Discovering Textiles from across the world

The season of books and what they reveal continue. This is from the National Museum and titled  Textiles: Binding threads between Cultures from National Museum Collections.    What is good is that several books documenting collections in various museums and private collections is coming out. This makes available a vast variety of heritage textiles available in the public domain. Since most of them are not on display and need special permission to be viewed, these publications are useful for those who want to know more about the collection present. It is in this genre that the recent book brought out by the National Museum serves its purpose. This book aptly covers that. The book which has been in the making for some time now provides an interesting insight into the history of textiles and its historical significance. Dr. Anamika Pathak, Curator, Decorative Arts, National Museum, New Delhi tells me is that a two day symposium was held on the Embroidered Art of South of I...

Textile exhibitions in Delhi are few and far between, therefore this organised by The Royal Thai Embassy , New Delhi, Republic of India, in collaboration with The National Museum, New Delhi and The Thai Khadi Research Institute, Thammasat University was a stunner and eye opener to say the least. It had on display some fabulous selection of Thai Mudmee – weft ikat fom Thailand.  This was seeing a lot of it for the first time and what a sight to behold it was. The exhibition had on display fabulous Thai silk threads, there was a short film of the rearing of the cocoons to the reeling and weaving of the silk. What was a stunner was the brilliant single ikat on display. Single ikat unlike what we have seen from Gujarat,  Andhra Pradesh or Orissa. The depth of the motifs, colours all fit in beautiful. What added the extra dimension to the exhibition was the display of textiles both antique, vintage and of course contemporary. It not only helped understand the textile and its innova...

We do a book review this time,  this book Divyambara (Masterpieces of costume from the Collection of the National Museum) by Dr. Lotika Vardarajan with contribution from Sushmit Sharma brought out by the National Museum, New Delhi. Dr. Lotika Vardarajan, a Tagore Fellow passed away suddenly before the book could be released. It is an ideal tribute to her vast knowledge, enthusiasm and spirit in the world of revival and documentation of traditional crafts, arts and preservation of heritage of the country. The book can be called a catalogue, anthology, brief history of sorts of the textile collection at the National Museum. It traces the origins of the textile department which falls under the section of Decorative Arts and then the building of the collection. There are interesting insights which one does not get to hear. The introduction by Dr. Mani clearly states that unlike other Museums which had a repertoire of collected textiles presented to them or gifted to them to begin wit...

We had written about 3 wonderful designers and revivalists doing stellar work. We continue with another 3, each of whom is close to my heart and I am friends with. They work from weaves from their particular area and are dedicated. Sarees and Mekhela in natural dyes using Mulberry and Muga.  Image courtesy - Naturalli Anuradha Naturally Anuradha – Anuradha Kuli – There is just one word for Anuradhas’s creation – beautiful. A weaver who worked with the Sericulture Training Institute of the Silk Board,  before launching her own little brand. She effortlessly combines traditional motifs into contemporary textiles – mekhela, chadder and sarees. The colour combinations and the motifs are to die for. She has a very pretty petite lady belonging to the Miri (Mishing) Community of Assam. Two things that really strike about Anuradha’s creation is the brilliant colour combination and the choice of motifs. This together with her clever use of silk, mixing mulberry with eri, tussar and ...

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...

We celebrate the National Handloom Day with little write ups about designers / revivalists/ dedicated individuals who are working to bring back to life forgotten weaves and textile techniques. All of them are known to me and are friends where there is a shared camaraderie and a mutual love for textiles… I cover 3 of them in this post. The Celebrations start from 1 st of August and go to the 10 th of August. Keeping this in mind, I cover a series of such revivalists over the next couple of posts.   (For the uninitiated – 7 th August 1905 was the day when the Swadeshi Movement was launched. It was launched in Calcutta Town Hall. It was aimed to promote domestic and indigenous goods and products. Primarily amongst them the handloom which was a way to boycott imported goods especially apparel. To commemorate this and give a boost to the domestic production especially those woven by hand, the National Handloom Day was launched. The first one was held on 7 th August 2015 and inau...