Rafoogar

Rafoogar ( Rafu Gar, needle-worker, darner or a cloth mender, رفو گر ) is an artisan similar to an embroiderer( who decorates the cloths), but the Rafoogar has the skill to repair the damaged or torn clothes. Rafoogar makes the holes, cuts, and manufacturing damages almost invisible.[1]In Kashmir, the term is more associated with shawl making where the weavers were called Sada-baf and the workman for repairing work called Rafoogar.[2][3][4]

Rafoogiri

Rafoogiri (Darning) is a traditional art; it consists of sewing, making the joints, looping, and repairing holes or worn areas in fabric using needles and thread (of base colors). Rafoogar is the person who mends torn clothing by matching the weave, making identical loops, creating rows of stitches, and sometimes by crossing and interweaving rows to compass a gap. Kashmiri Rafoogars are known as the best Rafoogars. There are other areas also where this craft is practiced for decades. For instance, the Bijnor district has been the hub of rafoogari.[3][5][6]

Surgeons of cloths

A specialist, Rafoogar, gives new life to defective material. Hence a Rafoogar makes the cloths more sustainable. Rafoogars are comparable to the surgeons as they doctor (repair) wrongly weaved or knitted cloths, and skill essentially needs a high degree of precision.[7]

Rafoogar baithak

Rafoogar baithak is an initiative in favor of the dying craft.[6][8][9][10]

See also

Kashmiri handicrafts

Darning

Shawl

References
  1. Mārg̲. Marg Publications. 1963. pp. 12, 36.
  2. Thorp, Robert (1980). Kashmir Misgovernment. Gulshan Publishers. pp. 55, 56.
  3. Sawaddi. 1979. p. 30.
  4. Ahmad, Parvez (2005). "Shawl Industry and the Institution of Daghshawl in Kashmir (1846-1947)". Proceedings of the Indian History Congress. 66: 809–817. ISSN 2249-1937. JSTOR 44145893.
  5. "The Last Thread". The Indian Express. 2018-05-07. Retrieved 2021-01-13.
  6. "Rafoogari: Art of darning". Deccan Herald. 2013-04-13. Retrieved 2021-01-13.
  7. Bhushan, Shanti (2008-12-17). Courting Destiny: A Memoir. Penguin UK. ISBN 978-93-85990-53-3.
  8. "Delhi weekend: Meet and interact with rafoogars on the art of darning". Hindustan Times. 2018-04-12. Retrieved 2021-01-13.
  9. Bhuyan, Avantika (2017-04-28). "New Delhi: Mapping a forgotten tradition". mint. Retrieved 2021-01-13.
  10. "Making the invisible visible: the art of rafoogari". Architectural Digest India. 2017-03-24. Retrieved 2021-01-13.
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