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"About Carpet Magic, and more about the Magician" - The Observer, New Delhi, India
Link to the article on the newpaper
THINK CARPETS. Think of a true work of art. Think of an intricately patterned Samrat. Think Tabriq, Or a Kirman, Or a Meshad.
Where the finest design is worked down to the smallest knot. Where tradition and innovation are fused into a composition that has the richest of history and the simplicity of modern taste. Where the design and the rug must blend.
Shyam Ahuja? Guess again. If you happen to be invited to Rashtrapati Bhawan, check out exquisite Nizam. Few would recognise the name of Surinder Raina (of Devrah Divine).Unless you happen to be a proud owner of an Obeetee carpet (where Surinder Raina was formerly employed)
A name which has stood for excellence in Indian handknotted carpets. A name which has put European and American markets some of the world's most cherished rugs - a work of art of connoisseur.
And the man behind those mersmerising colours and interpretations is Surinder Raina. Raina - volatile, effervescent, social, emotional - loves to mimic, read ghost stories and feed fish in his pond in Gopiganj, Mirzapur.Maybe recognition at home is lacking. But every year at Atlanta and Domotex, the Raina Collection is on the checking list of every importer worth his salt.
A different kind of recognition is awarded to Raina in the carpet belt of Mirzapur - Bhadohi- Varanasi by the common man. Ask any man who knows his galeecha [carpet], he will tell you a "company" carpet from a "bazaroo" at forty paces.
But then, a carpet is a carpet, the motifs following certain schools and replicated by all without discrimination. Indeed, one charge against Indian carpets is that they are mere reproductions of existing patterns - be it Iranian or Turkish or Central Asian.
Indian carpets have long held the stigma of being Indo- Persian - with persian designs worked on Indian looms with minor modifications.
Raina contents otherwise."To generalise designs as Persian or Turkish is no longer valid. Designs are no more 'Turkish', no more 'Persian', no more 'India' in that sense. It is a school of design which takes from a motif or a form. Once you know the form and you know the motif which go in that school, thereafter you can build your own design. It is not right to call it a Persian design. We may give it a name of a school".
"There is an Indian school in that sense which evolved- the pastille design for instance which was first incorporated in the shawl. It is widely believed that the shawls went westwards from the 16th century onwards and Kirmanis took the pastille as a carpet motif. Today it is a rarity because persians do not make it anymore. We have now evolved one from the school and that is very much an Indian design with Indian roots."
What makes Raina's work so special? First the palette. Where most carpets draw on a limited range of colours, Raina works with over 300 shades and tints. His feel for the right colour adds that special nuance to a composition which would otherwise be quite ordinary.
Second, the interpretation of motifs. The designer's moulding of traditional motifs into a composition that balances detail within an overall structure has created carpets which while drawing from historic patterns are in a sense unique.
Says Raina, "Probably, it is that I can discern a good design. It is very hard to explain. But there are certain balances that my mind is trained to decipher. Somehow I have a feeling about a better composition of a design. i see, for instance, a very badly woven tribal design and suddenly the next stage or the next janma [birth] of that composition becomes clear to me."
“I am grateful to those people whom we call untrained, who sitting at their loom somewhere in the world put whatever they thought into a carpet and suddenly there is a composition which shows the way."
But most important, Raina has an exceptional understanding of the structure of a carpet: He has involved himself from the production process at every stage.
As a result, he is able to visualise the product as it finally stands out. Of course, handknotted carpets being made painstakingly knot by knot, the end product may well fall short. Raina has the difficult task of putting details into a design while reducing the margin of error.
Ultimately, it is a feel for colours and an ability to interpret a motif that makes his composition distinctive.
Raina explains: "If you understand the design, the motifs, the lines, the pattern which is pleasing to your eye, the carpet has a certain appeal. if the designs and colours are nice and easy, it makes a pleasing impact on your mind. If the designer is aware if the colour and of the form, the way he raws the motifs, the way he creates beauty out of lines, he can produce a harmonious impact."
"If you feel that something is not right, the form is not right, the colours are glaring, not properly balanced, if you don't know what colours to put in to create harmony, you have a design but not one you can relate to. A carpet is a long term commitment. You go to it everyday for the next 10 years when you decide to buy it. It must make the buyer happy. Every day." |
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