10-12-Day Craft Immersion
Kutch - Where the Desert Meets the Loom
Coming late January to mid-February 2027
Flying into Ahmedabad.
Places are limited – six to eight guests.
Prices start from £4,000 per person,
based on two sharing, excluding flights.
An Artisan Journey Through Ahmedabad, Bhuj & Kutch
Kutch is unlike anywhere else in India. The landscape is vast and austere, flat salt desert meeting open sky and yet it contains some of the most intricate and technically accomplished craft traditions in the world.
We begin in Ahmedabad, one of India’s great mercantile cities and home to the Calico Museum of Textiles, arguably the finest textile collection in the country. The old walled city, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is threaded with extraordinary carved wooden havelis built by the merchant families who traded these very cloths across the world. Two or three days here sets the context for everything that follows.
From Ahmedabad we travel into Kutch, staying in Bhuj in a carefully chosen heritage property. From there we move through the craft villages at the heart of this journey.
The Khatri families of Ajrakhpur have been printing with natural indigo and madder for generations. Exquisite geometric patterns of extraordinary precision, each piece requiring days of repeated printing, drying and washing in the mineral-rich local water that gives Ajrakh its particular depth of colour.
The Vankar weavers produce cloth of quiet, considered beauty on simple pit looms, using kala cotton and wool.
Gujarat’s Living
Craft Traditions
The Rabari, nomadic pastoralists whose embroidery traditions are among the most distinctive in India, stitch dense, jewel-coloured work that has barely changed in centuries. Each community is identifiable by its own patterns, stitches and palette.
Where possible, we spend time with Rabari women, observing their work and understanding the meaning behind these intricate traditions.
We will also work closely with natural dyers whose knowledge of local plants, minerals and mordants represents a science as much as a craft.
Bandhani, Gujarat’s ancient tie-dye tradition, is among the most labour-intensive textiles produced anywhere in India. Thousands of tiny points of cloth are individually pinched and bound before dyeing, creating the characteristic constellation of dots and the rippling, dimensional texture that no mechanical process can replicate. The finest Bandhani, held to the light, has the quality of something embroidered rather than dyed.
We visit the families who still practise this work at the highest level, observing Bandhani artisans at work and with the opportunity to attend a workshop.
Mirror work, the shisha embroidery that catches the light in Kutch interiors, clothing and ceremonial textiles, is another tradition we explore in depth. Small discs of mirror stitched into embroidered grounds with a precision that takes years to master.
In the hands of the best makers, it is not decoration. It is architecture in thread.
The Makers of Kutch
We will also visit private collectors, individuals who have spent decades quietly assembling pieces of rare heritage embroidery: antique Rabari and Ahir work, early Bandhani, pieces that rarely surface in the market.
Some of what we see will be available to acquire. This is not a shopping trip, but for those who understand what they are looking at, it is an extraordinary opportunity.
These are not tourist demonstrations. They are introductions to working communities and private worlds, made possible by relationships built over many years.
Small groups of six to eight women. Approximately 10 to 12 days. Late January to mid-February. Flying into Ahmedabad. Journeys from £4,000 per person, based on two sharing, excluding international flights.
‘How on earth did you find this?’ became our constant refrain. Every day brought moments that felt impossible to plan — and yet everything flowed seamlessly. Bernadette’s knowledge runs deep, and she shares it generously.
Anne
Let’s Start a Conversation
The brochure is in preparation. If you would like to receive it when it is ready, please register your interest using the form.
I personally lead every journey and I want to ensure it’s the right fit for your interests and pace. Whether you have questions about the textiles, the walking, or the heritage stays, I’m happy to speak with you directly.