FABRIC: DHAKA MUSLIN (Jamdani)
Regions: Bangladesh
Fabric Name:
Dhaka Muslin (Jamdani)
Origin:
Gossypium arboreum var neglecta/ Dhaka
Who made our fabric:
Bengal Muslin
Natural history and ecology:
The making of muslin, an ancient craft, linked strongly to the Bengal region, was sadly lost in the 19th century, largely due to colonial pressures present in the region. The specific variation of the cotton plant used to make the fibers, Gossypium Arboreum, also went extinct. The seeds of the muslin project were sown when the Stepney Community Trust, based in East London, approached Saiful Islam in 2013 about holding a show on muslin in Dhaka. The Trust, founded in 1982, had in recent years worked on a number of heritage projects that examine the importance of Bengal-manufactured materials in the history of London’s fashion industry, focusing especially on weaving and muslin.
What makes this so special: Bengal Muslin, through satellite imaging, has located the riverbanks along which this cotton used to be harvested, and identified a variation of cotton that is a 70% match to the extinct version. By harvesting this variation of cotton, empowering local weavers, and achieving high thread counts, Bengal Muslin is reviving an ancient tradition.
“Jamdani* is a Persian word. Jam means flower in Farsi language. Dani means container. The idea was that, because this [fabric] is very transparent, when the woman wears it, with the patterns on her body, she looks like flowers in a container.”
- Artist Saiful Islam/Bengal Muslin
Man Behind the Seam-Saiful Islam
Saiful Islam, was the CEO of Drik PL between 2012 and 2016 and during his tenure, early in 2014, he assembled a team consisting of photographers, researchers, curators and a range of contributors who quickly formed into an incredibly dynamic and creative group of cultural activists focused on bringing muslin alive. This was the birth of Bengal Muslin.
Today, Bengal Muslin remains an initiative supported by Drik and led by Saiful Islam as the project’s Managing Director and Kamal Hossen as the Manager.
-Photo: ATW80F co-founder Tierney Thys with Saiful Islam at the Future Fabrics Expo, London, 2022.
“It was a challenge that one can revive this as one can revive possibly a lost language, or perhaps a lost species, or perhaps another lost art. I think we have the responsibility of consciously deciding what goes extinct or not, not unconsciously just ravaging the planet and doing that.”
— Saiful Islam / Bengal Muslin
Saiful Islam
The story begins with the cotton fabric that was of the most famous in the 18th and 19th centuries and was invented long before that. Muslin is a cloth so fine, it is said to feel like wearing a cloud. Royals wore them frequently, and the craft was beautiful. Colonialism and machine-made fabrics wiped out the special creation of this irreplaceable fabric. Drik Picture Library, a Bengal media organization created by Shahidul Alam. The CEO at the time of 2014, Saiful Islam, and his team of incredible researchers, photographers, curators, and weavers, began the project entitled Bengal Muslin. Saiful led the team as a project manager in an attempt to bring back the lost art. Historically, cotton was grown on riverbanks, and Saiful and his team decided to do the same. To avoid flooding and get the best possible growth, they used satellite images and old maps to trace where it should be grown. There are many possibilities for the count the fabric has. Legend says that a village in Bangladesh achieved a 1200 count, whereas now even 200 is thought to be impossible. Saiful went to the village and saw they were doing a 60 count, and slowly they worked up from 200, 250, 300, and on towards 500. It takes around three months to create a 300-count Sari, eleven months for a 400, and to make the 500 count, it’ll take well over a year. They are trying to recreate the past designs and the fineness of the old muslin, and with the cultural DNA still, within the weavers of Bangladesh, they are bringing back a precious art of fabric that was lost within history.