Ajrakh Process Textiles (detail)

Based in Kutch, India, Irfan Anwar Khatri is a textile artist who specializes in ajrakh, a traditional process of block printing. Khantri began printing textiles when he was 15, taking over the management of his family’s business at 22, upon the death of his father. In 2007, he began to travel internationally to attend conferences and conduct workshops and residencies, stating, “I saw craft as a means of cross-cultural communication.” He says, “…today, the challenge is to maintain the essence of tradition while keeping it contemporary.” Khatri created this group of textile panels for the Blue Gold exhibition to demonstrate the multiple stages of ajrakh printing.