Fine, handwoven cotton has been one of the most enduring aspects of the Indian artistic heritage. Celebrated in miniature paintings, evoked in historical poetry and prose, and known for its importance as a product of exceptional trade over millennia; such cloth is today, typically referred to as mul, malmal or muslin. This exhibition presents some of the ways in which its aesthetic-structural qualities have been expressed in design and making in textile traditions across the subcontinent.
Presented are textiles drawn from the collections of the National Crafts Museum & Hastkala Academy and the Devi Art Foundation. Together, they represent a broad period from the late 19th century to now; and include genres of hand-weaving such as the Jamdani, Kadhua and Paithani as well as, to a small extent, of surface embellishment such as chikankari, appliqué and precious metal-foil printing. The exhibition is conceived as the first in a series of three looking at Indian handmade textiles, with plans to address brocading and ikat in the future.
The idea of this series has emerged from a number of considerations. Among these is a reflection that with the increasing popularity of Indian handlooms seen in recent years, there may be a need to revisit some of the assumptions through which the understanding of its related terms and definitions occur. This is particularly felt with the exponential increase in online and digital content, where easily accessed information also faces challenges of clear attribution and provenance.
LOREM IPSUM
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LOREM IPSUM
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FINE COUNT
LOREM IPSUM DOLOR SIT AMET, CONSECTETUR ADIPISCING ELIT. MAECENAS CONGHE EROS MAGNA.
FINE COUNT
Indian Cotton Textiles
Fine, handwoven cotton has been one of the most enduring aspects of the Indian artistic heritage. Celebrated in miniature paintings, evoked in historical poetry and prose, and known for its importance as a product of exceptional trade over millennia; such cloth is today, typically referred to as mul, malmal or muslin. This exhibition presents some of the ways in which its aesthetic-structural qualities have been expressed in design and making in textile traditions across the subcontinent.
Presented are textiles drawn from the collections of the National Crafts Museum & Hastkala Academy and the Devi Art Foundation. Together, they represent a broad period from the late 19th century to now; and include genres of hand-weaving such as the Jamdani, Kadhua and Paithani as well as, to a small extent, of surface embellishment such as chikankari, appliqué and precious metal-foil printing. The exhibition is conceived as the first in a series of three looking at Indian handmade textiles, with plans to address brocading and ikat in the future.
The idea of this series has emerged from a number of considerations. Among these is a reflection that with the increasing popularity of Indian handlooms seen in recent years, there may be a need to revisit some of the assumptions through which the understanding of its related terms and definitions occur. This is particularly felt with the exponential increase in online and digital content, where easily accessed information also faces challenges of clear attribution and provenance.
Further, that despite a greater interest in Indian handmade textiles than perhaps earlier from a wide spectrum of sources, opportunities to see historical examples and study them closely remain few in the country. Could exhibitions such as these, then, offer the chance for a visceral experience of the fabrics which are otherwise epitomised largely in publications? And can this inspire, in makers today, a need for newness and innovation in the presented genres and traditions?
The finesse of cotton yarn is measured in the international system of Counts; the thinner the yarn, the higher it’s Count. The use of Kora or unbleached fibre, in fine spinning and which is further left undyed, has been a recurring feature in Indian textiles. This form has often been found to best express material qualities of translucency and lightness, a significant feature of fine cotton cloth. With this in view, the textiles presented here are largely kora.
They are presented in six groupings, each of which shows distinct ways in which fine, handwoven cotton is used. These also convey the different techniques through which such fabric has been imagined to specific creative ends. The exhibition opens with simple plain weaves, and concludes with complex, supplementary and complementary weft brocades, building up a linear sequence to explain the successive technicalities involved.