You thought it was a nostalgic reminder of the movie of yore – Sahib Bibi aur Gulam. No, that is the name of the catalogue launched together with the exhibition of the same name showcasing the rich collection of Baluchari with TAPI. TAPI stands for the Textile Arts of the People of India, has been set up by Praful and Shilpa Shah of Garden Mills to showcase their private collection of textiles amongst other things. Their collection of textiles is stupendous and several exhibitions have been held at the National Museum, Delhi. Notably has been the first on traded textiles from India, the Pichwais and later one on Parsi Gara embroidery. Each exhibition is accompanied by a detailed catalogue written by eminent textile experts and detailing each of the exhibits. It is the detailing of the exhibits as a catalogue which opens to textile enthusiasts, revivalists and those in the trade, the sheer design potential of them. This book cum catalogue has been written by Eva Maria Rakob, Shilpa Shah...
One of my recent visits to the Weavers' Service Centre (WSC) in Delhi to get some information on Master Craftsmen awardees proved an eye opener to the vast potential and vast information source that the Weavers' Service Centre opened under the aegis of the DC Handlooms is meant to be a centre to disseminate information, collect, collate propagate weaving, the base has been to develop a vast repertoire on the textile especially the handloom tradition of the country. There are 28 Weavers' Service Centre established across the country. The country is broadly divided into four zones – North, South, East and West. There is one nodal WSC (headquarter) in each zone. Each zone has several WSC representative of the particular State which caters to the weaving centers in that geographical belt. The vastness of the weaving heritage in the country is such that there are weavers in every village assimilating a host of techniques. In the North East, weaving is done nearly in every hom...