Double-sided Eri silk woven on back strap loom of Nagaland and throw shuttle loom of Assam.

Daniella is vibrant, bright, full of exuberance. She is yellow, happy and chirpy. She is the sunflower in the bunch of flowers, looking towards hope and the sun. Daniella is usually within her happy self. And when she struggles through it, she knows that all the light she needs on a dull day is within herself. 

The panelled part of the shawl is woven with hand-spun lac, indigo, sappanwood and myrobalan-dyed Eri silk yarn carried from Kamrup district, Assam, to the remote regions of Nagaland. Eri Silk project villages border Meghalaya which is home to the most colour-fast organic turmeric. We use this turmeric to dye our textiles which can vary from the lightest hue of yellow to a deep mustard.

During the pandemic lockdown, this project of weaving hand-spun Eri Silk on back strap looms was conceived as a livelihood opportunity while also creating a training module to weave a texture of yarn new to the local weavers. Weaving on the back strap loom lends a unique slub texture to Eri silk. To achieve that texture, hand-spun Eri had to be laced with rice starch and then warped onto back strap looms. We played with loose and tight weave styles to explore possibilities. The diversity of textures it brought out was a technical breakthrough for us.

We involved old grandmothers and young teenagers for this three-year project and made an interesting payment structure that involved multiple people working on a single shawl and having the freedom to earn at various loosely structured steps. That set some motivation in the group. It has been a slow project but a meaningful one because of the involvement of some key individuals who are motivated to work with their community and bring growth to their people.

Lac and indigo-dyed handspun Eri Silk is woven on a throw shuttle loom in the rural settings of Assam.

Same yarn, diverse colours, diverse textures. Rubella represents a camaraderie of natural dyes, each hue a new composition from gifts of nature.

Daniella is joined as a steadfast stitch of panels. Each panel highlights the intricate stitching involved in binding textiles of various textures and densities together. She is a one-of-a-kind textile designed to highlight a unique coming together of various techniques and creativity of handcraft. This design will not be recreated.

Param did the beadwork 

Gurmail, the tailor

Narmohan Dada, master Eri silk pioneer

Mumma, Madhu, stitching supervision

midtoan.com, the photographer

Designed by Ritika