The Financial Express
Posted: Oct 1, 2017
How Jaipur’s umbilical connection with design and artisans makes it core of crafty affairs.
Jaipur remains at the core of the show. The name is inspired by the old city’s plan that had nine squares. ‘Dot’ is the modern link, the fusion of the communities of designers and artisans, say the founders.
In July last year, Indian designer Anupamaa Dayal went to Istanbul for a fashion show, but landed in the historic Turkish city on the wrong day. It was the day the Turkish military staged a coup against President Recep Erdogan. The show was postponed and when it eventually took place some weeks after the failed coup, Bengal and Banarasi prints and motifs became the symbol for the celebration of democracy. “I brought the Indian culture of celebration to the dress,” Dayal told the audience at the recently-concluded Nine Dot Squares, a design show that took place in Jaipur recently. The dresses that clothed the Turkish models were all made by artisans who came from remote villages in Rajasthan, Bengal, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh. That collaboration between the designer and the artisan mirrors the leitmotif of Nine Dot Squares, which brings India’s designers and craftspeople on the same stage. At Jaipur’s Diggi Palace, the popular venue of the Jaipur Literature Festival, designers, architects, artisans and manufacturers made use of its geometrical spaces to showcase their work during the design show. The designers and architects talked about their works, while award-winning artisans showcased their crafts at workshops held for the city’s design students. A trade show filled with stalls showcased mostly products that linked design and artisanal skills.
