The Siddi Quilters of India's southern Karnataka state blend traditions and colors to create wonderful quilts - that you can now have in your own home.
I love how quilts can cross cultures and continents. The Siddi quilters of India's Karnataka state are a wonderful instance of quilty internationalism: traded as slaves by Portuguese colonialists, these exiled Africans settled in India centuries ago, and have been creating quilts called 'kawandi' ever since. Siddi patchwork has recently gotten a boost in the form of a cooperative, enabling the women from this community to help their families by selling their handiwork online.
The Siddi Women's Quilting Cooperative sells these amazing quilts at very reasonable prices - buying one is a great way to support a completely unique quilting style and community.
Anyone interested in supporting this non-profit project or in obtaining more information about purchasing Siddi quilts, or the traveling exhibition "Soulful Stitching," can go to: www.henrydrewal.com, or hjdrewal@wisc.edu, or Department of Art History, Chazen Museum of Art, UW-Madison, 800 University Avenue, Madison, WI 53706.
[Images courtesy Professor Henry Drewal and the Siddi Quilt Cooperative.]
