A gallery that tells why antique textiles are living traditions only in India

livemint.com:

phulkari embroidery, cholis with kaanchi (mirror embroidery) from Gujarat, brocade on quilt covers and saris, tie-and-dye odhanis, Naga shawls, jamdanis, telia rumal from Andhra Pradesh and batik rumal from West Bengal—all introducing the viewer to ancient textiles starting from the 18th century. (Unlike painting, when it comes to textiles, something that belongs to 18th century is considered ancient, because cloth is more delicate and tends to perish faster.) Then the gallery takes a turn into the modernisation of traditional textiles, highlighting pieces from the Vishwakarma exhibitions, led by the late Martand Singh from the 1970s onwards. These shows were a series of seven textile art and history exhibitions from 1982-92 that documented the introduction of design to crafts communities.

“Before this, the crafts were guided by only tradition, and had come to a dead end," says Jain. “With the introduction of design, the crafts got a new lease of life." This development is explored further in the third section, which showcases works by contemporary designers. Like Payal Jain’s 15 installations that merge materials like metal, wood, paper and bamboo with textiles, embroidery and surface ornamentation, all bringing home the point that India is the only country where traditional embroideries and textiles continue to be living traditions.

Yet, India has only handful of museums or galleries dedicated to textiles. “We didn’t believe in museums till a few years ago; it’s a very Western concept. Plus, there’s no patronage in India.