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[July 2003]
Honorary Doctorate For Gujarati Craftsman
Gujarati craftsman Ismail Khatri who is striving to save a centuries-old textile tradition despite drought and earthquake is to be honoured by De Montfort University on Thursday.Hajji Ismail Mohammad Khatri, whose formal education in India ended at primary school, has become a respected craftsman and community leader and one of the top artisans in India.
Now he is to receive an honorary Doctor of Arts at De Montfort University Leicester.
Ismail, 43, is a member of the ninth generation of the Khatri family to work as ajrakh block-printers and dyers in the small village of Dhamadka, in Kachchh district of Gujarat. It is the ajrakh tradition that he is trying to keep alive.
He and his family produce textiles that are used by local herding communities for their traditional dress. The resist-dyeing process requires a steady flow of running water, which is an ongoing problem in the drought-affected Kachchh.
The Khatri community has also had to overcome the devastating earthquake of 2001 which killed thousands in the district and destroyed Ismail's village as well as many others.
Despite losing family members, friends and suffering personal injury, Ismail and his family are helping the villagers rebuild their homes, near a plentiful water source and developing the textile craft to bring in vital income and employment.
The new village is named Ajrakhpur after the art that has established the Khatris name throughout India.
Now in great demand worldwide, Ismail has run workshops in four continents including last April in Sydney. He is to be artist-in-residence in Munich, Germany, in October.
Ismail is also currently working on a project with the Asian Development Bank, assisted by Dr Eiluned Edwards, from PRASADA, the centre for South Asian arts at De Montfort University Leicester.
The Bank's project will result in a block-printer's trade centre in Ismail's home district which is seen as key to post-earthquake rehabilitation.
Philip Tasker; Vice Chancellor of the University, said: "Ismail Khatri's contribution to the field of South Asian Arts is outstanding. He is a worthy heir to the generations of artisans to have emerged from the subcontinent since antiquity and we are delighted to confer upon him the award of Honorary Doctor of Arts."
ENDS