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by: Shyam Ahuja, Meera Ahuja, Mridula Maluste, David Desouza
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Indian style -- A dhurrie is a flatwowen rug and has for too long been overshadowed by pile carpets. Almost a dying art and style it has been rejuvenated in part by the efforts of the author, Shyam Ahuja, a name familiar to those who deal in Indian materials. The book is a fascinating look at the art of the dhurrie. Ahuja starts at the beginning trying to unravel the origins. Cotton cultivation started in the Harrappan age around 3000 BCE. Spindles and other weaving atefacts have been unearthed from this period. Around 320 BCE the Arthashastra lists a range of floor coverings and the oldest dhurrie fragment comes down to us from around 100CE. Ahuja started his affair with dhurries in the sixies and has continued to stimualte growth of this dying art form. He takes all flat-woven rugs to be dhurries; it is not the material they are made in but the style and colour. "The dhurrie is all about colour- there has to be poetry. There is no set formula, only an unerring instinct- you have to feel the design in yout gut." Along with the history of dhurries it takes you the differnt stages of a dhurrie's creation, the colour, the weaving and brings the whole into a modern context with contemporary designs. My grandmothe rand aunt used to weave dhurries. It was fascinating to sit and watch their fingers on the loom as they wove their magic and crewated wonderful designs. It is gratifying to see justice finally being done to this art form by this wonderful book.
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