Thanks again to Judy Frater (see prior blog post), we met Anwar Khatri, owner of Baa't "the soul of batik" in Bhujpur, Mundra-Kutch, Gujarat, India, at his studio/home in January on our self-styled textile tour of Gujarat, India. Here, instead of stamping fabric with dyes (as Mohmad Soyab A. Karim Khatri does, Anwar's team were stamping fabrics with wood blocks dipped in hot wax then dying the fabric in chemical dyes (natural dyes can't stand the heat). The wax creates unusual textures that crinkle and crack, adding a new dimension to the block designs. Above are some of the fabrics (and details) of the items I bought and brought home with the intention of using them in future textile art pieces.
