Dabu or daboo is an ancient mud resist hand block printing technique from Rajasthan.

The art of hand block printing is an ancient one which is said to have originated in China. Over the years it traveled to India, with the state of Rajasthan becoming the most prolific producer of hand block printed fabrics. 

Dabu printing is very labor intensive and involves several stages of printing and dyeing; the end result is therefore very unique and beautiful.

Traditional Daboo designs and motifs are very similar to the motifs used in all traditional Rajasthani textiles, since the ‘blocks’ used for printing are common to most of these techniques. They tend to be nature inspired designs of plants, birds, flowers, fruits as well as artistic ethnic motifs.

The aim of this assignment was to redesign the traditional motifs into a new, stylized variation and develop prints using the same.