Embroiderer · Hawal, Srinagar

Rukhsana Bano

19 years at the work · Aari, Tilla

Pieces in the ledger

Rukhsana works aari — the hooked needle — and learned tilla from her aunt. She makes the chain-stitch work that travels around the borders of a stole, and the gold-thread bridal pieces that come out of our atelier in winter. She runs a small group of women in her neighbourhood who finish edges and ties.

“Aari is a conversation between the hook and the cloth. I am only listening in.”
— Rukhsana Bano, Hawal, Srinagar

Work by this hand

Pieces Rukhsana has signed

Tilla — gold thread

The Ivory Tilla Birds

Tilla-embroidered shawl · gold birds on ivory

Sozni — embroidered

The Red Darbar

Sozni on red · the royal court

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