Tracing the Grooves 手握十二寸黑胶的幸福

January 6, 2021 2021年1月6日

To describe Munir’s work around music, there may only be one appropriate word: extensive. The “best-known unknown” has created a name for himself as a prolific Indonesian DJ and producer with a penchant for infectious grooves, wherever it may come from. His affinity for vinyl has set him apart in the local scene, and his live sets draw diverse crowds from around the region.

For Munir—whose real name is Harry Septiandry—his lifelong obsession with music began at a very young age. When he was only seven, his late uncle gifted him a vinyl record of We Got the Funk by Positive Force, an act that set Munir’s future in motion. “It was such a new thing for me; as a kid, it’s very hard to grasp how a needle that moves along some grooves could produce sounds,” he says. “I have been hooked ever since.”

Munir 围绕音乐所做的一切，用“十八般武艺”这个词来形容再合适不过。这位多产的印度尼西亚 DJ 兼制作人，以极具感染力的旋律，不拘一格的音乐灵感，近年来在当地闯荡出自己一席之地。混迹于地下俱乐部圈子，Munir 笑称自己是“最知名的无名小辈”，而他对黑胶唱片的痴迷得到不少圈内人士的赞许，现场的精彩表演也常常吸引来自各地的舞客。

Munir 原名 Harry Septiandry，自小就痴迷音乐。七岁的时候，他的叔叔送给他一张 Positive Force 的《We Got the Funk》黑胶唱片，这成为了 Munir 走上音乐创作道路的起点。“黑胶唱片对于当时的我来说是很新奇的事物。唱针沿着凹槽划动，发出滋滋的声响，那声音撩拨着我的好奇心。自那以后，我就迷上了黑胶。”他回忆道。

Just before his uncle passed, he urged Munir to become a musician. Still a middle schooler at the time, Munir was intrigued by the idea, even though how to do so was still unthinkable for him. After his uncle’s passing, Munir inherited two things, a vinyl collection and a vague idea of becoming a musician that’s always stuck in the back of his mind.

It was during high school that he began taking the possibility of producing his own music seriously. He began hanging out with members of OPENLABS, a self-described “electronic music, new media exploration, visual art project” collective. It was through them that Munir learned how to produce music. After successfully making a few songs, he realized that his childhood dream of releasing his own vinyl isn’t out of reach.

在叔叔离开之前，他曾鼓励 Munir 成为一名音乐人。Munir 当时还在念初中，虽然这个建议很吸引他，但对于如何成为一名音乐人，他还毫无头绪。叔叔去世之后，Munir 继承了两件事：一是叔叔收藏的黑胶唱片，二是成为音乐人这个模糊的想法。成为音乐人，是一直萦绕在他心底的梦想。

直到高中时期，音乐制作人的想法才开始兑现。他结识了当地音乐团体 OPENLABS 的一些成员，他们专注于电子音乐、新媒体探索、视觉艺术项目。这成为 Munir 制作生涯的起点。在成功创作了几首歌曲过后，他意识到发行黑胶的梦想并非遥不可及。

In 2012, Munir established Midnight Runners alongside Yordan Admiral, with a focus on hip-hop, boogie, andfunk. Their music owes a lot to samples pulled from Munir’s inherited vinyl collection—even his very first vinyl proved to be formative in the music he creates. The band itself is fluid and loosely defined, with Munir acting as its director accompanied by a rotating list of collaborators. A connection through a local music media and event organizer GOODNWS Music introduced him to Singaporean label Darker Than Wax, who ended up releasing Midnight Runners’ Overdive EP. A year after, a local label picked up on the EP and released it on vinyl, a first of many for Munir.

Listen to select tracks from Overdive below:

In a drastic change of pace, Munir didn’t leave his house for more than a year after the EP release due to a shoulder injury. During this time, he decided to dedicate his time towards honing his craft. Looking back, Munir sees this period of his life as a crucial period of creative meditation. Midnight Runners’ subsequent release in 2015 showcased Munir’s evolution as a producer, in which he produced all the instrumentations himself without the use of any samples. Titled OPEN LABS as an homage to his humble beginnings, the album was picked up by Portland’s Omega Supreme Records. Its release in vinyl and cassette tapes overseas opened up quite a few doors for Munir in terms of international recognition.

2012 年，Munir 与 Yordan Admiral成立音乐团体 Midnight Runners，专注于嘻哈、布吉（Boogie）和放克音乐。他们的音乐中有很多采样来自 Munir 收藏的黑胶，其中就包括了他人生中拥有的第一张黑胶唱片。这张唱片对他所创作的音乐有着非常深刻的影响。团队的成员很不固定，组成也很松散，主要由 Munir 担任监制，再加上轮换的合作者。后来，他透过当地音乐媒体和活动组织 GOODNWS Music 认识了新加坡厂牌 Darker Than Wax，后者最终帮助 Midnight Runners 发行了 EP《Overdive》。一年后，当地的一家厂牌注意到这张 EP，并将其制作成黑胶唱片发行，这成了 Munir 人生的第一张黑胶唱片。

点击即可聆听专辑《Overdive》:

然而就在 Munir 这张 EP 发行后，他就因肩膀受伤不得不在家休养一年多。在此期间，他决定专心磨练技艺。回顾过去，Munir 认为这段时间对他影响很大，让他能够静下心来好好思考自己的创作。随后，Midnight Runners 在 2015 年发行的新专辑见证了 Munir 在音乐制作水平上的提升。新专辑中，他没有使用任何采样，亲自演奏了所有乐器部分。这张专辑取名为《OPEN LABS》，以此回望音乐创作以来的谦逊岁月。随后，这张专辑成功引起了波特兰 Omega Supreme Records 唱片公司的注意，又被制作成黑胶唱片和盒式磁带在海外发行，使他获得了更多的国际关注，同时带来了更多机会。

When Midnight Runners’s format started to feel confining, Munir branched out by releasing music under his own name. He views Midnight Runners and his own moniker as different outlets for different types of music. “These days, Midnight Runners is known for boogie, funk, and disco-influenced music—I don’t want it to stray too far from that,” he says. “When I’m making music under my own name, I can experiment more with any type of music that I’m feeling at the moment.”

Listen to select tracks from Munir below:

His live DJ sets take a similar approach, with obscure tracks being his specialty. Munir believes that as a DJ, it is somewhat of a “duty” to let good music from anywhere be heard everywhere. In his sets, the music he plays are always taken from his record collection. When the venue has a turntable setup, he often brings around 40 vinyls, whereas for circumstances where it’s not possible to do so he would pack USB drives filled with high-fidelity rips from his vinyls. His collection now numbers above 2000 records, with albums collected from every corner of the world from every time period. Curiously enough, as a collector Munir doesn’t care much about rarity or pressing editions—the music is all that matters.

由于是团队合作， Midnight Runners 并不能完全施展 Munir 个人独特的音乐风格。他从中跳脱出来，发布了个人音乐作品。在他看来，Midnight Runners 和他个人风格不完全相同。他说：“Midnight Runners 现在以布吉、放克和迪斯科风格为主，我不想让它偏离这一点。而当我以个人名义创作音乐时，我可以尝试更多当下喜欢的音乐风格。”

点击即可试听:

他的现场 DJ 表演也遵循着同样的理念，剑走偏锋的音乐类型是他的特色。Munir 认为，作为 DJ，他有责任搜罗各地的好音乐，让所有人都能听到这些好的音乐。他喜欢演奏自己收藏的音乐专辑。如果现场有唱片机，他就会从家里带来大约 40 多张黑胶唱片；如果没有条件，他就会将黑胶唱片翻录成高保真文件，拿到现场进行播放。现在，他收藏的唱片已超过 2000 张，这些唱片跨越不同时期，是他从世界各个角落收集回来的。出人意料的是，作为一名唱片收藏家，Munir 并不在乎唱片的稀有程度或版本，他唯一关注的是里面的音乐。

Munir’s international tours were also his best opportunities to scour record shops for new music. “Any trip where you couldn’t or didn’t do that is a failed one for me,” he says. The most memorable gigs also happen to occur during his many tours, with Shanghai being one of his personal favorites. “It was in Elevator, where I spun some Hong Kong and Taiwanese disco music,” he recalls. “The energy of the crowd was awesome.” Other memorable shows include one in Wonderball Sapporo, where he played a back-to-back set with DJ Kazuya Pee from 9 PM to 8 AM.

每当 Munir 在不同城市进行巡演时，也是他到唱片店搜罗好音乐的绝佳机会。他说：“每次外出巡演，如果我没有去买唱片，这对我来说就是一次失败的旅行。”他在海外巡演时有过很多次难忘的回忆，其中在上海的演出是他最喜欢的演出之一。他回忆说：“那次演出是在 Elevator，我放了一些香港和台湾的老牌迪斯科，现场观众的热情令我难忘。”另外还有在日本札幌 Wonderball 的那场演出，他和当地的 DJ Kazuya Pee 轮番上阵，从晚上 9 点一直 b2b 到第二天早上 8 点。

注：b2b（Back 2 Back），是 DJ 的一种表演形式。指的是两位 DJ 对彼此播放的曲目进行现场即兴混音和接歌。

It also happens that during his tour with Midnight Runners in Japan, Munir encountered a place that inspired him in a different way; a small listening bar in Osaka. “It was just a small space with everything properly set up, nice cocktails, good music, and an amazing sound system. I realized then that we don’t need to party every night to enjoy music—both as performers and listeners. Sometimes we just need to kick back with friends and be accompanied by nice drinks and music.” Upon going back to Indonesia, this recognition manifested into Peels Records & Bar, an appointment-only listening bar where he now serves as a music director.

一次跟随 Midnight Runners 巡演的经历，让 Munir 获得了全新的启发。那是大阪的一间专门听音乐的酒吧。“整个空间很小，环境很好，有鸡尾酒、不错的音乐，还有非常棒的音响系统。那时我才意识到，无论是对于表演者或观众来说，欣赏音乐不必局限在热火朝天的派对上面。有时候我们需要的，可能只是想和朋友放松一下，喝点酒，听听音乐。”回到印度尼西亚后，他联络了当地的 Peels Records＆ Bar，这是一家预约制的音乐酒吧，Munir 现在在那里担任音乐总监。

These days, aside from spinning regularly at Peels, Munir also hopes to bring attention to good music by other means. He hosts a bi-monthly broadcast with the Bristol-based Noods Radio called Bilingual School. In it, he showcases lesser-known musical gems from around the world in hour-long sessions. He also hosts a program called Discography Special with Bandung’s Norrm Radio, where he takes a deep dive into a particular artist’s discography as a means of cataloguing. The broadcasts involve sessions where Munir discusses the artist’s careers and approach to music, sometimes with audio recordings of their past interviews thrown in the mix. The songs that are played provide a broad look into an artist’s body of work; from deep cuts of their past projects or bands to their essential tracks.

At the moment, he is preparing for another release. This time, it’s under Shanghai-based label 1asia. “It’s probably gonna come out in December or January, fingers crossed,” he says. As for Peels Records and Bar, Munir is presently focusing on the “records” part. He’s gearing to turn Peels into a label under the same name, and Munir is setting up to reissue old records of Indonesian artists on vinyl.

With dedication in everything he does, it is evident that Munir is driven by a genuine appreciation of music. During our conversation, Munir brought up the fact that musicians, producers, and DJs are uncertain professions—even more so for one whose niche is physical records. When asked what drives him to continue doing what he does, Munir says, “It’s a means of communicating beyond words. There are traces of me in the music I play or produce. It simply feels good to have your own records and release them to the world.”

如今，除了定期在 Peels 酒吧演出之外，Munir 还希望通过其他方式来推广好音乐。他为位于布里斯托尔（Bristol）的 Noods Radio 电台主持着一档两个月一期的广播节目，名为“Bilingual School”（双语学校）。在一个小时的节目里，他跟听众分享着来自世界各地鲜为人知的好音乐。另外，他还与万隆的 Norrm 电台合作，主持了一档名为“Discography Special”的节目，深入研究特定艺术家的唱片。在节目里，Munir 会谈论每位艺术家的职业生活和音乐理念，有时还会插入艺术家在过去的采访录音。通过在节目中推荐，他让更多听众深入地了解每位艺术家的作品，从过的艺术家个人经历到代表作品，全面剖析。

现在，Munir 正准备一张全新的作品，预计会在上海本土厂牌 1asia 下发行。“就在一月左右，我的新作品马上和大家见面，希望一切都顺利吧。”至于 Peels Records and Bar，Munir 目前想更专注于“唱片”部分，希望能将 Peels Records and Bar 打造成同名音乐厂牌，并打算以黑胶唱片的形式重新发行一些印尼艺术家的旧作。

Munir 对于工作的投入，源于他对音乐的纯粹热爱。在我们的交谈中，Munir 指出，音乐家、制作人和 DJ 都是充满不确定性的职业，对于那些专注于实物唱片的音乐人来说更是如此。当被问到坚持音乐创作的动力是什么时，Munir 说：“音乐是一种超越言语的交流方式。那些曾演奏或创作的音乐，都代表着属于我的个人印记。能够创作和发行自己的唱片，是一种很棒的感觉。”

Like our stories? Follow us on Facebook and Instagram.

Instagram: @munireng

Contributors: Almer Mikhail
Photographer: Aldiansyah Waluyo
Chinese Translation: Olivia Li

喜欢我们的故事？欢迎关注我们 Neocha 的微博与微信。

Instagram: @munireng

供稿人: Almer Mikhail
摄影师: Aldiansyah Waluyo
英译中: Olivia Li

You Might Also Like你可能会喜欢

Project Gross-out 自我呕吐计划

January 4, 2021 2021年1月4日

Dismembered body parts piled up in a bathtub, two human torsos conjoined by their intestines, and a rotten decapitated head being held by the victim themself. Perusing the works of Xie Kun can be a spine-chilling experience.

However, Xie insists that her work isn’t all that dark—everything is done in good fun. “Originally, I just wanted to draw for my own amusement, nothing stressful,” she says. “So I turned to one of my old diaries for inspiration, which was filled with random trash talk, over-the-top short fiction, and observations of the neurotic things in my life.”

Under her imagination, these journal entries were transformed into severed appendages and disfigured bodies, all of which she’s stuffed away into little tin trays. Together, these disconcerting yet whimsical scenes form the stop-motion series outu jihua, which can be roughly translated as “Project Gross-out.”

残肢断臂堆满了浴缸、连体人扭曲的大肠相互牵扯，被砍下的头颅发黑腐烂，却啃噬着自己的乳房……谢堃的作品，看久了有点让人头皮发麻。

但谢堃自己是很坦然的，她并不觉得这些意象黑暗，反而有点好玩。“这些作品初衷是我想画一些玩的东西，没那么沉重，所以我就摘了一本以前的日记，里面都是我日常吐槽的话，瞎想的小故事，身边人的神经病事。”带着一丝有趣、一丝诡异，谢堃砍掉了笔下人的头颅、四肢，折叠了躯体、经络，然后把它们放到了一个个铁皮盒子中，给了它们一个脑洞大开的名字，叫《呕吐计划》。

While finishing up her graduation project at the Central Academy of Fine Arts, a strange concept began brewing in Xie’s head: she wanted to draw a scene in which she turned herself inside out. “I envisioned something like grabbing myself by my tongue and pulling my innards outwards, like a razor clam,” she says. “This scene would represent my inner world becoming one with the external world, the dissolving of ego, and plainly speak to the idea that I’m no different from everything else. I’m just a different combination of atoms.”

With this newfound perspective on herself and the external world, she felt a sense of accord with the universe at large. “Nature, the cosmos, faraway galaxies, and everything that we may not fully fathom, we still have a connection with them.”

毕业于央美的她，在当时毕设创作时候突发奇想，本意是想画一个把自我由内而外翻过来的场景图——“就是自己抓着自己舌头，把自己里外翻个个，和洗蛏子一样，这样呢，你以前所有认知的外部的世界就是你自己本身了。”谢堃笑说，“这种感觉让我觉得自我在分解消散，好像我和其他东西并没有什么差别，只是组合序列不同。”

这么内外一翻转，把内里的东西吐出来、外面的东西裹进去，谢堃觉得：“自然、星河、宇宙那些你不了解的所有规律，似乎都可以和自身挂上钩。”在《呕吐计划》中，她把所有能展开联想到的物件和意象都融入进去，谢堃笑说连生活心态都好了很多。

Through her stop-motion GIFs, Xie molds her overactive imagination into something tangible, albeit grisly. After finishing an illustration, she carefully cuts them out into separate pieces, setting them up and making them squirm and slither against the tin tray that’s served as the stage for the entire project.

谢堃喜欢用手工的方式去呈现自己大脑剧场：手绘的“肢解图”，被她以各种出其不意的方式在小铁盒里运动，再用定格动画的形式拍出来做成 GIFs，仿佛在狭隘空间里成就了一场迷你独幕剧。

As a biology and animal lover, wildlife is a consistent source of inspiration for Xie. Take, for example, her recent subject of infatuation, the octopus, with their smooth, slimy skin that shines like latex. “Even when you cut off a leg, it’ll still keep wriggling,” she says. “It’s like every individual molecule of their being has a life of its own.”

These brief infatuations with certain animals often result in bursts of creativity, where traits she associates with them find their way into her work in absurd ways. During her octopus craze, she created a six-armed man in the likeness of her favorite cephalopod. While rooted in absurdity, Xie’s works are a way for her to appreciate the natural world on her own terms.

谢堃喜欢自然，喜欢动物，但不是那种局限于想要拥有的喜欢，她更喜欢有些动物带给她的“刺激”。比如有阵子，谢堃说她疯狂地喜欢章鱼，黏黏光滑的皮肤，紧身衣一样的质感，“即使切断了也在蠕动”，这种原始而饱满的生命力让她讶异万分，“仿佛每个细胞都独立存在似的”。于是乎，超尺寸、变色、隐身、蓝色的血液，预言能力、高光、冷灰色……这一堆词从她的大脑里一次次“呕吐”出来，看似毫无关联，但相互组合在一起，就组成了谢堃作品里荒诞却有趣的元素，比如，八爪鱼一样的异形人。谢堃始终在从这样博大的自然科学里找方向，试图用自己的方式呈现自己理解的地球万物，那既是她创作的乐趣所在，也是意义所向。

Xie says that viewers don’t need to dig deep to understand the meaning behind each piece. Ego death and the meaning of existence are themes that she mostly hones in on. Whether it be different genders, different species, or differently mutilated body parts—are these varied arrangements of molecules and atoms all that different from one another?

Having studied public art in school, Xie initially believed that all art should be made for the public, made to impact audiences or offer new perspective. But in recent years, she’s gained a new understanding of what art can be: it can be more inward-facing, designed with the artist’s own interests in mind. This swimming against the current can result in art that’s more meaningful for the artist, and ultimately, become works that are equally memorable for viewers.

这些呕吐元素大杂烩的“意义”并不难找到，谢堃说，她关注的主题是“自我消散”，即人的界限。在作品里，谢堃不会刻意去强调人的性别或物的意象，男人或女人、人头或兔头、白骨森森或血肉健全的躯体，有何分别呢？从前学公共艺术出身的她，起先觉得艺术家有很多作品是“要为大众画的”、“要提供一种新的视觉感受或者新的观察事物的观点”，但这几年自由艺术家的经历反而让她有所感悟：艺术作品所带给人的冲击，未必一定要体现在服务观众的层面上去解读，很多时候，谢堃觉得如果能完全随着自己的心，做一个不随波逐流的自己，就已经是一个艺术家非常难能可贵的品质了。

Like our stories? Follow us on Facebook and Instagram.

Weibo: ~/谢困

Contributor: Chen Yuan

喜欢我们的故事？欢迎关注我们 Neocha 的微博与微信。

微博: ~/谢困

供稿人: Chen Yuan

You Might Also Like你可能会喜欢

Pracheen 岁月磨茧出工艺

January 1, 2021 2021年1月1日

Kamanuddin, at 70 years old, is one of the oldest artisans working at Pracheen. He's been there for 40 years, but his sons aren’t interested in getting into the craft.Kamanuddin 如今已年近古稀，是 Pracheen 最年长的工匠。他在这里已经超过四十年，但他儿子对这门古老的手艺并不是很感冒

Kamanuddin doesn’t enjoy being observed as he works. Yet the bearded septuagenarian remains composed as he bends over a stretch of long white fabric, firmly holding a wooden block in his wrinkled, stained hands as he continues with what he does best—blockprinting. The indigo-colored motif he’s just stamped seems to almost glisten under the sunlight streaming in through the large windows behind him. Kamanuddin has spent over 40 years working as a professional blockprinter. He is one of the twelve kaarigars (meaning “artisan” in Hindi) at Mumbai blockprinting workshop Pracheen, the only one in the city that continues to use natural dyes.

Kamanuddin 平时喜欢一个人埋头创作。这位留着胡子的七旬老人正佝偻着身子，爬伏在一块长长的白色织布上。他那布满皱纹的双手侵泡在颜料里，牢牢地握住一块木刷板。这是他多年来最擅长做的一件事——木刻印刷。在他身后，明媚的阳光透过巨大的窗户投射进来，新鲜出炉的靛蓝色图案看起来闪闪发光。Kamanuddin 从事木刻印刷已经有 40 多年的时间，他是孟买木刻印刷作坊 Pracheen 的 12 位 “kaarigars”（印地语“工匠”的意思）之一。这里是当地唯一还在使用天然染料进行木刻印刷的作坊。

Up the dirt-caked stairwell of this building, Pracheen can be found on the 4th floor. 爬上这栋楼滓涅的楼梯间，你会在第四层楼找到 Pracheen 工作坊

The bustling Damar Galli where Pracheen is located. Pracheen工作坊就匿藏在这条名为 Damar Galli 的小巷内

Occupying a space of 2200 sq feet, the workshop and store is tucked away on the fourth floor of a rundown building situated in the narrow bylanes of Damar Galli off of Mumbai’s Mohammad Ali Road. Yet the small unit embodies the artistic spirit of Ajrakh, a distinctive form of blockprinting found in Pakistan, Rajasthan, Gujarat, and India; Ajrakh prints echo the complex patterns of Islamic architecture, such as jali windows and trefoil arches. In recent years, these designs have even found their way into high fashion. Traditionally, Ajrakh has always used natural dyes that require effort and resources, rendering it expensive. To reduce costs, many have turned to chemical dyes to produce Ajrakh designs on the cheap.

藏匿于孟买 Mohammad Ali 路附近的 Damar Galli 小巷内，便可以找到这家名为 Pracheen 的作坊。整个作坊共占地 2200 平方英尺，位于一栋破旧建筑物的四层内。虽然总面积不大，但这间小小的作坊却传承着历史悠久的 Ajrakh 印花工艺。这种印花艺术源于巴基斯坦、拉贾斯坦邦、古吉拉特邦和印度等地，是一种独特的木刻印刷工艺。Ajrakh 在很多伊斯兰建筑的复杂图案中都有迹可循，例如 Jali 窗户和三叶形拱门。近年来，这些图案甚至被应用于高级时装设计当中。

传统 Ajrakh 以天然染料制成，而天然染料往往需要大量人力和资源来制作，十分昂贵。为了降低成本，许多人已经转向使用化学染料，制作出价格更低廉的 Ajrakh 印花。如今，你仍会在印度一些乡下地区，看到有一些使用天然染料的 Ajrakh 工匠。

Kamanuddin is focused and meticulous, the two key tenets of a good blockprinter.Kamanuddin 正聚精会神地工作。想要成为一名优秀的木刻印刷工匠，专注和仔细是两个必要的前提条件

An experienced craftsman trying to get the colors right.一位经验老道的工匠正在确认颜色和图案的准确程度

One of the first steps of blockprinting is creating the outline, followed by the inner fillings.做好木刻印刷的第一步，需要制作图形的轮廓，然后再进行填充

While some Ajrakh craftsmen still use natural dyes in rural parts of the country, ‘Pracheen’ is the only space to do so in the entirety of Mumbai. “Our processes and methods are derived from Ajrakh block printing. However our designs are original,” says Ahmed Khatri, the 64-year-old owner of Pracheen. As the fourth-generation in his family to block print, it was his great grandfather who migrated to Mumbai from the Kutch region in Western India and opened Pracheen almost 100 years ago. Pracheen, meaning ‘ancient’ in Hindi, has become a particularly fitting name for the shop.

Pracheen 是孟买市中心唯一一间坚持使用天然染料的作坊。64 岁的老板 Ahmed Khatri 说道：“我们沿用了传统的 Ajrakh 木刻印刷工艺，但图案设计由我们自己来做。”他是接管家族木刻印刷事业的第四代传人，100 年前，Ahmed 的曾祖父从印度西部的库奇地区移居孟买，一手创建了 Pracheen 工坊。“Pracheen” 在印地语中意为“古代”，对于这个祖传家作坊而言，这个名字显得尤其贴切。

Pomegranate rind is one of the major ingredients used for making a natural dye.石榴外皮是制作天然染料的重要原料

Stained nails and fingers is not unusual for craftsmen who work with natural ingredients to make color.颜料沾满指甲和手指缝隙，对于调色的工匠们来说是再正常不过的事情

Ahmed Khatri has fond memories of his childhood, which—when not in school—was spent learning the craft of blockprinting. “My father used to blockprint with chemical colors, but a client suggested we use natural dyes,” he says. “It was with his references that I connected with a man in Ahmedabad named Toofan Rafai, an expert in natural dyes in India. He was the man who taught me about the process of making natural dyes.”

Since then, Pracheen has only used natural dyes made in-house. Explaining the key difference between chemical and natural dyes, Khatri says, “Chemical colors produce loud shades whereas natural colors produce more earthy, soothing shades like that of henna or indigo as they are derived from various vegetables, roots, fruits, flower-saps, and herbs.”

Ahmed Khatri 对童年充满着愉快的回忆。不用上学的时候，他就跟着老师傅屁股后面学习木刻印刷工艺。他说：“我父亲以前曾用化学染料来做木刻印刷，但后来一位客户建议我们改用天然染料。在客户的引荐下，我认识了在艾哈迈达巴德的天然染料专家 Toofan Rafai，正是他教会了我如何制作天然染料。”

从那时起，Pracheen 就只使用自己制作的天然染料。Ahmed Khatri 随后解释了化学染料与天然染料之间的主要区别：“化学染料会产生较明显的阴影，而天然染料提炼于各种蔬菜、根茎、水果、花树汁和草本植物，能呈现出更加朴实、自然的色彩，例如海娜粉或靛蓝色。”

The father-son duo are owners and managers of Pracheen: Ahmed Khatri(R), 64 years old and Sarfraz Khatri(L), 40 years old. 父子俩是 Pracheen 工作坊的掌门人：右边是 64 岁的 Ahmed Khatri，左边是他的儿子，40 岁的 Sarfraz Khatri

Having stuck with natural dyes for the past 30 years, Pracheen has earned a reputation with a niche set of clientele that includes international designer labels and boutique shops across the country. Ahmed Khatri runs the workshop and showroom with his son, Sarfraz Khatri, who has worked in Pracheen since he was a teenager. “One day I came to the unit and my father gave me tiny pieces of cloth and natural dyes to play around with,” he says. “I started mixing dyes randomly to create shades and got interested in natural dyes. My father has always taught me to keep innovating. This approach as well as using natural dyes means none of our designs and shades is the same—and that is the magic of Pracheen.” Now 40 year old, Khatri has played a major role in making Pracheen the brand that it is today. The 12 kaarigars, some of them having spent decades working at Pracheen, are equally instrumental to the shop’s success of course, and together, they’ve become a family of sorts.

从过去 30 年来，Pracheen 始终坚持使用天然染料，在小众市场中享有盛誉，获得了包括国际时装品牌和印度当地的时装店的认可。Ahmed Khatri 的儿子 Sarfraz Khatri 从少年起就和父亲一起经营 Pracheen。Sarfraz 说：“有一次父亲给了我一小块布和一些天然染料，让我自己捣鼓。自那开始，我便对天然染料产生了深厚兴趣。父亲一直鼓励我不断创新。在他的引导下，加上坚持使用天然染料，Pracheen 的设计和颜色调配在城里才绝无仅有，这也正是我们工坊的魅力所在。” 对于今天 Pracheen 品牌取得的成就，现年 40 岁的 Sarfraz 功不可没。作坊的成功也自然离不开在这里工作的其他十二名工匠，他们当中有的人甚至已经呆了数十年。Pracheen 就像个大家庭。

A work in progress. Making a masterpiece requires team effort.在木刻印刷的制作过程中，每一幅杰作往往都来自团队合作

“Blockprinting using natural dyes is a tedious, labor-intensive process; one piece takes at least around two months to prepare,” says Sarfraz. “The color needs to be extracted from the roots and mixed with minerals. The fabric then needs to be dipped in the dye, washed thoroughly, and kept in the sun for eight to ten days. The blocks themselves also require intricate design work. The first block creates the background, followed by an outline and three to four inner fillings. It’s important for the shape of the blocks and the pressure applied to be even. If they’re uneven then one spot comes off darker than the rest. This consistency requires experience, craftsmanship, and a composed focus. This is why we never coerce our craftsmen to give us quantity, but quality.”

The craftsmen echo Sarfraz’s sentiments. Their oldest kaarigar, Jalaluddin, has worked at Pracheen for 50 years, starting when he was only 13. He says that each print requires effort, passion, and cannot be hurried. Another kaarigar, 62-year-old Salim Ahmed too holds Prachin very close to his heart. “I learned the craft here and have been working here all my life,” he says. “Our seth (boss) makes the colors and we print them. I cannot imagine doing anything else.”

Sarfraz 说：“使用天然染料进行木刻印刷是一个繁琐而费力的过程；一件作品往往需要至少大约两个月的时间制作。你需要先从植物根部萃取颜色，然后与矿物质进行混合。再将布浸入染料中，彻底清洗。通常需要在阳光下放置 8到 10天。而木块本身也需进过复杂的设计过程，先用大木块支撑背景，然后用细小的木块固定轮廓，再用到三到四个木块辅助图案的填充。更为重要的一点是，要保证木块形状的固定，木块和木块之间的彼此受力也要平衡，否则就会导致颜色深浅不一。如此复杂的工艺程序，需要丰富的经验、精湛的工艺和极致的匠人心。正因如此，我们从不催促工匠，保质不保量。”

关于这一点，作坊的工匠们也深以为然。他们当中年纪最大的 Jalaluddin 从13 岁就加入了 Pracheen，至今已经工作了五十年。他认为，每一件作品都需要投入大量的精力和热情，绝不能操之过急。而对于另一位 62 岁的工匠 Salim Ahmed来说，Pracheen 则有更多的含义。他说：“从学习工艺开始，我的一生都在这里。老板负责制作染料，我们负责印刷。实在无法想象如果转行去做其他地方工作是怎样一番场景。”

Pracheen owns around one hundred thousand blocks, with some almost a century old. Most of them have been passed down from past generations of Khatris, but they've been repaired or renewed with fresh designs.Pracheen 工作坊拥有数十万块儿木料，一些木板的来头甚至要追溯至百年以前。这些木块儿在 Khatris 家族中代代相传，直到有新的图案设计而被淘汰

The workshop is abuzz with activity as the attentive craftsmen move around the space, preparing fabric, readying dyes, and grabbing blocks. The wall shelves are stacked with about a hundred thousand wooden blocks, some of which are almost a century old and have been revived through repair or a replica copy. “We also make new blocks to keep innovating our designs,” Sarfraz adds.

In a world of digital printing and cheap chemical dyes, it hasn’t been easy remaining insistent on block printing with natural dyes. The time, effort and passion put into this craft are often overlooked by the masses. The Khatris admit that it has been hard competing with mass production. However, awareness around sustainability and ethical fashion has increased in the last decade, which has been encouraging for Pracheen. With this movement, the owners have found renewed faith in their craft. “In 1997, I was invited for a Shibori Exhibition hosted by the National Institute of Design in Ahmedabad, Gujarat,” Ahmed Khatri recalls. “We had made 25-30 dupattas, stoles, and scarves. Within a few hours, by the grace of God, we were sold out. After that day my confidence just grew and I’ve never looked back.”

专心工作的工匠来来往往，准备布料、染料和取木块，整个作坊里热闹非凡。墙上的搁架堆放着近十万块雕刻木块，其中一些已经有近一个世纪的历史，又通过修整或复刻被重新利用。“因为我们对设计总有新的需求，所以木块的雕刻也在不断更新。”Ahmed 补充道。

在数字印刷和廉价化学染料成为主流的时代，坚持使用天然染料进行木刻印刷并非易事。大众常常忽略投入这种工艺所需的时间、精力和热情。Khatris 家族承认小作坊很难与大批量生产行业竞争。但值得庆幸的是，在过去十年中，人们对传统可持续发展的意识有所提高，越来越多人开始关注这种古老的风尚。这对 Pracheen 来说是令人鼓舞的事实。

Khatris 家族产业重拾对传统工艺的信心。Ahmed Khatri 回忆说：“1997 年，我受邀参加了由国家设计研究院主办，在古吉拉特邦艾哈迈达巴德举行的 Shibori 染色工艺展览。我们制作了 25 至 30 件 Dupattas（一种裹住全身的印度女性围巾服饰）、披肩和围巾，不到几个小时就被抢购一空。自那天之后，我们的信心倍增，再也没想过放弃。”（注：Shibori是一种历史悠久的染色技术。）

Two experienced craftsmen at work. 两位经验老道的工匠正在忙碌

Jajluddin, the oldest employee has worked at Pracheen for almost 50 years.Jajluddin 是这里最老的员工之一，他已在 Pracheen 工作了将近五十个春秋

Being situated in Mumbai, the hub of Bollywood and Indian fashion; Pracheen’s approach and work ethic has also been recognized by local and international designers alike. One of them being renowned Indian designer Tarun Tahiliani, who, as Ahmed Khatri recounts, would spend entire days with them discussing fabric, design, and craft.

Other designers who have visited Pracheen include Donna Karen from DKNY, Yohji Yamamoto, and more. Pracheen’s craft collection in collaboration with designer Anjali Patel Mehta of Studio Verandah was also part of the Lakme Fashion Week’s Sustainable Fashion Day event Craft Is Cool, which introduced the traditional craftsmen to many more contemporary designers.

In a country that hasn’t had much public investment, incentive, or infrastructure for indigenous art forms to thrive, this was a particularly important event. These arts, , including block printing, are becoming more and more obsolete as younger generations seem unwilling to carry the torch. Blockprinting, unfortunately, also does not escape this fate. Kamaluddin’s son looks forward to getting a service-based job and Jalaluddin’s sons are not interested in getting into the field.

孟买是印度的宝莱坞和时尚中心，在这里，Pracheen 的理念和道德工艺获得了本地和国际设计师的青睐。其中之一是著名的印度设计师 Tarun Tahiliani。Ahmed Khatri 称这位设计师常常连续好几天和他们讨论织物、设计和工艺。

其他到访过 Pracheen 的设计师包括 DKNY 的 Donna Karen、山本耀司等等。Pracheen 与 Studio Verandah 的设计师 Anjali Patel Mehta 合作的工艺系列还参加了 Lakme 时装周可持续时尚日活动“Craft Is Cool”。这门传统工艺也吸引了越来越多的当代设计师。

在印度当地，没有太多公共投资、激励措施或基础设施来支持这项传统艺术的发展。因此，国际交流活动就显得尤其重要。由于缺乏年轻一代的传承者，许多传统艺术正消声匿迹，更不幸的是，木刻印刷也无法逃脱这一命运。Kamaluddin 的儿子想找一份服务行业工作，而 Jalaluddin 的儿子也对木刻印刷不感兴趣。

Salim and Isthekaar, two of the twelve artisans, working together on a new piece.工匠 Salim 和 Isthekaar 正忙活新的作品

With the onset of the sustainable fashion movement, Sarfraz feels that traditional blockprinting still has huge potential and can make a comeback. “We need more encouragement and platforms for indigenous artists to exhibit their work so that they can claim their craft and agency,” he says.

In that hope, Pracheen continues stamping its legacy; hoping that the ‘ancient’ can become just as relevant in the future.

随着可持续时尚运动的展开，Sarfraz 认为传统木刻印刷仍有巨大的潜力，有卷土重来的机会。他说：“我们需要更多平台的支持，让传统艺术家们获得更多展示作品的机会，让他们能为自己手艺和能力申明。” 与此同时，Pracheen 将继续巩固和传承这一工艺，希望这种源于“古代”的工艺在未来依然能发扬光大。

Like our stories? Follow us on Facebook and Instagram.

Website: www.pracheen.com

Contributor: Devyani Nighoskar
Photographer: Rashi Arora

喜欢我们的故事？欢迎关注我们 Neocha 的微博与微信。

网站: www.pracheen.com

供稿人: Devyani Nighoskar
摄影师: Rashi Arora