I skipped out of one festival afternoon and took a taxi to Amber, where the other Amy, Cheryl, Kristina, Kristin and I checked out the Anokhi Museum of Hand Block Printing. I'm such a nerd about Indian textiles. I couldn't miss this.
I took some drive-by photos of Jaipur on the way ...
It's called the Pink City, but it's really kind of orange ...
I passed the Amber Fort ...
And headed into old Amber ...
The museum is right next to one of the ancient gates to the old city.
The museum is in a beautiful old mansion that's been restored using local materials and traditional construction methods.
Inside are displays about the history and present use of hand block printing. Here are some carved wood blocks together with fabrics featuring the prints.
These blocks use metal prongs to imitate a popular form of tie-dyeing.
These blocks are used to emboss fabrics with gold or other metals.
Some traditional costumes made with block-printed cloth ...
There were several displays that showed the long dyeing process. Most of the fabrics had so much color and design that they had to be dyed many times before they were complete. There are rules for which colors or designs have to be done first, second and so on.
Traditional costume for men made with block-printed fabric ...
One of the rooms was full of contemporary designs using the traditional dyeing techniques.
The building itself was just gorgeous ...
This man was printing fabrics in a rooftop courtyard and let us have a try. It's much harder than it looks. I couldn't get anything lined up right, but Cheryl was pretty good at it.
His finished work ...
More of the amazing building ...
It was definitely worth the side trip! After touring the museum, we headed back down the mountain to the festival grounds, passing these sights on the way ...
I took some drive-by photos of Jaipur on the way ...
It's called the Pink City, but it's really kind of orange ...
I passed the Amber Fort ...
And headed into old Amber ...
The museum is right next to one of the ancient gates to the old city.
The museum is in a beautiful old mansion that's been restored using local materials and traditional construction methods.
Inside are displays about the history and present use of hand block printing. Here are some carved wood blocks together with fabrics featuring the prints.
These blocks use metal prongs to imitate a popular form of tie-dyeing.
These blocks are used to emboss fabrics with gold or other metals.
Some traditional costumes made with block-printed cloth ...
There were several displays that showed the long dyeing process. Most of the fabrics had so much color and design that they had to be dyed many times before they were complete. There are rules for which colors or designs have to be done first, second and so on.
Traditional costume for men made with block-printed fabric ...
One of the rooms was full of contemporary designs using the traditional dyeing techniques.
This was my favorite ...
The building itself was just gorgeous ...
Looking out the window at the neighbors ... Notice the clothes hanging to dry on the satellite dish ...
This man was printing fabrics in a rooftop courtyard and let us have a try. It's much harder than it looks. I couldn't get anything lined up right, but Cheryl was pretty good at it.
His finished work ...
More of the amazing building ...
It was definitely worth the side trip! After touring the museum, we headed back down the mountain to the festival grounds, passing these sights on the way ...
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| near Amber Fort |
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| the old city's Hawa Mahal, built so ladies of the court could observe the outside world without being seen |
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| rickshaw driver waiting for a fare |
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