Tesji Dhana & Samat Tesji Marwada
Tesji Dhana Marwada | Gujarat, India b.1968 | Samat Tesji Marwada | Gujarat, India b.1989 | Mujo vanatkam karejo ghar (My weaving home) 2010 | Sheep and camel wool, goat hair with indigo, pomegranate and lac | Proposed for the Queensland Art Gallery Collection
Born in the small village of Kuran in Gujarat, in western India, Tesji Dhana Marwada and his son Samat Tesji Marwada both learnt the traditional art of weaving for kharad (carpets) as young boys. In 2001, on the anniversary of India’s 51st Independence Day, a devastating earthquake hit the state, destroying hundreds of thousands of homes and forcing many villagers, including the Marwada family, to flee to urban centres; this life-changing experience has informed the creation of these carpets. Subsequently, Tesji and Samat have moved away from depicting traditional abstract designs to share personal histories of movement and change, including the bhukamp (earthquake). My weaving home is the final work in a trilogy which documents these migrations, concluding at their current ‘weaving home’ in the new settlement of Sanjotnagar.
