An unusual collaboration between indigenous Warli artists, a writer-gardener and book artisans, this book is a celebration of the miracle that is the seed and its place in our lives and cultures. Read on for an account of its evolution, and how it came to take its imaginative final shape, a combination of four book forms—each of them reflecting a particular aspect of the cosmos contained in a seed. ...
By V. Geetha
Travelling Patterns is the latest in a line of books that engage with textiles and textile art. It is a unique visual assemblage—in which pattern-making travels from textile to paper, from the decorative to the narrative, and from one context to another. ...
By Anaïs Beaulieu
An embroiderer’s skill is actually revealed by the quality of the work on the reverse side of the fabric — the hidden intersection of threads and knots that hold the embroidery in place. It is not seen immediately, and yet must be impeccable. Perhaps a book works somewhat like embroidery...
By Gita Wolf
The connection of skill and labour to art making has always interested us. We’re curious not only about the aesthetic and philosophical aspects of traditional art, but equally in its connection to artisanal practices, the craft that goes into giving it a physical form. In the case of Mata-Ni-Pachedi, this involves painting, block-printing and dyeing techniques which are painstaking, requiring skill and experience. This kind of artisanal knowledge is profound and priceless, but it is not valued highly, and seen more as a sequence of repetitive tasks learned through apprenticeship. Instead of holding artisanal practices against the mirror of industrial manufacture — or seeing them as distinct from art-making — we’d like to connect them intrinsically to the creative process....
By Gita Wolf and Catriona Maciver
It was a sensory experience, to say the least, to rummage through dusty drawers full of metal and wooden type faces in all shapes and sizes. Sadly, most of the sets were incomplete – since Tara had bought the press second hand, and the type was thrown in – so we found ourselves hunting down characters to form words, as though we were putting together a puzzle....
By Arun Wolf
What is remarkable to me about many Tara projects is the spirit of collaboration that lies behind them. I think this commitment to genuine dialogue finds a way of seeping through into the pages of the books, but it’s perhaps not always obviously tangible....
By V. Geetha and Sanjana Vamadevan
Our linocut-illustrated, letterpressed classic Little Girls Are Wiser Than Men was released in February of 2021. Adapted from a poetic short story by the great Russian writer Leo Tolstoy, this astute tale about conflict and resolution has been illustrated by the Lebanese artist and lithographer Hassan Zahreddine....
By Maguma
Spanish artist Maguma reinterprets a classic tale of greed and need, by the Grimm brothers, for contemporary readers. The story opens out into two parallel visual narratives — one set in times past and the other rooted in a dystopian present. As possessions and fortunes are rapidly exchanged, who wins and who loses? And what exactly does winning and losing entail?...
By Gita Wolf & Divya Vijayakumar
Our enduring classic The Night Life of Trees is currently in its 15th English-language edition! Along with the 33 foreign language editions of the book, which have been published by our partners in 8 languages, this adds up to a staggering total of 120,864 copies worldwide! To celebrate its long-standing legacy, we’ve brought out a poster called Tree Covers, showcasing the many looks of this quintessential book....
By Rathna Ramanathan
From her studio Minus 9 Design, Rathna Ramanathan has worked with Tara Books on projects over the last twenty years. Here, she reflects on her experiences of collaborating with Tara Books in the context of sustainable modes of design and production, and alternative models of publishing....
