A quest for the mythical Muslin

Muslin, the premier fabric of Bengal of the pre-Moghul and Moghul era, has many legends attached to it – a six yard piece of fabric is said to have fit in a matchbox, and a pound of that cloth, also called 'skin of the moon' and 'woven air', is said to have stretched for 250 miles. In time, the production of the exquisite fabric has diminished and is now a lost treasure. Drik-Bengal Muslin, an initiative of Drik, has been working to bring forth the history and legacy of the fabled fabric, as well as attempting to revive it in the last few years. A documentary titled “Legend of the Loom” was their latest offering that premiered at the Sufia Kamal Auditorium of the Bangladesh National Museum (BNM) on Sunday. The

Cultural Affairs Minister Asaduzzaman Noor graced the event as chief guest, that was presided over by BNM Director General Faizul Latif Chowdhury. Drik's CEO and researcher and presenter of the documentary, Saiful Islam also spoke at the event.

The 43-minute documentary, in English, traces the history of Muslin from its earliest days, its origins on the riverbanks of Meghna, Shitalakhya and Brahmaputra, its intricate, delicate production process and worldwide popularity that stretched far beyond Asia and conquered European royalty like French queen Marie Antoinette, Napoleon's wife Joséphine de Beauharnais and British author Jane Austen , its impact on trade up to the oppression of the farmers by the British Colonial rule that eventually caused its demise. Done with care and extensive research, the documentary is as well-researched and informative as it is engrossing. Mita Rahman narrates the documentary that travels to museums and collections in the UK and France where samples of Muslin are kept, and the documentary ends with the initiatives that have been taken to revive the strand of the 'phuti karpas', the cotton species that produced the Muslin, through collection of various cotton strands and doing their genetic profiles.

The Drik-Bengal Muslin project had earlier organised a month-long Muslin Festival last year. An exhibition titled “Muslin Revival”, a seminar, fashion show, a book and a graphic novel were all part of the project,

The documentary, in partnership with the Cultural Affair Ministry, BNM and Aarong, is set to be screened at a few venues throughout this month, and a Bangla version of it is also set to be released soon.