Workshop on Fashion Design - Kalamkari 2023 @ ICAT, Chennai

The Department of Fashion Design has always been patronizing the authentic art and craft forms when it comes to design. The department had organized a four day Intensive hands-on workshop on Kalamkari - an ancient style of hand painting that is done with a tamarind pen, using natural dyes. It is more than textiles to an experience that culture has witnessed over centuries. Kalamkari is known to be a healing fabric, as the colors, motifs and the narration of magical forms create an aura that heals an individual physically and spiritually. Students of II years were taken to Sri Kalahasti, a major hub of Kalamkari where they underwent the entire process of making Kalamkari fabric that involves 23 steps right from the fabric preparation to the final product. This involves bleaching Kalamkari fabric, softening it with milk and mylabalon, drying it in sun, preparing natural dyes and kassim karam , preparation of demarcation, outlining, air drying, painting of design and washing etc., The entire procedure is intricate and requires an eye for detail.