts, has just wrapped up a two-day exhibition at Lamakaan. Ramesh, whose organisation aims to revive, restore and sustain the oldest of handlooms and handicrafts in the country, speaks to CE about how these dying arts are also killing culture.
“I have been working to revive handlooms and handicrafts that are on the verge of extinction. As part of this, I held workshops focusing on one craft every month. This helped create awareness about the various art forms and the very few craftsmen left on whose shoulders lay the responsibility of keeping the art alive. But post-Covid, these workshops had to be discontinued,” he says.
Some of the many ancient textiles he had revived include a 120-year-old saree made of original bleeding Madras checks cut-work fabric and an original Venkatagiri saree. “The saree has delicate swatches of the Venkatagiri fabric from decades ago. There are just a handful of artists who still use the unique weaving technique. Kalamkari with natural dyes is dying too; I’ve been able to revive and sustain some 700 pieces of the art. Did you know that the colours were procured from stones? They’re now using artificial colours that bring down the quality,” he says.
Ramesh shares that not many know that Telangana has 18 handlooms which weave Tussar silk. “This silk holds great value for the way it is twisted and woven using a unique tool. A woman doing this job earns Rs 150 a day and so is looking to give it up in search of greener pastures. We only have seven families practising this craft.”