How AI can weave a future for Kashmir’s centuries previous carpet trade

Earlier than his weavers start their intricate work, Sofi meticulously converts these pictures into detailed patterns on his pc. He then interprets them into Talim, a standard script that guides the weaving course of. Recited like a chant or music, the Talim is adopted by the weavers sew by sew, every coded line shaping the carpet right into a murals crafted totally by hand.

“I’ve spent my life watching carpets being handcrafted, first by my grandfather, then by my father, and now by me. Over the previous decade, expertise has taken this craft to the subsequent degree, and improvements within the web have additional reworked Kashmir’s carpet trade,” says Sofi, a senior carpet designer.

Legacy meets tech

The 43-year-old tech-savvy carpet entrepreneur makes use of his pc to create conventional designs which have discovered a spot on the 2022 FIFA World Cup and within the billion-dollar house of Mukesh Ambani, Asia’s richest man.

“Carpets have been handcrafted historically since centuries, however I gave them a contemporary contact through the use of pc functions to vary the way in which we design them. It has taken our trade to the subsequent degree.”

Kashmir’s carpet trade traces its roots to the 14th and fifteenth centuries, when Persian and Central Asian artisans arrived through the reign of Sufi saint Mir Syed Ali Hamdani and Sultan Zain-ul-Abidin. The craft flourished beneath Mughal patronage, embedding itself within the area’s cultural and financial cloth. Over the centuries, carpets have remained on the coronary heart of Kashmir’s handicrafts sector, sustaining generations and offering livelihoods to 1000’s throughout the Valley.

Sofi, a third-generation carpet entrepreneur, has been utilizing numerous pc software program applications together with Ibex, Photoshop, and Illustrator, to rework shopper pictures into intricate designs. These designs are then transformed into Talim, an age-old encrypted language utilized by Kashmiri carpet artisans to information the weaving course of.

A 2003 High-quality Arts graduate, Sofi blends conventional craftsmanship with digital instruments and now, he’s turning to Synthetic Intelligence (AI) to streamline design workflows and convey new effectivity to an artwork kind rooted in historical past.

“It was an uphill job to make use of a number of functions to edit the pictures despatched by purchasers. Generally I needed to flip them into collages, take away backgrounds, or modify the brightness,” Sofi says. “Now, AI does it in seconds. What used to take hours, and even days and weeks with older apps, is completed nearly immediately.”

Though Sofi admits he’s not but totally well-versed in AI, he believes it has the potential to utterly revolutionise the carpet trade. “AI can already deal with picture modifying and assist us create eye-catching designs,” he says. “However as soon as it learns to know Talim, the encrypted language utilized by weavers, the pre-weaving course of, which at present takes weeks and even months, might be carried out in seconds.”

Can AI write the code of weaving?

Whereas AI is not going to change the human arms that give Kashmiri carpets their distinctive worth, Zubair Ahmad Mir who’s director, Indian Institute of Carpet Expertise , Srinagar believes digital instruments and AI are important for survival and development.

“AI can’t do the weaving as a result of that’s our USP. However it will probably revolutionise design, high quality management, and international outreach. If we wish future generations to worth and maintain this craft, we should mix custom with innovation,” Mir tells Mint.

He provides that the carpet institute has consulted a number of AI corporations to assist develop functions able to producing Talim codes from a single picture, or reconstructing a full carpet design from strips of Talim.

“Up to now, no breakthrough has been achieved,” he says. “Many stunning, conventional designs stay confined to paper. If we achieve creating this type of program, we might revive them extra rapidly and precisely than ever earlier than.”

Inside Sofi’s carpet-making unit in Srinagar, a metropolis recognised by UNESCO as a Inventive Metropolis of Crafts and People Artwork, custom and artistry converge with wall-hanging carpets shimmering with intricate calligraphic designs and centuries-old Islamic artwork. These usually are not simply rugs, however visible tales woven in silk and Pashmina. The encircling partitions are lined with framed certificates and awards earned by Sofi’s grandfather and father, each grasp artisans of their time.

Sofi himself embraced a problem many believed was unattainable. He revived the Pashmina carpet, a fragile and splendid craft that had vanished from Kashmir’s weaving traditions over three centuries in the past.

“I learn historical past books in regards to the reign of Sultan Zain-ul-Abideen,” he explains. “It was a time when Pashmina carpets have been treasured symbols of standing and artistry, adorning royal courts with their intricate magnificence. Utilizing natural dyes like saffron, I fastidiously recreate the wealthy hues and delicate textures that after outlined these carpets. For me, it’s greater than a craft. It’s an act of restoring reminiscence and satisfaction, woven thread by thread.”

Mohammad Rafiq, Sofi’s brother and a fellow carpet artisan, has additionally been adopting a variety of digital instruments past AI to streamline what was as soon as a sluggish and labour-intensive course of. With the assistance of his pc, he is ready to full Talim in two hours, a job that beforehand took a number of weeks.

Whereas weaving and knotting are nonetheless carried out by hand, Rafiq explains that the designs and Talim codes which specify the colors for every knot and information the binding of the carpet at the moment are generated digitally.

“I can view your complete design directly, as an alternative of working part by part. This enables me to identify potential points early and keep away from pricey errors. It has enormously sped up the handmade carpet-making course of, and with AI, the pace and accuracy will solely get higher.”

Each brothers, whereas exploring common AI instruments like ChatGPT, Grok, and Gemini, observe that the shift from handmade designing to pc functions and now AI has considerably streamlined and accelerated the pre-weaving course of.

Artisans in Kashmir hint the origins of Talim, the intricate, coded script to the arrival of the Sufi saint Mir Syed Ali Hamdani. Believed to have introduced with him a cohort of expert craftsmen from Persia and Central Asia, Hamdani is credited with laying the inspiration for lots of the Valley’s conventional crafts. At the moment, senior artisans say Kashmir is the one place on this planet the place Talim continues to be used to information the weaving of carpets, preserving a centuries-old legacy in thread and code.

QR code for a carpet

Whereas AI has but to crack the complicated job of producing Talim codes, it’s already reworking different elements of the trade. For instance, in 2022, the Carpet Institute in Srinagar launched an AI-powered QR code system aimed toward bettering transparency and traceability within the handmade carpet commerce. Developed over the course of a yr, the expertise permits patrons to scan a code embedded instantly into the carpet and entry detailed product info, together with the identification of the unique artisan.

Greater than 12,000 carpets have been tagged thus far utilizing what officers name the primary AI-integrated QR labelling system of its variety on this planet. The label, fused into each bit, is designed to forestall misuse and counterfeiting.

In response to Mir, a senior official on the institute, the QR code system is backed by blockchain expertise and monitored by way of a devoted lab, which tracks every scan to make sure authenticity. “It’s a step ahead in defending each the artisan and the client. With a single scan, patrons can entry full particulars in regards to the carpet. This can be a breakthrough in making certain authenticity,” he tells Mint.

Rafiq, a 53-year-old senior artisan who started studying the craft on the age of 5, tells Mint that the AI-integrated QR labelling system has considerably enhanced the model worth and identification of Kashmiri weavers.

 

“Earlier, purchasers couldn’t inform the distinction between machine-made and handmade carpets. Now, AI has made that distinction clear. The power to scan and confirm carpets wherever on this planet has restored credibility and belief in Kashmiri craftsmanship. For instance, a machine-made carpet of 108 sq. toes may promote for ₹70,000, whereas a hand-crafted one of many identical measurement can fetch as much as ₹9 lakh.”

The mixing of AI into monitoring methods has been a lift for an trade that employs round 50,000 folks in Kashmir and generates roughly ₹500 crore in annual gross sales.

 

Mir says that since younger individuals are already drawn to computer systems and the web, AI is also an efficient strategy to educate them Talim. By studying the ability by way of digital platforms, they might construct careers within the craft and assist maintain the trade for the longer term.

Sandeep Narwani, a 42-year-old AI knowledgeable and co-founder and CEO of Narrative Analysis Lab, tells Mint essentially the most promising software of AI within the carpet trade lies within the automated conversion of pictures into detailed carpet designs with full Talim coding, the standard script utilized by Kashmiri weavers.

“Numerous corporations are coaching AI methods to analyse carpet pictures alongside their corresponding Talim codes, enabling machines to decipher and generate this historic design script,” Narwani explains. “This expertise can immediately convert {a photograph}, portrait, or design idea into a completely coded carpet sample.”

He provides that such AI-powered methods can dramatically cut back design time from months to only a few hours, whereas making certain full sample visibility for weavers from the start. “AI also can generate exact knot counts, coloration specs, and mathematically correct sample preparations, all important for sustaining the top quality of Kashmiri carpets.”

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