Maharani Gayatri Devi acts as muse for a showcase of heirloom textiles

Textile and handicraft revivalists treat Gayatri Devi as muse to showcase heirloom traditions at an upcoming Mumbai exhibition

The cultivation of indigo, once widely used to dye cloth in India, was reduced in protest against British rulers who were pushing farmers to produce the profitable crop. Long after colonisation, when Brij Ballabh Udaiwal, a fifth-generation block printer from Sanganer decided to study making dyes with natural indigo, the plant was still alien to Rajasthan. Using examples from Tamil Nadu and Bihar, where such plantations existed, he revived indigo farming and colouring in his home state. “It practically grows itself,” he says. “We are bringing new forms to heritage crafts like Leheriya and Mothara with the plant.”

Veena Upadhyay of Bun.Kar Bihar sports a handwoven Bavanbuti sari

Udaiwal will be among several designer-conservationists who are to participate in Remembering the Princess, an upcoming showcase in Mumbai of traditional textiles from the 18th and 19th century. Several have won honours at the national and state levels. Royalty and all its trappings will inform the theme of the exhibition. The central muse is Gayatri Devi, as 2019 marks her birth centenary. The former Maharani of Jaipur was known for making airy chiffon saris a rage. “People always talk about her beauty and style, but rarely discuss her as a person and mentor,” says author and biographer Dharmender Kanwar, who will deliver a talk at the event. 

The stylish Gayatri Devi of Jaipur is the muse for the exhibition

Gayatri Devi had rescued Rajasthan’s blue pottery, which was suffering in quality because artisans guarded their trade secrets. She founded a training facility to level that playing field, Kanwar reminds us. Exhibition curator Purvi Patel of the Vasutra Trust says she would like such resourcefulness to motivate fellow revivalists and buyers. Udaiwal will be displaying panchrangas and florals, light just like the saris Devi used to wear, and use the famous floating saffron gardens of Jaipur’s Amer Fort as another inspiration.

Vasutra artisans at work

For conservationists, the desire has always been to take examples of these rare techniques — like Gujarat’s glossy Ashavali weave or vintage emblems like the “fish and crown” in Lucknowi Chikankari embroidery — out of museums and make them wearable again. But to show off their strides in this direction too, museums remain the venue of choice. “Somehow, in spite of little technology and documentation, these crafts have survived. We need to use new technology to present them to the next generation,” says Patel.  

Tableware by Anantay

The organisers plan more exhibitions in other cities with a different theme each time. Given the latest show's Mumbai venue, the local Parsi community’s Gara embroidery will be one of the attractions. Textile designer Ashdeen Lilaowala, who with the help of the Unesco-Parzor Foundation has researched the tradition, hopes to separate fact from the extensive lore that surrounds it. Much of the Gara’s history is mysterious, he says, pointing to the fact that the origin of its name is still unclear. 

Tableware by Anantay

Chinese motifs, owing to the Parsis’ travels to China, are typically observed in the community’s tunics and saris. For his collection, Lilaowala is performing an intervention, dipping into the Parsis’ 19th-century travels to Japan to bring that sensibility into the designs instead. He also used the embroidery in unconventional garments like lehengas and dupattas. The designer notes that India is rare in the world for still having a large number of skilled craftsmen, and must work to promote and pay them more. 

A Meenakari necklace by designer Deepak Sankit

Among the other participants are Radhika Lalbhai, who has been conserving the Ashavali style, and sisters Deval Gandhi and Radhi Patel who are restoring formal ways of making zari-woven batuas and potlis. Venkatesh Narasimhan, MD of Co-optex, will discuss the influence of dynasties on motifs in southern hand-woven textiles.

Such crafts and wares were difficult and expensive to create and as such remained favoured mainly by nobles. Some of the works in the exhibition will be on sale, at prices ranging from affordable to luxurious, organisers say. Through a mix of talks and sales, Patel hopes to promote the everyday use of handmade garments over synthetic and digital reproductions. Otherwise, they risk staying limited to the galleries of Calico or the Victoria & Albert.

“Remembering the Princess” will be on from October 6 to 8 at the Coomaraswamy Hall, Mumbai