India
All Beshlie production is small scale in the sense that she has very deliberately chosen to work directly with NGO’s and family run co-operatives. The Khadi wools and cottons for each scarves are all hand woven in rural parts of India.
When in India, a workshop hidden deep in the bustling ancient streets of Jaipur is where you can find Beshlie at work with her master block printer and wood block carver.
Beshlie has worked hard to revive the ancient and magical art of block printing,constantly pushing the boundaries of traditional block printing methods. Each block is lovingly carved. The beauty of each hand block tells a stories. They are stories of the people that live harmoniously on the land, their dreams, loves and beliefs. Just as in real life, these stories have become interlaced with many others. The influences that run throughout the prints are testimony to the myths, folk tales, songs, and legends of the people. They also in the case of the Khadi cloth, document India’s movement for independence and self sufficiency under peace leader, Gandhi.
Indeed the Khadi has come to represent the spirit of freedom. It has at its heart the desire to protect and preserve the dignity of labour whilst respecting the rights of all artisans. It is a fight that continues, one that designers such as Beshlie strive daily to win. By working so passionately, side by side, slowly, the tide is turning.
“There is no beauty in the finest cloth if it makes hunger and unhappiness “
Mahatma Ghandi
Read more about Beshlie’s block printing production in India, here.
