Photo Essay for Deccan Herald
Showcasing the beauty of Indian weavesAn ongoing exhibition at the NGMA, Bengaluru, has textile lovers all over India swooning.
Shoba Narayan, SEP 11 2022, 01:25 ISTUPDATED: SEP 11 2022, 01:45 IST
To celebrate its 25th anniversary, the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) has put together a rare and wonderful show that has textile lovers all over India swooning. Appropriately titled, “Vignette: Visvakarma Textiles: Art & Artistry,” the exhibition highlights the talents of the weavers across our country, and the role of the Weavers Service Centres (WSCs) in fostering their creativity. The exhibition takes its name from the first Vishwakarma exhibitions (the spelling of this show is different), that were held in the 80s. They highlighted the unparalleled talent of Indian weavers. To create this show, Susan Thomas, Director of NIFT and her team went to several museums in Delhi and Mumbai where these original textiles are stored and chose 25 pieces that could be viewed as “pieces of art.” The result is a rare glimpse into historic textiles and also the talents of the creators.
Vishwakarma is both God and man, the divine architect of the Gods and the God of craftsmen, worshipped by all the artisanal communities, across the country.
In 1909, scholar Ananda Coomaraswamy wrote an influential book called “The Indian Craftsman.” In it, he talked about how Indian weavers see themselves as mediums rather than makers. This humility personified traditional Indian artisans who viewed Vishvakarma as originator and creator of their work. As Coomaraswamy says, “The craftsman is not an individual expressing individual whims, but a part of the universe, giving expression to ideals of beauty and unchanging laws much like the trees and flowers are expressing God-given beauty.”
To properly experience the grandeur of these textiles, you must visit in person, spend an hour and commune with them. Here are a few close-up vignettes from the exhibition.
“Vignette: Visvakarma Textiles: Art & Artistry,” is on at the National Gallery of Modern Art throught September 17 (which happens to be Vishwakarma Diwas)
BROCADE PANEL. Silk | Zari | Hand Weaving 222 cm x 469 cm Continuous Supplementary Weft Modern Saris, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh
A limited number of small, geometrical patterns are rendered in permutations and combinations of two colours, black and red, along with metallic yarn, imparting them an overall seamless and continuous visual flow. With such patterns conventionally being used in sarees as textures in the field and along the borders, their transformation into such a panel is noteworthy for its large, unusual width.
SANGANER DIRECTORY Silk Dupion | Hand Block Printing 236 cm x 439 cm Radha Mohan J. K. Arts Sanganer, Rajasthan, 1986
Around 700 different blocks were sourced from various printing workshops in Sanganer near Jaipur to create this directory. These are both floral and geometrical patterns. While the scalloped grid's outline is printed with Kharri, a thick paste — in a technique where the blocks are first used to print impressions of their patterns, over which gold foil is then applied — the patterns which are filled in the small compartments use synthetic dyes. This commission was inspired by a directory of over 1000 patterns in a late 18-th century printed sample from India, which is in the collection of the Textile Museum in Washington, D. C. Curated by NIFT at the NGMA. In August-September 2022
WOVEN FLOWER Hand Weaving 110 cm x 213 cm With Discontinuous Supplementary Weft Prabha Traders, Varanasi Uttar Pradesh, 1981
The motif of a cockscomb plant is expressed as a singular buta in an aesthetic which connects to the gossamer, white-on-white jamdanis of Bengal and the fine chikankari embroidery associated with the royalty and aristocracy of erstwhile Awadh. The bloom and the leaves have a fluidity, reminiscent of Mughal rendering of flowers that captured its beauty in gentle curls. With the use of organza as base, the commission suggested the possibility of using silk as a base for jamdani, a trend which since picked up and contemporary expression.Curated by NIFT at the NGMA. In August-September 2022
PAITHANI PANEL Silk I Zari | Hand Weaving 107 cm x 113 cm With Complementary Weft S. V. Bhangde and G. J. More Weavers Service Centre Mumbai, Maharashtra, 1981
A part of the early commissions for Visvakarma, the intention in the commissioning of this textile was the reproduction of a refinement and scale of the floral border, seen in Paithani textiles of the Deccan and western India from the 19th-century. This is created using a rare technique of interlocking the wefts, used in a different way also in the Kani shawls of Kashmir. The shade of yellow chosen here references the tradition of Pitambar, silk fabrics worn for auspicious and ceremonial purposes among worshippers of certain Hindu sects. Equally, it is Kesari, of the Indian mango. The stark field of the textile contrasts with the subtle metallic and silk border, which itself mimics the art of metal enamelling.Curated by NIFT at the NGMA. In August-September 2022
PANEL WITH MUGHAL FLOWERS Silk | Block Printed 266 cm x 277 cm Amrut Patel Weavers Service Centre Mumbai, Maharashtra, 1981
The motifs of 108 different flowering plants seen here were originally hand drawn by the artist Amrut Patel, translated into handmade wooden blocks reportedly in Rajasthan and Gujarat, and hand printed in Mumbai. The nature of these collaborations reflects in many textiles for Visvakarma, which brought complementary skills together on one hand, and on the other, unexpected elements towards surprisingly new results. Patel created this repertory by extensively studying Rajasthani and Mughal miniatures. Aside from the diversity of the motifs, the textile stands out for its use of multiple colours within small areas. These became elements of a small intervention in silk sarees for the exhibitions as well. Curated by NIFT at the NGMA. In August-September 2022
TREE OF LIFE Silk | Hand Painting | Block Printing 251 cm x 448 cm Weavers Service Centre Mumbai, Maharashtra,1981
At an early stage of the Visvakarma commissions, the Tree of Life, historically renowned for its hand painted and resist-dyed qualities over preceding centuries, was transformed into a contemporary textile using block prints. Here, repeating blocks of the featured motifs were the primary compositional devices, ingeniously used, to simulate a large-scale flowering tree, creating an overall, hand-drawn quality. A specially handwoven textile, 90 inches in width, provided the base. A use of silk in place of the conventional cotton, was a common practice through the commissions, and lent them a sheen and quality which was considered relevant for their intended use as art works in luxury interiors. These experiments seeded the start of a new, commercially viable direction for the Tree of Life and related themes, which has continued into the present Curated by NIFT at the NGMA. In August-September 2022
MORKUTI PICHHAVAI Cotton | Pigment | Hand Weaving 184 cm x 277 cm Dwarkanath Nathdwara Rajasthan, 1986
The Pichhavai is a genre of textiles associated with the Hindu God Krishna. Here, the monsoon is represented through peacocks — aside from the intricacy of details in the painting, what is noteworthy is the balance achieved in the composition of three white peacocks with the blue, against the stark red of the ground. In several hand painted narrative traditions of Indian textiles which show religious iconography, the Visvakarma commissions considered the removal of the direct representation of the central icon as providing a required direction for their future. These could then be used to portray a range of non-religious, decorative themes which could be relevant far beyond their usual markets of religious devotees. Despite such intentions, with the artists who worked on such commissions being from family lineages who practised the arts in close proximity to worship, the devotional sentiment comes through. It is, as if, the absence of the religious figures only reinforces their presence, in a powerful, aniconic way. Curated by NIFT at the NGMA. In August-September 2022
MORKUTI PICHHAVAI Cotton | Pigment | Hand Weaving 184 cm x 277 cm Dwarkanath Nathdwara Rajasthan, 1986
The Pichhavai is a genre of textiles associated with the Hindu God Krishna. Here, the monsoon is represented through peacocks — aside from the intricacy of details in the painting, what is noteworthy is the balance achieved in the composition of three white peacocks with the blue, against the stark red of the ground. In several hand painted narrative traditions of Indian textiles which show religious iconography, the Visvakarma commissions considered the removal of the direct representation of the central icon as providing a required direction for their future. These could then be used to portray a range of non-religious, decorative themes which could be relevant far beyond their usual markets of religious devotees. Despite such intentions, with the artists who worked on such commissions being from family lineages who practised the arts in close proximity to worship, the devotional sentiment comes through. It is, as if, the absence of the religious figures only reinforces their presence, in a powerful, aniconic way. Curated by NIFT at the NGMA. In August-September 2022
TREE OF LIFE Silk | Hand Painting | Block Printing 251 cm x 448 cm Weavers Service Centre Mumbai, Maharashtra,1981
At an early stage of the Visvakarma commissions, the Tree of Life, historically renowned for its hand painted and resist-dyed qualities over preceding centuries, was transformed into a contemporary textile using block prints. Here, repeating blocks of the featured motifs were the primary compositional devices, ingeniously used, to simulate a large-scale flowering tree, creating an overall, hand-drawn quality. A specially handwoven textile, 90 inches in width, provided the base. A use of silk in place of the conventional cotton, was a common practice through the commissions, and lent them a sheen and quality which was considered relevant for their intended use as art works in luxury interiors. These experiments seeded the start of a new, commercially viable direction for the Tree of Life and related themes, which has continued into the present Curated by NIFT at the NGMA. In August-September 2022
PANEL WITH MUGHAL FLOWERS Silk | Block Printed 266 cm x 277 cm Amrut Patel Weavers Service Centre Mumbai, Maharashtra, 1981
The motifs of 108 different flowering plants seen here were originally hand drawn by the artist Amrut Patel, translated into handmade wooden blocks reportedly in Rajasthan and Gujarat, and hand printed in Mumbai. The nature of these collaborations reflects in many textiles for Visvakarma, which brought complementary skills together on one hand, and on the other, unexpected elements towards surprisingly new results. Patel created this repertory by extensively studying Rajasthani and Mughal miniatures. Aside from the diversity of the motifs, the textile stands out for its use of multiple colours within small areas. These became elements of a small intervention in silk sarees for the exhibitions as well. Curated by NIFT at the NGMA. In August-September 2022
BULLS Cotton | Dye soaked cloth. Weavers Service Centre, Mumbai Maharashtra, 1991 140 cm x 416 cm
The WSC in Mumbai — Bombay at the time of the commissions — perhaps with the few, if any, connections that the city and its neighbouring regions have with historical traditions of handmade textiles, emerged as the foremost in the Vishwakarma commissions in the area of contemporary printing and painting. Its prolific contributions to several of the exhibitions was informed by the presence of several artists here trained in India’s nascent, yet rigorously guided, art colleges. Many of them did not belong to lineages of textile-producing families, and came from diverse social, economic and geographical backgrounds. They brought to the experiments at the WSC fresh perspectives, and offered, at a time of unprecedented innovation in design and materials in the country’s mechanised and mill sector, the chance to convey the highest excellence in individual and collective artistic creation by hand. Curated by NIFT at the NGMA. In August-September 2022
BIRDS I Cotton | Zari | Hand Weaving 122 cm x 579 cm Discontinuous Supplementary Weft Weavers Service Centre Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh, 1991
The art of inlay in hand weaving has been conventionally referred to as the Jamdani in the Indian subcontinent. While it has been largely associated with West Bengal, India and Bangladesh, a tradition of it flourished, to a relatively small degree in south India and the Deccan, represented in some extraordinary 19th-century examples of sarees, shawls and wrappers known from Venkatgiri and Paithan, as well as Kodalikaruppur. These skills are transformed into a contemporary tour-de-force in this textile, accomplishing a bold statement of the bird form in weaving. Commissions such as these, led the way for a new tradition of large scale fabric screens, hangings and art works which used animal and bird forms in Jamdani akin their stylised depictions in contemporary paintings and sculpture. They remain among the most striking residues of the Visvakarma exhibitions, in their ability to fundamentally move away from the inherent tendencies of weaving to render repetitive motifs and patterns, towards their furthest, free flowing articulation.Curated by NIFT at the NGMA. In August-September 2022
Close up of BIRDS II Dupion Silk | Block Printing 878 cm x 427 cm Amrut Patel, Nasir Khan and H. A. Jabbar Weavers Service Centre Mumbai, Maharashtra, 1991
The motifs of birds which appear in this textile are taken from the richly illustrated The Book of Indian Birds, a publication from 1941, by Dr Salim Ali. Among the largest of the Visvakarma commissions, it belonged to a group which could be seen to have triumphantly concluded the series of exhibitions. By this time, the artists at the WSCs and beyond, who had been a part of the journey, could clearly envision a confident future for handmade Indian textiles. Martand Singh, the Director of Visvakarma, later reflected that such large-scale panels lend themselves as backdrops and drapes for performing art spaces. Curated by NIFT at the NGMA. In August-September 2022
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