Jamdani as Intangible Cultural Heritage: Exploring Its Genesis, Evolution, and Adaptation in Contemporary Fashion
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.63856/4vrdfe60Keywords:
Jamdani, intangible cultural heritage, cultural sustainability, traditional weaving, fashion adaptation, BangladeshAbstract
Jamdani weaving is one of South Asia's most renowned weaving traditions and an important element of Bangladesh's cultural heritage. Today, Jamdani represents an important cultural and fashion heritage of Bangladesh. Historically, it was closely associated with the renowned muslin tradition of Bengal and received patronage during the Mughal period. Now inscribed on UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2013, the craft continues to face challenges arising from industrial competition, declining numbers of artisans, changing markets, and shifting consumer preferences. This study employs a qualitative literature review approach to examine the historical genesis, cultural evolution, and contemporary adaptation of Jamdani weaving. It explores the preservation of Jamdani and its reinterpretation in the present cultural and economic context by analyzing scholarly publications, documents on heritage, literature on sustainability and fashion studies. In general, the review finds that the balance between Jamdani preservation and the sustainability of its cultural value, the transfer of knowledge and techniques from artisans to the current fashion system and the innovation of the system in order to make it sustainable is required to ensure the sustainability of Jamdani in the future. In the future, the recognition of heritage has strengthened cultural visibility but needs to be complemented by actions that are conducive to sustainable preservation, especially through support to the artisan communities and supporting the creation of economically viable market opportunities. The research introduces new concepts, such as intangible cultural heritage, cultural sustainability and fashion adaptation, in which the traditional crafts are identified as a cultural value and economic potential in a changing society and fashion.
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