Bodhisattva
Odisha Ikat is a kind of ikat, a resist dyeing technique, originating from Indian state of Odisha. Also known as "Bandha of Odisha", it is a geographically tagged product of Odisha since 2007. It is made through a process of tie-dying the warp or weft threads to create the design on the loom prior to weaving. It is unlike any other ikat woven in the rest of the country because of its design process, which has been called "poetry on the loom“.
In Buddhism, a bodhisattva is any person who is on the path towards Buddhahood. In the Early Buddhist schools as well as modern Theravada Buddhism, a bodhisattva refers to anyone who has made a resolution to become a Buddha and has also received a confirmation or prediction from a living Buddha that this will be so. In Mahayana Buddhism, a bodhisattva refers to anyone who has generated bodhicitta, a spontaneous wish and compassionate mind to attain Buddhahood for the benefit of all sentient beings.
With a rich heritage of Buddhism being practiced in Orissa, specially in Maniabandha it is important to celebrate this culture through the beauty of Weft ikat. The range of products planned based on this are vibrant and ornate, depicting transition and enlightenment.
Some of the initial saree layouts conceptualised as a cohesive design collection exploring motifs and elements. CADs have been rendered using digital assets shared by Antaran, Tata trusts as part of a codesign exercise to develop new designs as part of a sampling excercise conducted at Maniabanda, Odisha.
As the participating artisan entreprenuers are part of the design process and development, the initial cads served as a reference tool to further develop new samples wherein artisan entreprenuers took ownership of the developed samples for their individual brands.
Based on the initital design collection associated artisans were invited to take references and codesign their own versions for their individual artisan brands. Artisan entreprenuers were encouraged to play with innovative color combinations and saree layouts to bring in a fresh take on the traditional design language of Maniabandha ikat sarees.
All the explorations below have been carried out as weft ikat sarees and stoles which were woven on cotton base fabrics.
Warp - 100s Cotton | Weft - 80s Cotton | Vat Dyes
This project was undertaken as part of a Design development exercise at Antaran, Tata Trusts. The samples were developed by artisans trained under the program at the Maniabandha cluster.
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