'Faulty' Jaipur rug bags German design award nomination

NEW DELHI: A new hand-knotted rug from Jaipur fashioned with numerous weaving errors, the outcome of a disagreement between its weavers, has been nominated for a prestigious German Design Council award.

Part of the 'Project Error Collection' of the Jaipur Rugs Company, the rug titled 'Antar' (Differences) reflects a mishmash of design, accruing from a disagreement between weavers who handwoven it.

"A piece like this would usually be considered faulty and tossed out, but the "errors" on it makes it precisely so beautiful... I see perfection in imperfection," says Kavita Chaudhary, Design Director, Jaipur Rugs, one of the oldest rug brands in India.

The pattern on the rug came to Chaudhary's notice when she was glancing through creation of weavers from a small town of Narhet near Jaipur.

"What was clear is that three weavers sat side by side while making the rugs - weavers who had drawn out a graphical representation of the rug they wanted but clearly disagreed with each other.

"You can see clearly the three vertical panels that make up the rug. But as they proceed towards completion they start working in harmony with each other again," says Chaudhary.

Rather than a precisely ordered pattern, a whole new design was borne out of an error.

Struck by the uniqueness of the design, Chaudhary set out to re-invent the design into a product that was more ready for the global market and now forms part of her company's collection "Project Error."

"We intend to make some noise in the global design market," she says.