Meghalaya :Art and Craft
It is inspired by our chapter “the landscape of the soul” by Nathalie Trouveroy
Why is art, craft and design education so vital to our culture, our society, our economy and ourselves? The reasons are myriad, meaningful, complex and fiscal says Lesley Butterworth of the National Society for Education in Art and Design.
According to my understanding the soul purpose of art and craft is not to add beauty but also it convey us about the tradition, geography, agriculture of that particular place/state isn’t it?
I have been always fascinated by this state .This state have great past regarding its formation, with beauty of this state the art and craft also attracts tourists. some of proof of its beauty is given on the left. The capital Shillong is in fact known as Scotland of the east.
Meghalaya is home to various amazing handicrafts. Handicrafts made with cane and bamboo products, textile weaving, carpet weaving, ornament making and woodcarving also hold important place in Meghalaya’s art and crafts. In fact, weaving forms an integral part in the culture of the state and its tribes. Markets like Police bazar, Bara bazar and Laitumkhrah is full of weaved stuff.
There are 3 main tribes : khasi , jaintia, garo . All are specialist handicrafts in their own feild/way.
The garo tribe weaves special dresses called DAKMANDA .These garments are well decorated with depictions of beautiful flowers and butterflies, in various colour combines. They also weaves baskets known as MEGHUM KHOKS. In addition, they weave bed covers, table covers and so on. A special kind of cane mat called ‘Tlieng’ is popular in Meghalaya for its durability.
The Jaintia tribe is involved in making beautiful fishing traps out bamboo .
The khasi tribe is renowed to weave mats, baskets, chairs, stools,etc.The Khasis have also been involved in extracting iron ore and then manufacture domestic knives, utensils and even guns and other warfare weapons .
In some Jaintia and Garo villages, engravings of the figures of men and animals are found on the house walls. you can see a illustration of the same on the top.
Now lets come to handlooms. Weaving is an ancient craft of the tribals of Meghalaya and this craft is under the exclusive domain of the women. The patterns in the cloth are obtained by combining different coloured threads in the warp and weft. The Garos weave shirting, bed covers, bed sheets and tablecloths. A kind of silk produced in Meghalaya is called endi silk, which has a fine texture. Sonidan is an important centre for weaving endi silk. Silk weaving is also encouraged in the state by training local weavers in a number of places.
So that’s it for this blog I had an amazing time exploring Meghalaya. It turned out that I didn’t knew much about this state expect that it is very beautiful :).I hope you also got to know new things that fascinated you.
