Thinking about how wild it is that enshittification starts as a way for the rich to squeeze the populace for more money but ends up infecting everything so even luxury products decline in quality. They’ve got more money than fucking God now and for what? Literally they can’t even buy fun nice stuff for themselves because they killed craft.
Anyway this post is about Dhaka muslin but it’s also about everything.
Nearly 200 years ago, Dhaka muslin was the most valuable fabric on the planet. Then it was lost altogether. How did this happen? And can we
guess it's time to post agha shahid ali's poem about dhaka muslin
Fun fact! Revival of Dhaka Muslin has been ongoing for quite some time. The headline of the above article is very very misleading, we know exactly how Dhaka Muslin was made. The process was very well documented. We know how it was made, but colonialism ruined the fabric's production area and devalued the skills needed to make it such that they no longer existed. But the process itself was not lost.
That being said, efforts to bring it back are underway, and they have been making amazing progress, and succeed in creating Dhaka Muslin yet again.
It all began with a search for ‘phuti karpas’ – muslin’s unique cotton plant which is known to have become extinct. However, starting in 201
This is a pretty good updated article, it has a lot of the same info as the BCC one (which also discusses some of the revival efforts) but with more of a focus on that process, an update to the story, and it details some of the other ongoing projects working on the revival!
Here's the first weaver to manage to produce a finished piece in nearly 200 years, Al Amin.
His first piece was 300 threads, according to the article they have now been able to get into the 700s for thread counts, which is absolutely incredible.
Several projects are actually underway now each with different weavers and slightly different methods, producing fabric intended to meet or best the original!
And if you're curious, "okay but can it pass through a ring" yes! Yes they can!
All three of these photos are of pieces made in the modern century, photos by Wasiul Bahar!
It's a very time consuming process, and a very expensive fabric to purchase, but love and passion for it have been steadily bringing it back!
