Tribal Textiles of Northeast India: A Survey of Folk and Natural Elements
Textile occupies a prominent place in the life of human beings from the beginning of civilization. Topographical variations, mineral resources, water, flora, and fauna are all contributory factors to the emergence of a distinct textile heritage of India. Traditional Indian textiles are deeply rooted...
| Published in: | Nidān |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Univ.
2022
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| In: |
Nidān
Year: 2022, Volume: 7, Issue: 2, Pages: 1-16 |
| Further subjects: | B
Rituals
B Tribals B Weaving B Northeast B Textiles |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (kostenfrei) |
| Summary: | Textile occupies a prominent place in the life of human beings from the beginning of civilization. Topographical variations, mineral resources, water, flora, and fauna are all contributory factors to the emergence of a distinct textile heritage of India. Traditional Indian textiles are deeply rooted in the rural background, natural elements, and folk culture. The present paper would try to delve into the study of indigenous tribal textiles of Northeast India which are deeply influenced by natural elements and soaked with folk flavours. The topographical conditions of India’s north-eastern states are diverse, ranging from the plains of Tripura to the upland flats of the Imphal valley in Manipur, to the predominantly hilly and mountainous regions of Nagaland, Meghalaya, Mizoram, and Arunachal Pradesh. Traditional textiles, being essentially culture-specific have been greatly influenced by ecology and language that spill across political boundaries. While patterns and motifs can enjoy transpositions across communities, these are modified to fit into the local repertoire and enjoy symbolic attributes in terms of both conferment of rank and performance of rites of passage. Every fabric thus woven is bestowed with the potency of a certain symbolic hue and design scheme bereft of which it is reduced to the mere pattern. The present paper delves deeply into a description and analysis of tribal textiles from Northeast India and tries to locate the rationale behind using particular folk patterns, motifs, and hues on them that essentially uphold and represent their unique cultural traditions. The paper tries to decipher the linkages between tribal weaves and the ecological biodiversity of the region. It also traces the ecological consciousness of the tribes of the Northeast and their relationship with nature in an organic manner. The paper also tries to locate the means of economic empowerment of the women weavers through weaving of tribal textiles. It also tries to look into various approaches used by the contemporary weavers to keep the relevance of tribal weaves in the wave of modernisation. |
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| ISSN: | 2414-8636 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Nidān
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.58125/nidan.2022.2 |