Karnataka’s Lambani craft

Context

As part of the third G20 culture working group (CWG) meeting in Hampi, a Guinness world record was created for the ‘largest display of Lambani items’.

About Lambani craft:

• The Lambani embroidery is an intricate form of textile embellishment characterised by colourful threads, mirror-work and stitch patterns practised in several villages of Karnataka such as Sandur, Keri Tanda, Mariyammanahalli, Kadirampur, Sitaram Tanda, Bijapur and Kamalapur.
• The Lambani craft tradition involves stitching together small pieces of discarded fabric to create a beautiful fabric.
• The sustainable practice of patch-work is seen in many textile traditions of India and around the world.
• The embroidery traditions of the Lambanis are shared in terms of technique and aesthetics with textile traditions across Eastern Europe, West, and Central Asia.

The Lambani Community:

• It is a community that loves to adorn. They wear clothes that have a lot of thread embroidery, buttons, shells, sequins, silver beads, etc.
• Not only their clothes, but their homes are interestingly styled, too.
• The Lambanis have multiple colours on their walls, which are also decorated with artworks and art styles.
• The Banjaras speak ‘Gor Boli’ — also called ‘Lambadi’.
• Since it has no script, it is written either in Devanagari or in the local languages, like Telugu or Kannada.
• Many people belonging to this tribal group are bilingual or multilingual.

G20’s Third culture working group (CWG): The Culture Working Group is working with delegates of the G20 members, guest nations and international organisations through an inclusive process of in-depth discussions. The 3rd G20 Culture Group (CWG) meeting began at Hampi, Karnataka discussed the cultural and historical significance of artefacts. The CWG aims to enter the Guinness Book of World Records by creating the largest display of Lambani embroidery patches. The theme for the exhibit is ‘Culture Unites All’. This attempt will involve over 450 women artisans from the Lambani community, closely associated with Sandur Kushala Kala Kendra displaying around 1300 lambani embroidery patch works made by them.