Ministry of Culture and the National Museum in collaboration with Abheraj Baldota Foundation organizedan exhibition ‘Sutr Santati’, celebrating 75 years of India’s birth as an independent nation, by bringing together diverse textile traditions of the country yesterday.
The exhibition will continue till 20th September, 2022 in New Delhi.
The exhibition was inauguratedby Secretary, Ministry of Culture Shri Govind Mohan.
Sutr Santati literally means the continuity of yarn. As a title to the exhibition, it is a metaphor for ongoing dialogues in Indian culture and society, which shape its evolution, bridging the past with the future. On display are more than 100 textiles by 75 prominent artisans, craftspeople, designers, and artists.
Curated by Lavina Baldota, the exhibition highlights the craftsmanship and ecological preservation as its key feature. On view are textiles created with processes of hand weaving, embroidery, resist-dyeing, printing, painting and appliqué, among other forms of yarn and fabric manipulation. The fibres employed in these commissions range from local varieties such as Kandu and Kala cotton, mulberry and wild silks, camel and sheep wool, goat and yak hair. The exhibition’s curatorial vision seeks to promote the ideals of organic and slow consumerism in defining a nation such as India’s self worth, and the inherent collective, collaborative efforts which are required to push towards such goals.
Highlights of participants included:
Artisans: Waseem (kalamkari painted with ari, Kani and Handwoven pashmina jamavar); Vijay Guled (Ilkal), Shunya (batik – Tagore poetry)
Organizations / NGOs – ASHA by Rahul Jain (from the collection of Anjana Somani) ; Aadyam by Manish Saksena ; Chanakya School of Craft by Karishma Swali ; Good Earth ; Vastrakala by Malavika Shivakumar and Jean-Francoise Lesage
Participating fashion & textile designers, couturiers and multidisciplinary artists include: Abu Sandeep, Ashdeen, Anjul Bhandari, Ashiesh Shah, Gaurav Gupta, Gaurang Shah, Manish Malhotra, Peter d’Ascoli, Sanjay Garg (Raw Mango), Smriti Morarka, Tarun Tahiliani.
Textile revivalists: Asif Sheikh (CDS), Charlie Mathleena, Darshan Shah (Weaver’s Studio), Jesmina Zeliang (Heirloom Naga), Purvi Patel, Radhika Raje (Baroda Shalu), Swati & Sunaina, Umang Hutheesing among others
Textile artists: Ajay Bhoj, Ashita Singhal (Paiwand Studio), Jignesh Panchal, Lakshmi Madhavn, Pragati Mathur, Pushyamitra Joshi (Eco Fab), Sabiha Dohadwala and Sukanya Garg among others.