The Nivi drape, or the one where the pallu of a sari is worn on the left shoulder, is the most common type of sari drape in the country and the world over. But India has hundreds of such drapes, specific to region and culture, that have been forgotten over the years. To document these drapes and create a digital archive, Border&Fall, a city-based digital platform promoting the garment, textile and craft community of India, is making 80 short films as part of its project ‘The Sari Series: An Anthology of Drape’.

Each film will be two minutes long and will show how to drape a sari in a particular style. The archive, expected to be released this fall, can be accessed online for free .

“This project has been an idea for years, but we began proactively working towards it in early 2016. The aim is to create a cultural documentation of the sari through short films, which will give people access to various drapes, and to showcase the diversity and versatility of sari as a garment,” said Malika Verma Kashyap, founder of Border&Fall.

However, Ms. Kashyap said this was not an attempt to “revive” the garment. “The sari is not a forgotten tradition, it is worn my millions of women every day. But many are unaware of the different ways it can be worn. The Boggli-Possi drape from Andhra Pradesh for example is great to behold,” she said.

Some of the other styles to be documented are the Coorg drape, the Kalna Sari drape from West Bengal, Kuchipudi men’s sari drape from Andhra Pradesh, Yakshagana Kase from Karnataka, Purnia drape from Bihar, Warli drape from Maharashtra, and Ranchi Saiko drape from Jharkhand.

Apart from the 80 films, three independent films directed by Qaushiq Mukherjee, Bon Duke and Pooja Kaul will explore the sari’s past, present and future.

Some of the images of the drapes are part of the #WeWearCulture project by Google Arts & Culture.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Bengaluru / by Sarumathi K / Bengaluru – July 28th, 2017