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.