Abstract
Traditional textiles exist as cultural artifacts which reveal historical stories social characteristics and symbolic meaning through their designs and patterns. Traditional societies use textile motifs to create a visual language through the Ajrakh block-printing technique which people have practiced in India and Pakistan since the historic ages. This paper investigates Ajrakh motifs by studying their historical origins together with their semiotics and social-cultural function and their modern digital adaptations. This study evaluates motifs using semiotic theory to show the Islamic artistic traditions they represent as well as their use in marking regional identity and their connection to environmental symbolism. Through iconographic and ethnographic analysis artisans demonstrate their processes of design creation and printing which generates comprehensive cultural and visual patterns in textile production. Through field interview data collected from Kutch and Barmer artisans, historical research, and visual analysis comparison this research demonstrates that textile motifs convey more than decorative value since they express religious stories alongside social and political narratives that affect both local communities and global fashion movements. The paper ends with a discussion of digital age preservation challenges for heritage textile motifs along with design innovation practices that support cultural sustainability. The study enriches knowledge about textile motifs as image-based cultural artifacts as they transform into modern visual culture.
Presenters
Suman PandeyAssistant Professor, Design Department, Gujarat Law Society University, Gujarat, India
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
Textile Motifs, Ajrakh, Semiotics, Visual Representation, Image-Making, Digital Culture, Cultural
