Kanbi Embroidery
Kanbis are traditional farmers who migrated into Kutch comparatively recently from Saurashtra. Kanbis had settled in many regions of Punjab, Rajasthan, Sindh, Madhya Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh before they started their migratory journey to Gujarat. Surprisingly, the Kanbis settled in the Malwa region share many customs with the Gujarati Kanbis. Numerically, the Kanbi community forms the largest farming community of Kutch even today and they continue their traditional occupation despite the recurrent droughts that plague Kutch. In fact, the term Kanbi means farmers dealing with grains (kana) and seed (bi).
Although the ancient embroidery of the Kanbi Patels of Kutch is hardly practised anymore, it is still fairly popular among the Kanbi women of Shikarpur village, who continue to render this majestic free-form style of embroidery. The principal motivation for the artistic extravaganza of their village is definitely their compulsion to create beauty and colour in their far-from-idyllic surroundings. Their modern works of embroidery seem a trifle simple when compared to the perfect artistic translations of former times.
The main motifs preferred in Kanbi embroidery are pictorial representations of birds like peacocks and parrots, as well as both domestic and wild animals like bullocks, cows, elephants, tigers, lions, jaguars, and even barking dogs. These motifs are generally interrupted by sinuous flowering creepers, potted plants, and floral devices that are applied using polychrome cotton or silk threads. Their needlework is sometimes augmented with mirrors.
The unified interpretation of the Kanbi craftswoman is purely rural in character. A simple piece of linen cloth serves as the basic ground for her to experiment with individual creativity within the confines of their community traditions. Their brightly coloured figurative themes may be seen to decorate a wide variety of apparel meant for both men and women. Some of the most beautiful surviving Kanbi embroidery is found embellishing ceremonial attire, household linen and animal trappings.
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