Preserving our Textile Traditions: The Calico Museum of Textiles

While I was writing my previous post, I started drifting back to the time when we had visited Ahmedabad in the early 80’s. The most vivid memory of the visit was a trip to see the Calico Museum of Textiles – My father had suggested that we take a trip to see the museum since we did not have much to do with ourselves during those holidays (needless to say it was before people got addicted to TV shows or video-games !!)
Gira Sarabhai, the daughter of philanthropist Ambalal Sarabhai, was a keen collector of fine old Indian textiles and had conceived establishing a Museum of Indian Textiles. In this endeavor, she collaborated with John Irwin, who was then keeper of the Indian Section of the prestigious Victoria and Albert Museum in London. It was appropriate that the museum, which was concerned with both the historical and technical study of Indian handicraft and industrial textiles, should be established in Ahmedabad, a town with a long history of fine woven, printed and embroidered textiles. By the early 50's however, the Museum started to concentrate its energy on the vast field of handicraft textiles.

The museum was like nothing I had expected. Set within the Sarabhai Retreat amid spacious lawns, the collection of old textiles was housed in two different structures: the Sarabhai-ni-Haveli, and another complex of buildings known as the Chauk. Dating back to 1930, the sprawling Haveli, with its inlaid-marble floors and spacious rooms situated within a picturesque garden, served for many years as the residence of the Sarabhai family. The Haveli now houses the vast collection of religious textiles and artifacts. The visitor is first greeted by a small reconstructed shrine to Shrinathji, before being guided to the gallery of Pichchwais and patachitras which record the stories of the Vallabh Sampradaya. The Haveli is also home to a comprehensive collection of miniatures, Jain artifacts and South Indian Bronzes. The Chauk, a complex of old buildings around a swimming pool has been transformed by facades of carved wood and mud construction to resemble typical traditional Gujarati houses. Kalamkaaris, Mughal court textiles, woven and brocaded fabrics, yarn resist-dyed textiles and tie-dyed textiles are all housed within the Chauk. Also displayed nearby are the larger pieces such as Mughal tents and carpets.

The museum is unique in the sense that it not only houses over 5 centuries of India’s rich textile heritage, it also does so in a setting that transports the visitor to another era. The design of the museum is itself beautiful as well as functional in the purpose that it serves. It is appropriate that these beautiful textiles are displayed in such an aesthetically pleasing setting. Much thought has gone into the preservation of these textiles which are therefore displayed in a strictly controlled environment. Light and humidity are carefully monitored as is the crowd at any given time. Not only is the museum important from the point of view of preserving the large collection of heritage textiles, it also serves as the leading source of reference material for surviving craftspeople. An ambitious Publications program was launched by the museum in its early days and has gained a world-wide reputation for its scholarly publications. Based on research by eminent Indian and International scholars, these publications have aimed at providing a focus and setting a standard for all who wish to see Indian textiles studied seriously from a historical as well as technical point of view.

To say that I was awestruck during my visit to the museum would be an understatement. Perhaps this was where my love of Indian textiles and design began.

Please visit the Calico Museum if you find yourselves in or around Ahmedabad.

Revival of Mashroo - A dying fabric tradition

Many years ago, Calico Mills in Ahmedabad, India, used to be at the forefront of innovative textile design and manufacturing. My mother's generation used to love visiting the exclusive Calico Mills showroom in Pondy Bazaar in Chennai to check out their latest selection of sarees. My mother's loyalty probably had something to do with the fact that my father had worked at Calico Mills in Ahmedabad and we had spent some years there. At the time I was in college, my mother and I had picked up the latest that Calico Mills offered - the Mashroo saree; Calico sarees were semi-synthetic with a blend of cotton and polyester, and this particular creation was named Mashroo after the vertical striped design. I still remember mine, in vivid shades, typical of Gujarat - saffrons, reds and greens.

The original Mashroo, sadly, is a dying textile traditon. The literal meaning of the word, 'Mashroo' means 'permitted' in Arabic. Traditionally, the use of pure silk was prohibited for Muslim men and it is possible that this weave evolved as a result of weaving traditions prevalent in the Middle-East. The Mashroo is usually composed of a silk warp and a cotton weft. The ground material is therefore cotton, while the top layer is smooth and shiny - satin cotton augmented by silk. Even though historically, Mashroo was woven in all parts of India, it survives today only in Gujarat.

The most prevalent colours were orange, red and green in bold combinations of stripes. Designs also evolved to include other resist techniques such as Ikat interspersed with the stripes.

It is exciting to see that young designers in India are starting to revive such heritage textiles. Ashish, Viral and Vikrant, a trio of designers based out of Ahmedabad debuted at the Wills India Fashion Week ramp last season. Their Spring-Summer collection past September was a feast of the very Indian kalamkaris and chanderis. (See my earlier post on Kalamkari). While others toe the international fashion line, these three unearth fabrics dying a slow death. Their new collection under the label 'Virtues' will breathe new life into the wilting fabric tradition of Mashroo. “There is a lot of awareness about the organic and natural dye clothes in Japan and Europe,” says Ashish. The young designers have managed to carve out a niche for themselves in the international market with their style. After their first show, Japan’s Sun Motoyama placed an order for 46 pieces; since then they have also begun retailing from a couple of fashion houses in Kuwait.

I, for one, am waiting anxiously to make my next trip to India and revive my own love-affair with Mashroo!!

The Hindu : Metro Plus Chennai / Lifestyle : Natural norm

I love Alpana Gujral's jewelry designs......

It is impossible to classify her jewelry as modern or traditional; yet what makes Alpana Gujral's jewelry designs unique is that they cater to the contemporary woman. And by her own admission, a lot of 'her' goes into every design. Alpana Gujral, the jewelry designer, and daughter of the famous artist, Satish Gujral, was trained as an Interior Designer. She designed for family and friends for a long time before turning to it as a profession.

As a designer, what fascinates her is the process of transitioning one of her designs from conception to execution. Drawing from traditional motifs, Alpana says, "It takes me about four to five months to make a piece. I conceptualize it and then it is made by one of my craftsmen in Delhi or Jaipur."
While traditional motifs, inspired by Mughal design sensibilities, consist of the heavy jewelry pieces made up of rubies, emeralds and sapphires, Alpana's new forms use many new varieties of coloured stones to develop her own signature style.

Visit her website at alpanagujral.com

Kalamkari

Kalamkari refers to a method of painting with vegetable and natural dyes on cotton or silk fabric with a bamboo pen or kalam. Hence the name kalamkari which translates as pen (kalam) work (kari) in Hindi/Urdu, and was most likely derived from trade relationships between Persian and Indian merchants as early as the 10th century. Kalamkari is native to the Coromandel coast of South India. Two major styles of Kalamkari emerged around Masulipatnam (near Hyderabad) and Sri Kalahasti, also in Andhra Pradesh, While the origins of kalamkari in Sri Kalahasti are unknown, evidence from old texts indicate that the art form flourished throughout the Deccan plateau between the 13th and 19th centuries. It is possible that Sri Kalahasti also enjoyed local patronage from the Sri Kalahasteeswara temple, a prominent Shiva temple. Temples were traditionally centers for art and culture.Therefore Kalamkari from Sri Kalahasti received a largely Hindu patronage, and artists in the area continue that tradition, depicting a variety of Hindu narrative themes from the ancient epics of the Ramayana, Mahabharata, and Shiva Puranas. The Masulipatnam style evolved with the advent of Muslim rulers in the Deccan, and trade relations with the Persian Safavid Empire and brought a gradual inclusion of more intricate and delicate motifs like trees, creepers, flowers and leaves. Merchants and traders from around the world used Indian textiles, the majority of which were kalamkari, as a currency in the Spice Trade. European and East Asian markets demanded spices like nutmeg, clove, and pepper as well as aromatic woods and oils, which were available almost exclusively in parts of Southeast Asia and Indonesia. As time went on, Indian textiles were seen as luxury items in themselves, and a variety of textiles and textile-related products were sold to merchants throughout Europe, the Middle East and Asia. the Portugese called it pintado, the Dutch used the name sitz, and the British preferred chintz. The name kalamkari is used prominently today, and is synonymous with both painted and hand blockprinted textiles that incorporate natural vegetable/organically-derived dyes.

Hand painted Kalamkari art is created on cotton textile using only natural vegetable dyes. The process involves seventeen painstaking steps. The cotton fabric is immersed in a mixture of myrabalam (resin) and milk to obtain a glossy finish. Intricate designs are sketched onto the fabric by artists using burnt tamarind twigs as pens, or 'kalams'. Typical colours used are reds, blues and mustard on earth tones giving Kalamkari fabrics their distinctive look. After each step, the fabric is rinsed repeatedly in clean water and dried. The end result is a beautiful, individually produced work of art that relies on the imagination of the artisans drawing inspiration from ancient Indian mythology or in more contemporary interpretations for clothing and home furnishings.

Since the base fabric is either cotton or silk, or in more recent years, on chiffons or crepes, Kalamkari on clothing has become synonymous with ethnic chic.

Check out this stunning selection from http://www.yncimports.com/

An Artist in the Family

In the year 1990, at the age of 61, my Aunt, Padma, was felled by a stroke that left her paralysed on her left side. The fact that she pulled through and retrieved sufficient motor function through seven years of rehabilitative therapy, left her convinced that there was some divine dispensation in this, and perhaps some unfinished work remained for her to complete.
She had been a painter and the only activity that was really open to her, given her physical condition, was to return to her paint brushes again.

"Flowers are the smile of the Divine", said the Mother of Pondicherry. At a time when I saw only colour and beauty in flowers, I owe it to her that she opened my eyes to their divinity." Being a devotee of the Mother from Aurobindo Ashram, it was as if Padma was called to make this the theme of a series of paintings on flowers that figure so prominently in the Indian religious ritual.

The paintings were displayed in an Exhibition in the Shrishti Gallery at Hotel Chola Sheraton, Chennai, from the 4th. to the 9th. April, 1999, under the thematic title "A Divine Thought - Flowers for Deities".

These paintings became her offering...in a sense, a garland of paintings on flowers rather than the garland itself.

Five of these paintings are reproduced here.

My inspiration comes from.........

My Father, from whom I have inherited my good taste in fabrics......somehow he was the one who took us all shopping for Sarees or clothes and had an unerring instinct for what would look good, There were shopping trips to the famous Radha Silk Emporium in the heart of Mylapore, where he would pick out unusual Kanjeevarams and trips to see the amazing collection of Textiles at the Ahmedabad Textile Museum which was started by the Sarabhai family.

My Mother, who encouraged me to dress 'differently' !! For a person who came from a traditional Tam-Bram family, she was fine when I wanted to wear sleeveless cholis with my sarees or jeans or skirts as long as the 'look' was tasteful. As I grew older and moved to the USA, she and I collaborated on a collection of Tanjore paintings together. She cooked, kept house and raised two children. She wrote. She also had artistic talent, but never pursued it fully. But from her, I learnt how to search for excellence in the things I did, however mundane they were.

My maternal Aunt, Padma, a rebel, an artist, a painter, a poet....I could go on and on. She was a self-taught painter who had numerous art exhibitions all over India. Her last two exhibitions, however, were remarkable, as she worked on them after recovering from a debilitating stroke. From her I have learnt to be courageous and be persistent, how to laugh. She always encouraged me to strike out and do what I wanted to do because, as she put it, I have the 'eye' for such things.

Kausalya Aunty, my mother's childhood friend, from whom I heard countless tales of princely families, where women were cloistered behind 'purdah', even in the Hindu families. She used to have a saree shop when I was in college, where they sold Venkatgiri cottons, Kotahs, and mulls, with the most exquisite block prints. She pioneered the use of Kalamkaari on cotton sarees and made it chic among the young college crowd in Madras in those days. She went on to design the most amazing pieces of jewellery where she took old pieces and re-interpreted them in modern ways, while retaining their old-world charm. More than anyone else, she has fashioned my sensibilities towards textile arts and jewellery. And above all, I have admired her grace and strength.