house of mud

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‘Bhung’ or mud hut a traditional construction in Kutch is an engineering wonder.

Here are the mud houses or bhungas and glipses of people of Kutch.These traditional circular homes withstood the devastating earthquake (2001). They are also considered cyclone proof. They can be constructed with local material.

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The colourful and one of the extremely rich in crafts region of Gujarat (India) is Kutch. Many communities and tribes in this region have their own distinctive styles in textiles, embroidery and handicrafts. Each community and tribal group has its own lexicon of motifs and embroidery stitches.

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                                      Bharwaads

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Rabaaris are the ones who decorate the insides of their mud-and-thatch huts with ‘lippankam’ or mud-mirror work; the Bharwaads are seen in their exquisitely embroidered dresses and clothes; the Meghwaals decorate the exteriors of their mud huts with alluring patterns; the nomadic Jaths whose subgroups include the graceful Fakirani Jaths, live in huts made of coloured reeds. And you can see a group of Jath women walking along the road in their brightly coloured and beautifully embroidered costumes.

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                                      Meghwaals

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What makes the `bhungas’ so strong?

Their circular design and the steely mesh of mud plaster and twigs make them resist any wind pressure and quake. The `bhungas’, which ‘even a king would envy’ for its elaborate design and artistic elegance, have a light dome-shaped bamboo and thatched roof and a circular wall plastered with mud, twigs and dung.

Their thick walls keep the interior cool when the temperature rises to 46 degrees celsius in summer and warm when it drops to two degrees in winter.

Above image is part of permanent exhibitionin in the Museum für Völkerkunde zu Leipzig in Germany.

 

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bhunga out of clay and reed

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                mirror work embroidery,     hand woven jute rug

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                                         Rabaaris

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I had to bring these enduring images of Kutch & Bhung before I do a post on lippankam and other crafts!

(Images courtesy BAPS charities,   Michael Sheridan, craftsinindia,

art ties

Jeff de Boer is a Calgary-based multi-media artist known for his original and quirky works in metal. He creates pieces like suits of armour for cats & mice, rocket lamps as well as exquisitely crafted pieces like these ones ?

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                                          corporate ties

                       made  with aluminum, brass & leather

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                                      corporate ties

   made of aluminum, brass, bronze, leather & mixed media

hidden finds

I saw this image on emmas lovely blog and got curious. 

I clicked the link and found these very cozy and full of hidden surprises- home. This lovely home belongs to designers  of something’s hiding in here. (hello there! I did not find your names anywhere. One of you Philly?) There blog too is full of funny and cute little things they sell.

                                  hi hidden, coming out?

       deery, why bother yourself with vintage dictionaries!

            can’t say ‘outside there window’ view is not engaging.

design-ancient scripts

               (In Brahmi script I have tried to write read me)

                                          read me ?

                         Harappan script (ca. 2600-1900 BC)

                          Magical Stela, 360-343 B.C.E, Egypt

I can’t read these!

Can you?

But I think I read these scripts.

I read: —

That our ancestors wrote too beautifully! Do you agree?

That curious caterpillar in me gets so aroused I go green.

(Please donot correct my words I want to describe this way only.)

That mystery of not knowing what is written arouses what I call lovely fear in me.

That my fascination drives me to use these scripts/images in various DIY ways:–

? All the time I use these kinds of images as my desktop background.

                                          my desktop

?Years ago I had copied these scripts in clay and put on wall as a decor piece.

                                     in this shape now

?I want to do walls of narrow passageway in my new home with these scripts translated in clay including the lippankam method of Kutch, Gujarat.

(Lippankam is a dying art & craft I just love so much. Simple motifs are made with clay and small mirrors on the walls. Will do a post on lippankam later though I am terribly short of images.)

 

                                          Stela, Egypt

 

                           Indus script (ca. 3000-1200 BC)

              

                         Brahmi script- ca. 3rd century BC

                                      (click to enlarge)