Embroiderers' Guild - the UK's leading crafts association
sharing opportunities for discovery and creativity
Apt 41 Hampton Court Palace, Surrey KT8 9AU
T: 020 8943 1229 - F: 020 8977 9882 - E: administrator@embroiderersguild.com
Embroiderers' Guild - the UK's leading crafts association
sharing opportunities for discovery and creativity
Apt 41 Hampton Court Palace, Surrey KT8 9AU
T: 020 8943 1229 - F: 020 8977 9882 - E: administrator@embroiderersguild.com
This page outlines the Embroiderers' Guild's plans and preparations for future Tours that incorporate our interest in textiles. You can also be kept up to date by joining the Travel Club mailing list to receive information on EG Tours. Please call 020 8943 1229 or email:
This is a new tour to India for the Guild! Our tour starts in Eastern India in Calcutta, a city alive and vibrant with a rich cultural heritage. Travel to Shanti Niketan famous for its arts and crafts, music and dance and associated with the Indian Noble Laureate Rabindranath Tagore. Continue to Bhubaneshwar situated in the state of Orissa from where we visit many important sites and places including the Sun Temple of Konarak and Puri situated on the eastern seaboard on the Bay of Bengal.
Much of our focus is on the traditional crafts of this area meeting people in their homes and workshops. Visit the potters of Calcutta who make huge life-size statues of deities for many of the important festivals, a silk ikat weaving village (tie and dye) and the embroiderers of "kantha" work, a simple quilting stitch that makes the ordinary extraordinary! Kantha for Bengali people means "embroidered quilt" and has traditionally been used to turn old worn-out textiles into fabrics of beauty. On to Central India by train, home to many different tribals including the Dhuraba and Situlia tribes where we visit their markets and explore their traditional crafts including bamboo and weaving.
This part of India is renowned for its beautiful slub tussar silk fabrics handspun and woven using traditional tribal designs. Tussar silk is drawn from cocoons grown on indigenous trees in natural shades of pale gold, honey, cream and beige are woven into exquisite sarees.
Our trip culminates in Madhya Pradesh at the famous Kanha National Park, the land of tigers and now considered one of Asia's finest tiger reserves with equally impressive bird life. Here we stay in a fabulous Jungle Camp on the edge of the park, its architecture inspired by the local villages - a very special experience! Early morning and evening drive in safari vehicles accompanied by naturalists to see wildlife. A great adventure lies in store!
Register with the Travel Club to receive details of new Guild tours as these become available.
Telephone or email the Embroiderers' Guild to register. T: 020 8943 1229. E: .