A Story Worth the Telling

If you've been reading this blog for some time, you might remember this post I wrote about Bangladeshi needle artist Surayia Rahman who has spent her life helping hundreds of women escape from poverty in Bengal through needle and thread.

Photos copyright Anil Advani and Kantha Productions LLC, used with permission

I recently received an email update from Kantha Productions, the group that is filming a documentary of her life story. Here's an excerpt from their newsletter:

We have completed over half of the filming and have a brilliant base of still photographs too. Most of our research for the film is complete and we are now putting together a storyboard for the documentary that will touch your hearts. We plan final filming in Bangladesh as soon as the rains stop and then we will work with our editor on the first cuts of the film!

And here is a link to the newly released trailer for the movie...it's worth a look. I love needlework that tells a story...and this tale has many facets. There's the story of Surayia herself...and then the stories of the women whom she helped...and the stories that they've translated with needle and thread in the form of their embroidered nakshi kantha. It's beautiful on so many levels.

Photos copyright Anil Advani and Kantha Productions LLC, used with permission

If you would like to follow this story yourself, you can sign up for email updates at the Kantha Threads website. There you can read more about the project, view a beautiful gallery of Surayia's works and find a support page where you can make financial contributions.

With continued interest and support, it's possible that Kantha Productions will complete post-production of the documentary in spring 2012 and start submitting THREADS to festivals!

Stitching a Story

I believe that there are subtle messages that are being sent to us all of the time. From where or whom, I know not.

But I do know, that if we are listening...if we are open and receiving the signals...then we just might receive a little cosmic push that sends us down a new path...down a road less traveled that we may not have otherwise taken.

Well, this morning I felt a cosmic "push". I was sitting at the lab waiting to have my blood drawn for a routine test and was reading the latest issue of Inspirations magazine.

And in the latest issue there is an entire article on the beauty of Kantha embroidery. I couldn't believe the coincidence.


At the end of the article there are stitch guides for the stitches used in kantha embroidery -- many of them variations of the running stitch -- new stitches to me like the chatai stitch, kaitya stitch and the kantha stitch...providing more substance to my exploration of kantha embroidery.

Stitches that, just days ago, I had searched for on the internet trying to find stitch guides to help me better understand the methods of the kantha stitched by the Bangladeshi women that I posted about the other day in telling Surayia's story. And here it was, all laid out before me this morning in black and white.


And this is the same embroidery that just happens to be on display at the Philadelphia Museum of Art where I can easily make a day trip and go see the many nakshi kantha up-close-and-personal. There's no doubt in my mind now that I have to go.

And, all of this information landed in my lap within one week. What to make of it?

I have always been attracted to needlework that tells a story. Participating in the Bead Journal Project taught me the power of combining my love for embroidery with my love for my own life.
Each one, individually, is beautiful in and of itself...but put together, the combined result is an art form that speaks to...and from...my very soul.

Surayia said "Life tells the Story." And I think perhaps that is my message this week.

Where will I go next with telling my story in my needlework. I have decided that I cannot participate formally in the bead journal project this year because I cannot meet the monthly deadline...the schedule. But I will take what I learned from that journey and apply it to what I make in the future.

Interestingly enough, I picked up this book at the Quilt store this past Saturday. It is chock full of quilts that tell the stories of the makers...whether it be an event or a person or a feeling. It's journaling with textiles...just like the kantha...and it encourages the reader to tell their own stories with cloth. If you can find it...it's worth a look over with a cuppa just for the gallery pictures alone...dozens and dozens of quilts that tell stories...

Today, I have to finish Cate's jean jacket but all the while I'll be thinking about stories I want to tell with my needle and thread.

And I think that maybe I have become a student of Surayia even though I live hundreds of miles away and we have never met...

Life Gives the Story

I stumbled upon a beautiful story about a Bangladeshi needle artist named Surayia Rahman who has spent her life helping hundreds of women escape from poverty in Bengal through needle and thread.

Photos copyright Anil Advani and Kantha Productions LLC, used with permission

A story about one woman, using her hands and her self-taught artistry, who created a place where women, some of them living in mud huts, could come and be paid for their work and learn to be better embroiderers.

Photos copyright Anil Advani and Kantha Productions LLC, used with permission

They embroidered their stories on Nakshi Kantha, a traditional folk art quilt that is embroidered and passed down through generations. It was accidental. "I didn't plan to do it for women," she said. "They just started coming." And when they came, she gave them what they needed.

Photos copyright Anil Advani and Kantha Productions LLC, used with permission

Surayia Rahman became an icon in the kantha tradition and elevated the embroidered quilt to a whole new level of artistry through her personal oversight regarding the quality of the designs, the embroidery and the materials used to create these amazing stories.

Photos copyright Anil Advani and Kantha Productions LLC, used with permission

She started a skills development project and developed a market for her embroideries, having sold many of the works to travelers and visiting dignitaries, diplomats.

Photos copyright Anil Advani and Kantha Productions LLC, used with permission

When asked about her work she says, "You will find them in the world, but not in my house." I love that.

I first learned of her story through a wonderfully-woven story by Bianca DiBiase called The Accidental Saint on the HandEye blog. Go there and read this story when you have a few minutes -- it's worth your time.

Surayia is now in her late seventies and her health no longer allows her to embroider. There is an effort underway led by Cathy Stevulak and her husband Leonard Hill, friends of Surayia's, to locate and catologue Surayia's work and to produce a documentary of her life's story. You can read more about their efforts at their web site Kantha Threads. They need assistance in raising money and awareness so that this project will become a reality and Surayia's legacy will not be lost. They also have a mailing list for you to join if you are interesting in following and learning more of Surayia's story.

Photos copyright Anil Advani and Kantha Productions LLC, used with permission

All the photographs you see here today are by Anil Advani who I believe did a magical job of capturing images that told a story. As someone who struggles to capture my love for needle and thread with my images, I believe I have stumbled upon a master and I am grateful to her for allowing me to share her pictures with you.

Coincidentally for me, there is a current exhibit at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Kantha: The Embroidered Quilts of Bengal from the Jill and Sheldon Bonovitz and the Stella Kramrisch Collections through July 25, 2010. If you can't get there, there is an online gallery of the 43 kantha on their website for you to explore.

"Life gives the story." Surayia said to Bianca as she interviewed her.

Indeed it does.

Photos copyright Anil Advani and Kantha Productions LLC, used with permission

And our hands have the power to tell it and change the world.