Textiles
In 1976 John and Kinnari went to Kutch to research the intricate arts of tie-dye, ikat and masharu but they stayed there for a lifetime in one form or another because of the relationships they made with the craftspeople.
Journey
The desert has no colours except in the clothing and decorations made by its people. The vibrant colours are woven in with tiny mirrors to shimmer in the cool desert moonlight and the hot sunny days. Kutch maybe located along the border with Pakistan but its people and their crafts know no borders for their art stems from an ancient tradition. A tradition that is for the most part orally transferred.
Cranbrook rose up as a design school at about the same time as the Nazis in Germany were shutting down the Bauhaus School. A lot of the Bauhaus faculty moved to Cranbrook and Cranbrook became to America what Bauhaus was to Europe; a new way of seeing. With graduates such as Eero Saarinen, Ray Kaiser and Charles Eames, Cranbrook's influence on the world has been all encompassing.
