Live Demonstration of Bihar’s Rarest Kheta Embroidery at National Crafts Museum
Practiced only by Bihar’s Shershabadi community artisans, the fine Kheta embroidery depicts the patterns of the rippling river and the life around it. The exhibition at National Crafts Museum Delhi presents live demonstrations by craftspersons.
The Shershabadis have migrated from the Delta area in Bangladesh westwards into India, along the river. Inspired by the ripples of the river, the movement of the earthworms and the textures of the pan Patta (betel leaf), the motifs in Kheta embroidered textiles stand out due to their vibrant patterns, which leave the patrons in awe.
Done using needle and thread as a daytime ritual of rural women, Kheta embroidery is basically a kind of quilting, the art of stitching layers of fabrics.
The display of the craft by three Shershabadi women will also include workshops for educational institutions to learn the craft, expert talks, and audiovisual sessions on the Shershabadis.
Only an expert can recognize that it is actually an embroidery!
Shareefa Khatoon, one of the three craftspersons who has been practicing this craft since she was 10 years old, learned this craft from her mother. Now at 40, she will be demonstrating their work live at the show for the first time to fashion design students.
According to textile expert and researcher, Saumya Pande, who is credited with documenting various regional embroidered quilts in Bihar’s Kishanganj, “In spite of having embroidered quilts such as Kantha from Bengal and Sujani from Bihar, Khetas have remained undocumented,” She explains.
Only a certain community, called the Shershabadi does this kind of geometric embroidery, which almost looks like a weave. The exhibition showcasing around 60 samples of this lesser-known embroidery is on till April 3 in the Capital.
