Project Background, Mission & Goals
Muslin. It was the gossamer of the East.
The origins of muslin are more than a thousand years old. Historically, the process of muslin production is of special significance – as a unique cotton fabric of legendary lightness and distinctive motifs that used a particularly fine, hand-spun yarn produced from a cotton plant that grew exclusively on the banks of the Meghna and Sitalakhya river, then was woven on hand-looms in the areas surrounding Dhaka, the capital of present-day Bangladesh.
We began in end 2013, when Drik Picture Library (www.drik.com) was approached by Stepney Trust (an East London cultural organisation, known for their community work) in the UK to bring their recently concluded muslin exhibition to Bangladesh. Saiful Islam agreed to the proposal and a Drik-member team along with some external advisors was formed for executing the Bengal Muslin (BM) project.
New muslin cloth, 300 count
Tipu Sultan’s muslin jama
Dress made from 250 count 'new muslin'
Antique muslin displayed during exhibition
‘The cloth is like the light vapours of dawn’
– Yuan Chwang, Chinese traveller visiting India, 629 – 645 CE
Our mission is to ‘Research and Revive Muslin’s Heritage’
Our project’s goals are:
- explore, reveal and reproduce muslin’s history, craft and cloth
- highlight its contribution to our culture, commerce and identity.
- bring recognition to the artesans who are the 'true heroes' of this craft.
We continue to explore muslin’s background, to generate awareness of muslin’s multi-faceted past and establish Bangladesh as the origin and sole producer of the world’s best muslin. We investigate the possibilities of a revival of this fabric in order to give our weavers a sustainable future by situating it within a contemporary design setting.
