BOOK PROJECT

ROLE

Initiator

Editing

Photo

RELEASE & EXHIBITION

FiBER SPACE GALLERY

In 2023

In the book "Blockprint – With trace from the hand" you will meet and follow craftsmen and artists from India and other parts of the world. Among them the Ajrakh printers in Ajrakhpur* where this long journey once started almost twenty years ago.

The book highlights the importance of ornamentation in art, life and in storytelling. Block printing is the foundation of all printing techniques with a tradition that extends thousands of years back in history. Each part of the craft process has its unique rhythm and beauty. 

Patterns cut out in relief in wooden blocks are repeated over and over on a fabric or a paper. The color is stamped on the surface by using the wooden block, the eye and the hand as a measure and co-creator, which gives beautiful irregularities and variations on the surface. Hand block printing is very time consuming and labor intensive and the knowledge is passed down over generations.

The book is a collaboration in between Linda Zetterman and Johan Ekelund whom share a great interest in both photography and craft as narrative. This is their second joint book. They have collaborated with a number of projects and are also initiators, editors and designers to the rewarded book "Capellagården – The place, the people and the food".

• * The village Ajrakhpur in India is home for 170 families. Ajrakh´s pattern design tradition originates from the Indus Valley and extends more than 4000 years back in time. The designs are complexly constructed with complex and detailed geometric patterns and have traditionally been dyed with natural pigments. The Khatri families plays an important role in the preservation and knowledge of original hand block printing and the use of natural pigments such as indigo and madder root. The name Khatri means 'The one who fills the surface with color'.

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With support from Gudrun Sjödén Foundation, Bengt Julins Stiftelse & Längmanska Kulturfonden and Fiber Space Gallery, Stockholm.