Pakistan · Block Printing / Dyeing / Textile
اجرک (Ajrak)
Ajrak (اجرک) is the Sindhi resist-print and natural dye tradition — producing the deep red and indigo blue geometric pattern cloth that is the defining textile of Sindhi identity. An ajrak shawl is presented to distinguished guests, wrapped around newborns, and drapes the deceased at burial. It is present at every significant moment of Sindhi life. The making process is one of the most complex in South Asian textiles — up to seventeen separate stages alternating resist application, dyeing, washing, and sun-exposure bleaching, taking 14-21 days from start to finish. The defining technical knowledge is the double-resist sequence: ajrak achieves its characteristic simultaneous red and blue through a resist applied before red dyeing and a second resist applied before blue dyeing, so that the same cloth carries areas protected from red, areas protected from blue, and areas exposed to both. The sequence cannot be reversed.
Risk level: Endangered · UNESCO Representative List (2024); Pakistan national ICH list
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