‘Rogan’, an art form which is over 400 years old, is perhaps one of the few testaments to this living heritage. Rogan painting, is an art of cloth printing practiced all over Gujarat, India. In this craft, paint made from boiled oil and vegetable dyes is laid down on fabric using either a metal block (printing) or a stylus (painting). The craft nearly died out in the late 20th century, with rogan painting being practiced by only a few families in Gujarat.
The process of applying this oil-based paint to fabric began among the Hindu And Muslim Khatri’s, a community in Gujarat. Although the name, rogan (and some of the traditional designs) suggests an origin in indian culture, there are no reliable historic records to prove this. The word ‘Rogan’ comes from Persian, meaning varnish or oil.
Rogan painting was initially practiced in several locations in the gujarat region. The painted fabric was mostly purchased by women of the lower castes who wanted to decorate clothing and bed coverings for their weddings. Therefore, it was a seasonal art, with most of the work taking place during the several months when most weddings take place. During the rest of the year, the artisans would switch to other forms of work, such as agriculture.
With the rise of cheaper, machine-made textiles in the late 20th century, roghan-painted products became relatively more expensive, and many artists turned to other occupations. Ultimately, Few families in the Gujarat, continued the craft.
Rogan paint is produced by boiling castor oil for about two days and then adding vegetable pigments and a binding agent; the resulting paint is thick and shiny. The cloth that is painted or printed on is usually a dark color, which makes the intense colors stand out.
In rogan printing, the pattern is applied using metal blocks with patterns carved into them. In rogan painting, elaborate designs are produced freehand, by trailing thread-like strands of paint off of a stylus. Frequently, half of a design is painted, then the cloth is folded in half, transferring a mirror image to the other half of the fabric. The designs include floral motifs, animals, and local folk art.
To be a rogan artist, one had to be a male member of a lineage that practised the art. Women were primarily responsible for managing the household and caring for the family, as well as occasionally doing Bandhani work (a cloth dyeing practise of the Khatri community, similar to tie-dye.)
Unfortunately, these traditional requirements of rogan painting made the art especially prone to dying out.
This art has been passing down from the last eight generations in these families but they don’t have enough investment and customers to spread the artwork. In order to help these artisans, in 2012, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had purchased a piece of this artwork to gift a rare art of India to Britain high commission James Bevan. The government has also set up NGOs to facilitate markets for them. They are also encouraged to draw new designs and used different colours to have a different impact on people.