I'm rushing into this Heritage haveli (mansion) because I'm excited about playing with colours and wooden blocks
My folks say this old mansion was restored, which means that it was pasted and painted again to look pretty and safe. No one lives here now but many artists use the rooms to paint on cloth
The tiger's body was full of design and I used all the bright colours for different patterns
After I was done with the tiger, we went up a very narrow set of stairs
I saw hammers and metal nets boxes with bowls of gold and silver dust. But I couldn't understand how can someone colour cloth with this!
Then I saw some more pliers and wooden blocks. But I was confused till Moma explained these are all tools for block printing.
In the courtyard, this uncle was sitting, crouched up, hammering and scraping into a block of wood
He used different shaped nails to scoop out tiny pieces of wood
His name is Mujibullah Khan and they call him the master craftsman. That means he is a very good artist.
Mujib uncle wanted to take a picture with me because he said I had a keen eye for art
The place where he sat and made these blocks was full of tracing paper and various tools
I was so happy with my wooden flower that I jumped up to sit on this niche
I think DC (Daddy Cool) was feeling a bit left out, so he found his own niche to sit in
He explained why it's important to thump. He asked me to press this big wooden block on the cloth.
When we lifted the block, the cloth was full with red flowers and green leaves
I decided to use my own small wooden flower on the cloth in red colour
I was so happy to see my red flower printed on the cloth
I was really enjoying myself. So I used some green colour too
....and made several tiny green and red flowers with my tiny block
But I wasn't satisfied. I picked up another big block and started printing on a fresh piece of cloth
Moma was very excited to see me printing away to glory
I kept thumping the cloth with big red flowers. I was unstoppable.
And this was my masterpiece. My own original piece of block printing.
I agree with Moma. Do you know what jaali is? It's the pretty design on these windows. Come to Anokhi Museum and you know will learn a lot of new things.
Because I love art, my folks wanted to show me the Anokhi Museum
It's called block printing but before I could see that, they had a very pretty tiger on paper which I was tempted to colour
The tiger's body was full of design and I used all the bright colours for different patterns
After I was done with the tiger, we went up a very narrow set of stairs
I saw hammers and metal nets boxes with bowls of gold and silver dust. But I couldn't understand how can someone colour cloth with this!
Then I saw some more pliers and wooden blocks. But I was confused till Moma explained these are all tools for block printing.
In the courtyard, this uncle was sitting, crouched up, hammering and scraping into a block of wood
He used different shaped nails to scoop out tiny pieces of wood
His name is Mujibullah Khan and they call him the master craftsman. That means he is a very good artist.
He finally finished making a small piece of flower with 8 petals and gifted it to me
This piece of wooden flower is the block which I will use to print my cloth
Mujib uncle wanted to take a picture with me because he said I had a keen eye for art
This is one of the wooden blocks he has made. He said it takes him several months to make one block with such a detailed pattern.
The place where he sat and made these blocks was full of tracing paper and various tools
I was so happy with my wooden flower that I jumped up to sit on this niche
I think DC (Daddy Cool) was feeling a bit left out, so he found his own niche to sit in
We went to the terrace where the artist thumping his hand on the cloth
He explained why it's important to thump. He asked me to press this big wooden block on the cloth.
When we lifted the block, the cloth was full with red flowers and green leaves
I decided to use my own small wooden flower on the cloth in red colour
I was so happy to see my red flower printed on the cloth
I was really enjoying myself. So I used some green colour too
....and made several tiny green and red flowers with my tiny block
But I wasn't satisfied. I picked up another big block and started printing on a fresh piece of cloth
Moma was very excited to see me printing away to glory
I kept thumping the cloth with big red flowers. I was unstoppable.
And this was my masterpiece. My own original piece of block printing.
Moma also had a busy day looking at all the textiles on display
She said she was fascinated with this panel because it showed the various staged that go into making one Ajrak .
There were also many panels with different styles and combinations of block printing. They were all very colourful and happy looking.
Moma also told me to look at the structure and design of this mansion
She said it was full of tiny windows, niches and jaali work
I agree with Moma. Do you know what jaali is? It's the pretty design on these windows. Come to Anokhi Museum and you know will learn a lot of new things.
