Alleviation: An International Journal of Nutrition, Gender & Social Development, ISSN 2348-9340 Volume 6, Number 6 (2019), 1-9
© Arya PG College, Panipat & Business Press India Publication, Delhi
www.aryapgcollege.com

From Rags to Riches: Rural Women Empowerment through Block Printing

Sakshi Chandrani & Yashvi Parikh
Students, Programme of Fashion Communication, Institute of Fashion Technology
Faculty of Family and Community Sciences, MSRU, Vadodara,
(Gujarat), India
*Email:sakshichandrani14@gmail.com

Abstract

One of the oldest types of print making is block printing. It is around for thousands of years. It is believed to have originated in the 14th century but there are examples of antique Rajasthani printed cloths that date back to the 3rd century CE. Block printing can be done with wood, rubber, linoleum and many other materials blocks. Artisans’ hand-curve the designs to be printed into blocks of wood. Depending on the details in design, each block could take several hours or even days to complete. Once the design is fully carved, the blocks are treated with oil and set aside to soften. This process makes it ready to hold colour.
Many well established designers have intended to illustrate the relevance of developing and reinforcing block printing production as a way to promote employment and development, especially for the rural women. They provide them a decided income for their work and also the exposure to sell their products in larger markets.

Keywords: Block Printing, Blocks, Designs, Empowerment, Women.

Introduction
One of the oldest types of print making is block printing. It is around for thousands of years. It is believed to have originated in the 14th century but there are examples of antique Rajasthani printed cloths that date back to the 3rd century CE. A carved material covered with ink is used to transfer an image on to a flat surface (Paper and fabric and other flat surfaces). Block printing can be done with blocks made of wood, rubber, linoleum and many other materials.
Hand Block Printing in India
For making every piece of cloth, every design unique and different from others, hand block printing is used. Sustainable livelihood is provided to many local families through this art. This skill should be preserved as it is passed through many generations. It is traditionally being done using natural dyes. Block printing is mainly practiced in the following places:
Andhra Pradesh
Block-printing on cloth using vegetable dyes is called Kalamkari. This flourished at Machilipatnam, Andhra Pradesh. The origin of the word kalamkari is from kalam or pen and kari or work. It is a mixture of painting and hand-printing.
Gujarat
Pithampur families in Gujarat practiced hand printing. The mud resist–printing method is used to print the textiles and to make intricate blocks. They named these prints as Sodagiri (Trader) prints. Black and red designs of dancing girls, birds and animals are the popular patterns in Kutch. Large mango patterns against a red or blue background are used on the saris of Ahmedabad and Baroda. In Anjar and Dhamadka in Kutch, the Ajrak, resist-printing technique is used.
Rajasthan
Colorful block prints of birds, human figures, animals, Gods and Goddesses are famous in Rajasthan. Jaipur, Pali, Bagru, Barmer and Sanganer are the main centers for this type of hand block printing. Barmer is renowned for its prints of red chillies with blue-black outlines, surrounded by flower-laden trees. Various items that are made in Barmer are turbans, sarees and traditionally worn lungis. Horses, lions, peacocks and camels called Sikar and Shekahawat prints are other famous prints. Jahota hand block printing is prevalent in villages of Jahota in Jaipur. The block print in Bagru is done mainly in black, red and beige. The characteristics of this center are shades of blue with more use of indigo blue dyeing processes. Sanganer, near Jaipur, is famous for its fine hand block printing in subdued colors. In Rajasthan, there are sandy stretches of desert where a unique method of cloth-dyeing called Ajrak is prevalent which is in dark shades of blue and red with geometrical designs. Parallel line technique of Ajrak has attained a peak of excellence at Balotra. A kind of resist printing at very low temperature is done in the border town of Jaisalmer. Therefore, it can only be processed during the night or in winter. Odhnis / chunris from Jodhpur are highly priced though they are made all over the state now.
Madhya Pradesh
Printed textiles are created by a community of printers called Chheepa (Derived from the Hindi word chhapna meaning printing) in Madhya Pradesh. Vegetable and natural dyes, in bright shades of red and black and also occasional Indigo are used by the printers of Bagh. The blocks are made of intricately stylized motifs, which have evolved over hundreds of years. Bagh, which lends its name to the Bagh prints, is a small tribal town in Dhar district of Madhya Pradesh. The Khatri community, who comprise the 'chhipas' or printers came here about 400 years ago. Besides Bagh, other places in Madhya Pradesh are Behrongarh, Indore, Mandsar and Burhanpur.
Uttar Pradesh
The important centre for hand-block printing with the paisley designs, classical butis and the tree of life as the main traditional motifs used in a range of shapes and in bold colors is Uttar Pradesh. Benares, Farrukabad, Pilakhuan are the places where the blocks are made.
West Bengal: Kolkata and Serampur
Each of these regions traditionally had distinct design elements with unique color schemes and motifs. Block printed fabric by expert craft workers from each of these regions are still identifiable by its region of origin.
Types of Blocks
Mainly two types of blocks are used by the printers at the time of printing:
Wooden Blocks
These are also of two types:
• Outlining Block (Rekh)
• Filling Block (Gadh)
Trained craftsmen make hand carved blocks of seasoned teak wood. The motifs are engraved with steel chisels of different widths and cutting surface by the carver on the bottom face. Each block has a wooden handle and two to three cylindrical holes drilled into the block for free air passage and also to allow release of excess printing paste. The new blocks are soaked in oil for 10-15 days to soften the grains in the timber. These blocks sometimes have metal over the wood.
Metallic Blocks
Metal sheets are beaten by hand and made wafer thin and malleable. Then, the thin sheets are cut into strips of even length. The pattern or design of the block is drawn on the wooden block and the thin metal strips are pressed onto the design and gently hammered in. The designs are filled in from the center to the outside to allow maneuverings of the hand. To ensure good quality of printing, the design is checked to see if all the brass strips are of the same height from the wooden base. Brass blocks are used in case of very fine designs and for a high level of clarity in print.
Techniques of Block Printing
Block printing can be divided into three ways:
Direct Block Printing
In this technique, the cotton or silk cloth is first bleached. Then the fabric is dyed, unless a light background is desired. Thereafter, the fabric is printed using carved blocks, first the outline blocks are used, then the ones to fill color. The popular prints of Bagh (From Madhya Pradesh) and Bagru (From Rajasthan) are made using this technique. Either Cotton or silk fabric is used here. Bleaching is done firstly and then cloth is dyed with the desired color. After that block printing is done on borders with carved wooden blocks, then on the borders.
Resist Printing
Areas that are to be protected from the dye are covered with a mixture of clay and resin in the resist technique. Then, the dyed fabric is washed. The dye spreads into the protected areas through cracks producing a rippled effect. Block prints are then used to create further designs. In Ajrakh Printing of Kutch (India) and Sindh (Pakistan) and Kalamkari from South India, this technique is used.
Discharge Printing
The fabric is dyed in this technique. Then, a chemical is used to remove the dye from the portions that require designs in different color. These portions are then treated, so they may be re-colored.
Block Printing Process
Step 1
First, starch is removed from the fabric to be printed by washing and soft bleached. If dyeing is required (As in the case of saris where borders or the body is dyed), it is done before printing. The fabric is again washed to remove excess dye and dried thoroughly.
Step 2
On the printing table, the fabric is stretched over and fastened with small pins.
Step 3
The dyes or the pigments to be used are kept ready for application
Step 4
Under the pigment tray, there is another tray containing a thick viscous liquid made from pigment binder and glue. This gives the color tray a soft base which helps to spread color evenly on the wooden block. To spread the color paste over the tray, small squeeze is used.
Step 5
The printing starts from left to right. The color is evened out in the tray with a wedge of wood and the block dipped into the outline color (Usually black or a dark color).
Step 6
When the block is applied to the fabric, it is slammed hard with the fist on the back of the handle so that a good impression may register. If it is a multiple color design, the second printer dips his block in color again and prints on top of the outline made by the first block. The third color if it is required, follows likewise, precisely aligning the block each time. Skill is necessary for good printing since the colors need to dovetail into the design to make it a composite whole.
Step 7
The fabric is sun-dried, which is part of the color-fixing process. It is rolled in wads of newspapers to prevent the dye from adhering to other layers and steamed in boilers constructed for the purpose. Silks are also steamed this way after printing. The material is washed thoroughly in large quantities of water and dried in the sun after steaming, after which it is finished by ironing out single layers, which fix the color permanently.
Empowering Women
Women empowerment issue is very compelling and a challenging national commitment and public agenda in many countries. Empowerment is not something which can be achieved easily. Though empowerment is a complex concept to understand, it is a process of awareness and capacity building, leading to greater participation, to greater decision-making power and to control over transformative action. Empowerment is the phenomenon of giving power to, creating power within and enabling. Empowerment involves negotiation of the balance of power between the more and less powerful.
Well-known design houses, successful crafts-based businesses such as Fabindia and Anokhi, the majority of craft production remains unorganized and informal with its full market potential untapped, especially by the artisans, who more often struggle for sustenance. Propelled by loss of markets, declining skills and difficulty catering to new markets, a large number of artisans have moved to urban centers in search of low/ unskilled employment in industry.
Women Entrepreneurship—Steps Taken by the Government to Promote Women Entrepreneurs
Trade Related Entrepreneurship Assistance and Development (TREAD) Scheme for Women
This scheme provides women with proper trade related training, information and counseling along with extension activities related to trades, products, services etc. Along with that, government grant also provides up to 30 per cent of the total project cost as appraised by lending institutions which would finance the remaining 70 per cent as loan assistance to applicant women. It mostly helps poor and usually illiterate/semi-literate women to get started on their business.
Mahila Vikas Nidhi
This fund has been set up by SIDBI to help women in rural areas to start their entrepreneurship easily. It grants loan to women who wants to start their venture in the field like spinning, weaving, knitting, embroidery products, block printing, handlooms handicrafts, bamboo products etc.
Co-operative Schemes
Women co-operatives schemes are formed to help women in agro-based industries like animal husbandry, dairy farming, poultry, horticulture etc. with full financial support from the government.
Government Yojanas
Swarna Jayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana and Swaran Jayanti Sekhari Rozgar Yojana are two important schemes launched by the government to provide reservations for women and encouraging them to start their ventures.
Private Organizations
Several NGOs, voluntary organizations, self-help groups, institutions and individual enterprises from rural and urban areas are working to help new women entrepreneurs to set up their business and run it smoothly.
Conclusion
It is been concluded that block printing is done in almost all parts of India. Each and every state has its own designs and patterns to draw. Artisans from low-socio economic background cultivate this method to earn their living. They also collaborate with well-known designers and organizations to fill up the gap between manufacturers and consumers.
References
https://meherashaw.com/pages/hand-block-printing.
https://study.com/academy/lesson/what-is-block-printing-in-textiles.html.
https://yourstory.com/2013/06/crafting-a-livelihood-a-snapshot-of-the-indian-artifacts-sector/.
women entrepreneurship – steps taken by the government to promote women. entrepreneurshttp://techstory.in/women-entrepreneurship-promotion.
woodblock printinghtps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/woodblock_printing.
http://www.fibre2fashion.com/industry-article/6550/a-brief-study-on-block-printing.
https://www.marketplaceindia.com/category/artisan-partners.