Embrace Artistic Voyage

Khatwa, a revitalized craft technique, has evolved from its initial forms via women's imaginations, creating a unique and sometimes uncompromising art form. The craft served as storytelling visual media, with the storyteller shown as a woman painting on a simple fabric. The craft has a wide ambit, showcasing ordinary things like stoves, cutting knives, pots and pans in their artwork on one hand  and including instructional drawings of men and women in the nuptial chamber, a key feature of Mithila and Madhubani art, on the other. The Khatwas have drawn from the private realm of sacred art and brought it to the general market through their patchwork technique. Khatwa textiles have enabled women from Patna and Sitamarhi to leave their homes, travel across India, and even present their work overseas, much like Mathila painting did for individual Bihari women.

Showcasing the talent

Khatwa applique patterns are traced onto cloth, then colored material is cut and attached to the foundation cloth. Women weave tales, select colors, and arrange themes to create new dimensions. A master blueprint known as ‘awalkhana’ guides craftspeople and highlights the accomplishments of common women. There are two sorts of applique work: personal and commercial. The custom of creating canopies and tents with applique motifs continues, with men cutting patterns and women sewing. Traditionally, waste fabric was utilized as a raw material, with designs featuring human beings, trees, flowers, animals, and birds. Today, women continue to practise this skill for personal or business reasons, utilizing locally acquired raw materials such as foundation fabric, colored cloth, and sewing thread.