A cluster is defined as a geographic concentration (a city/town/few adjacent villages and their adjoining areas)of units producing near similar products and facing common opportunities and threats. An artisan cluster is defined as geographically concentrated (mostly in villages/townships) household units producing handicraft/handloom products. In a typical cluster, such producers often belong to a traditional community, producing the long-established products for generations. Indeed, many artisan clusters are centuries old Artisan.

About Kakori Block Cluster:-

Kakori Block  Cluster falls under Uttar Pradesh State in Lucknow district.

The Kakori Block cluster is able to form 200 plus Artisans & 15 SHGs supporting the strong work force. The mobilization gains momentum day by day.

Hand Printed:-

Hand printed textiles including block and screen printing, batik, Kalmkari (hand printing by pen) and bandhani (tie and die) are used in products ranging from bed-covers to sheets, dress material to upholstery and tapestry.  The famous embroidered articles of silk and cotton often embellished with mirrors, shells, beads, and metallic pieces are also found in India.  Embroidery is done too on leather, felt and velvet etc.  This segment of the industry accounts for almost half a million strong employment in addition to a large number of designers, block makers, weavers and packers involved in the trade

Chanderi Stoles and Dupattas, Mangalgiri Salwar Suits and Sarees, Maheshwari Salwar Suits and Sarees, Tussar Salwar Suits and Sarees, Georgette Sarees, Chiffon Sarees, Printed fabrics in Khadi cotton and Khadi Silk, Printed Cottons in Voile and Sheeting.

Jamdanis are mostly woven in lightly dyed backgrounds with designs in white, maroon, black, green, gold, silver and in muga silk of a golden colour. There is a key difference in the weaving technique of extra weft designing between jamdanis and tangails; the embroidery thread in jamdani is inserted after every ground pick whereas in tangails the embroidery thread is inserted after two ground picks. The main characteristic of tangails is the extra weft butis, tiny motifs repeated all over the ground. Traditionally jamdanis are woven in white with designs in bleached white. Traditional jamdani saris with geometrical designs and cotton tang ails are very popular and continue to be woven by weavers originally from West Bangal. Being light they are excellent for everyday wear in a tropical country like India.

Raw Materials Used :-

Any filament, fibre, or that can be made into fabric or cloth, and the resulting material itself. The word originally referred only to woven fabrics but now includes knitted, bonded, felted, and tufted fabrics as well. The basic raw materials used in textile production are fibres, either obtained from natural sources (e.g.,wool) or produced from chemical substances (e.g., and polyester. Textiles are classified according to their component fibers into silk, wool, linen, cotton, such synthetic fibers as rayon, nylon, and polyesters, and some inorganic fibers, such as cloth of gold, glass fiber, and asbestos cloth.

Process:-

Textile hand printing is the process of applying colour to fabric in definite patterns or designs. In properly printed fabrics the colour is bonded with the, so as to resistwashing andfriction. Textile printing is related to dyeing but, whereas in dyeing proper the whole fabric is uniformly covered with one colour, in printing one or more colours are applied to it in certain parts only, and in sharply defined patterns.In printing, wooden blocks, stencils, engraved plates, rollers, or silkscreens are used to place colours on the fabric. Colourants used in printing contain dyes thickened to prevent the colour from spreading by capillary attraction beyond the limits of the pattern or design.

Traditional textile printing techniques may be broadly categorised into four styles:

Resist and discharge techniques were particularly fashionable in the 19th century, as were combination techniques in which indigo resist was used to create blue backgrounds prior to block-printing of other colours.[1] Most modern industrialised printing uses direct printing techniques.

1. Creation of the screens-the screens are made by tightly stretching a finely women Dacron mesh fabric over a stainless steel frame. The Dacron is coated with a light sensitive emulsion, this is laid on top of a drawing, created from opaque black ink, which is then exposed to light to produce a "negative'image. The result is a screen, that when covered with ink, will only allow ink to penetrate according to the drawing.
2. Mixing and application of the ink.
3. Pinning of the fabric to the printing table.
4. Printing of the fabri -the screen is laid over the substrate material and ink is squeegied across the screen so that the ink permeates.
5. Drying of the fabric

Techniques:-

This technique the intended pattern along with the individual color is formed by projecting small drops of ink which are special dye liquors in predetermined micro arrays onto the surface of the substrate. This is earliest form of printing used for the purpose of increasing the decorative value of textiles. This is the traditional technique of tie and dye. a spray gun is used to force the color through a screen and electro coating is used to apply a patterned pile. This technique involves tying up of both wrap and weft threads where original color needs to be retained and then dyed.

How to Reach:-

By Air:-

Lucknow is well connected by air with the major cities and towns in India. Lucknow airport is at Amausi, located about 15 km from the city center.

By Road:-

Lucknow is well connected by a network of roads and road transport to all major towns of Uttar Pradesh and surrounding areas. The distance between Lucknow and other prominent cities are: Delhi (497km), Agra (363km), Allahabad (238 km), Dehradun (582km), Kanpur (77km) and Varanasi (300km).

By Train:-

Lucknow has two main rail junctions- Charbagh and Lucknow. It has good rail network touching all the important rail junctions in the country.