Jaipur rug bags German design award nod

Press Trust of India
Posted: Jul 30 2015 By Debolina Chakraborty

A new hand-knotted rug from Jaipur fashioned with pattern errors, the outcome of a disagreement between its weavers, has been nominated for a prestigious German Design Council award.

Part of the 'Project Error Collection' of the Jaipur Rugs Company, the rug titled 'Anthar' (Differences) reflects a mishmash of design, accruing from a disagreement between weavers who handwoven it.

 

"A piece like this would usually be considered faulty and tossed out, but the "errors" on it makes it precisely so beautiful... I see perfection in imperfection," says Kavita Chaudhary, Design Director, Jaipur Rugs, one of the oldest rug
brands in India.

 

The pattern on the rug came to Chaudhary's notice when she was glancing through creation of weavers from a small town of Narhet near Jaipur.

 

"What was clear is that three weavers sat side by side while making the rugs - weavers who had drawn out a graphical representation of the rug they wanted but clearly disagreed with each other.

 

"You can see clearly the three vertical panels that make up the rug. But as they proceed towards completion they start
working in harmony with each other again," says Chaudhary.

 

Rather than a precisely ordered pattern, a whole new design was borne out of an error.

 

Struck by the uniqueness of the design, Chaudhary set out to re-invent the design into a product that was more ready for the global market and now forms part of her company's collection "Project Error."

 

The company has begun production of the "Anthar Rug" on demand basis. Processes involved in weaving the rug contributes towards its uniqueness.

 

"800,000 Persian knots are made of hand spun and hand carded wool and bamboo silk with 180 artisans working on it from start to finish. Each carpet is special because of the slight differences that occur from a process that requires artisans to work by hand. Owing to this no two rugs can ever look exactly the same," says Choudhary.

 

'Project Error' studies the concept of misprints - nature's interruption of mechanical duplication to create unique pieces of overlooked art.

"Anthar is very much a representation of my philosophy as a designer of connecting the world from the smallest villages in India to the top cities in the world using design as a medium. The colours on the rug were updated keeping modern aesthetics
in mind with a few modification of design to ensure practicality," Choudhary told PTI.

Meanwhile, the annual German Design Council award, scheduled to be announced this November recognises unique design trends and includes only the top designers from around the world.

Previously the award was won by Vitra, Audi. "The nominations are being evaluated at his time with an announcement of results in November. I can't begin to tell you how excited but nervous all of us are," says Choudhury.

 
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