Jan Kath

Sari Purple

The saris are first cut into fine strips, which are then painstakingly separated, cleaned and sorted by color before being used as pile material. With bright azure blues, radiant moss greens, and bold garnet reds, it is an uncommon vibrancy of color that makes these carpets so unique. Throughout the city of Agra, in the heart of the former Mogul Empire, factory workers make the carpets by hand. Originally from Persia, the Moguls introduced the craft of carpet-making to the subcontinent in the 16th century. It is an area where the art is very much alive to this day – a testimony to the Islamic rulers of that time, just like the Taj Mahal, the world-famous tomb. Some of Kath's designs are carpets on which the sari silk is knotted in geometric patterns in line with Oriental tradition, but he also creates carpets using gradations of just one color. "Particularly with the tonal varieties it is clear to see just how complex the material is," Kath explains. Even when the colors are separated by hand, they are never completely identical. Here and there you can see a thin strand of gold thread in the fabric or a dab of neon red. "Every sari we use has a story of its own – and this is what they tell us when they're in our carpets."