The common English translation of the Japanese word shibori is "tie-dye"; however, a more accurate translation is "shaped resist dyeing," which describes the inherent patterning process of manipulating the two-dimensional cloth surface into three-dimensional shapes before compressing them to dye. Three terms for separate shibori methods have come into international usage: plangi, a Malay-Indonesian word for the process of gathering and binding cloth; bandhani, an Indian term for the process of plucking and binding cloth in small points; and tritik, a Malay-Indonesian word for stitch resist. However, these three terms represent only two of the major shibori techniques. Many different types of shibori techniques have existed in the world. The oldest examples-pre-Columbian shibori alpaca found in Peru and silk found in fourth century tombs along the Silk Road in China-are from regions where the shibori traditions have not survived to the present day. Middle East, Indonesia, and in the Himalayan region.
Different ways of tyeing and gathering the fabric to achieve new effects suitable to changing tastes and designs.
Arimatsu Shibori begins with the small town on the Tokaido road the major artery that linked the old imperial of Kyoto. The Takeda family and other Arimatsu families established a thriving selling their wares to the Samurai,merchants, pilgrims and foreign travellers. The story of Arimatsu , The Takeda family has played a key role in the SHIBORI business since its inception nearly 400 years ago and the magnificient textiles the Arimatsu craftsmen produced. ARIMATSU or “the area of pines”is a reminder of the pine groves that graced the edge of the highway,
Shibori is not limited to Indigo anymore than INDIGO is limited to Shibori. In the hands of the Arimatsu villagers,indigo came to take on an infinite range of tonalities whose variety is as visually satisfying as a rainbow of colours.The earliest examples of Shibori in Japan are found in the mid 8th century imperial Shosoin collection in Nara. For the next millenium SHIBORI flourished in the patterns and colours of the skills that were designed.
As with arashi (storm) or pole-wrap resist, laharia patterns are diagonal in orientation, since the cloth is shaped on the bias. This typical zig-zag pattern is achieved in four steps. Folding a long narrow cloth lengthwise into halves or quarters, rolling the cloth from one edge to the other on the bias, bindin tightly aroung the long ropelike cloth at varying intervals, and dyeing. The emerging wave design is a variation of basic diagonal stripes. Although no longer a commonly practiced technique, laharia was once favoured by ladies of the court, who used yards and yards of cloth for their marvellously flared skirts, and by maharajas for decorating the gossamar cotton used for their intricately patterned turbans. This method increased production at least tenfold over other shibori methods. At one point there were over four hundred different patterns being created and many arashi studios employed a large number of men, since handling the long, heavy poles required strength.
A typical example of the many innovations that appeared during this period of great social change in Japan is arashi (“storm”) shinbori, or pole-wrap resist, created by Kanezo Suzuki. He was born in 1837 into a shibori-producing family in Arimatsu and was just fourteen when he originated shirokage (“white shadow”) shibori, in which fabric is stitched & pole- wrapped to produce a blue design on white ground. In 1880 he devised arashi, an ingenious way of creating patterns by wrapping long narrow cloth diagonally around a long pole, pushing it into tightly compressed folds, and immersing it in a long vat of dye. The resulting all over patterns with mainly diagonal orientation can be varied or combined to create myriad new designs, and became very popular for men’s yukata (summer kimono) juban (under kimono) and other articles of traditional clothing.
The exact connotation of the word Ajrakh … is it a pattern technique or commodity. In Gujrat, a state in India it means “keep it today” or “beautifying”. The term may be derived from the Arabic term azrak meaning deep blue. Items that are equally brightly coloured on both sides and are painted with wooden blocks, used in handkerchiefs, floor coverings and quilted bedspreads.

This technique may therefore be broadly defined as a cotton piece good manufactured in Sind and Gujarat by means of a block. Patterning may be on one or both sides. If there is a dual patterning, outlines have to be identical on both surfaces. The imprinting of resists of varying compositions is integral to this category of fabric. The resist used comprises substances other than wax.

Because of the nature of the resists used, powdered dung is also associated with the process of preparation of Ajrakh to absorb excess moisture and hasten drying of the resist compound.Ajrakh is a male garment worn by muslims and Meghwals. It is usually worn as a lungi or a safa. Traditional colours for motifs have been red black or blue. The body colour is restricted to either red or blue. In Ajrakh tradition patterning is achieved by judicious usage of mordant/resist, submersion in the indigo vat, degumming followed by boiling in alizarine. Ajrakh printing appears to have been an entirely family oriented activity in the past. Traditional techniques work out very expensive and remunerative prices have to be paid for labour.
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