 "The Indian weave")
Sharing space with a spectacular 18th-century tent belonging to Tipu Sultan and a floor spread of resist-dyed cotton from the Mughal era will be contemporary designs by leading names from Indian fashion. These can be seen at the exhibition of handmade textiles, titled "The Fabric of India", at the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A), London. Over 200 exhibits - historic costumes, highly prized textiles and high fashion from the 3rd to the 21st century - will be on display.
The V&A is tightlipped about the details, with further information to be disclosed only in February 2015. However, Divia Patel of the museum's Asian department, who has co-curated the exhibition with Rosemary Crill, has been blogging about her journeys within India while putting together the show. She writes: "One of our aims is to reveal new aspects of Indian textiles and fashion… . An exciting feature of "The Fabric of India" will be a showcase of some of the most imaginative and innovative work by contemporary fashion designers." Names such as Abraham and Thakore, Rajesh Pratap Singh, Aneeth Arora, Kallol Datta and Rahul Mishra will be part of this exhibition. The list is still being edited by the museum. On the reason behind considering these designers, she blogs: "Their work is distinguished by their appreciation and understanding of their heritage as well as their responsiveness to international trends."
Making tradition relevant: Rajesh Pratap Singh
"I like to start from the beginning instead of buying fabric off the shelves," says Singh. He works with a lot of craftsmen from across India and has a small lab - a weaving facility of sorts - at Neemrana. The stylish women's jacket uses the ajrakh technique that is used by communities in western India and Pakistan. "I love the technique but we do it in our own way. We start with fibre, work with various counts of cotton and then use copper or steel or leather and many other things," says Singh, who swears by three keywords: Indian, pure, modern.
The soul of the collection, for which the jacket was made, was the rock-n-roll era of the 1970s. "It was around that time that Indian block prints had started making a lot of noise. I wanted to revisit that time," he says. At first glance, it looks like a classic ajrakh design, but if you look closely, you will see that the bootas and pattas are actually skulls and guitars. The ajrakh traditionally takes up to 30 time-consuming steps to complete. Has Singh reinterpreted the technique to shorten the process? "If a treatment is intrinsic to a fabric's being, then we have to keep it. We just have to try and make it relevant. Also, one has to respect the craftsmen. Say, if some communities who practise ajrakh don't want to make skulls, we shouldn't push it down their throats," he says.
The other design - the gamcha jacket - stemmed from Singh's love for checks. He wanted to use something off the street. "It [his design] combines local traditions with global aesthetics and merges hand-making skills with technology," writes Patel as her reason for choosing this from Singh's collections.
Handwoven with a touch of Pero: Aneeth Arora
Telling a modern story: Abraham and Thakore
Patel acquired two pieces from the collection of Abraham and Thakore - a double ikat sari woven in Andhra Pradesh and a jamdani from West Bengal. "The double ikat silk with the houndstooth motif was part of our Autumn/Winter collection at the Wills India Fashion Week, I think in 2012," says David Abraham. The collection was inspired by men's garments worn by women. "We blew up the graphic and teamed it up with a men's shirt and a belt," says the designer. The duo have worked with weavers from across the world for the longest time. According to them it is part of their development as a design resource. "We try to find something particular to our culture and interpret it in a contemporary fashion. The idea is to tell a story that is relevant to that season," says Abraham.
The exhibition will be held at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, between September 26, 2015 and January 10, 2016
Indian season at the V&A
To coincide with the 25th anniversary of the opening of the Nehru Gallery of Indian Art that displays important objects produced between 1500 and 1900, the museum will be presenting an India season of exhibitions and events
The V&A is tightlipped about the details, with further information to be disclosed only in February 2015. However, Divia Patel of the museum's Asian department, who has co-curated the exhibition with Rosemary Crill, has been blogging about her journeys within India while putting together the show. She writes: "One of our aims is to reveal new aspects of Indian textiles and fashion… . An exciting feature of "The Fabric of India" will be a showcase of some of the most imaginative and innovative work by contemporary fashion designers." Names such as Abraham and Thakore, Rajesh Pratap Singh, Aneeth Arora, Kallol Datta and Rahul Mishra will be part of this exhibition. The list is still being edited by the museum. On the reason behind considering these designers, she blogs: "Their work is distinguished by their appreciation and understanding of their heritage as well as their responsiveness to international trends."
Making tradition relevant: Rajesh Pratap Singh
"I like to start from the beginning instead of buying fabric off the shelves," says Singh. He works with a lot of craftsmen from across India and has a small lab - a weaving facility of sorts - at Neemrana. The stylish women's jacket uses the ajrakh technique that is used by communities in western India and Pakistan. "I love the technique but we do it in our own way. We start with fibre, work with various counts of cotton and then use copper or steel or leather and many other things," says Singh, who swears by three keywords: Indian, pure, modern.
The soul of the collection, for which the jacket was made, was the rock-n-roll era of the 1970s. "It was around that time that Indian block prints had started making a lot of noise. I wanted to revisit that time," he says. At first glance, it looks like a classic ajrakh design, but if you look closely, you will see that the bootas and pattas are actually skulls and guitars. The ajrakh traditionally takes up to 30 time-consuming steps to complete. Has Singh reinterpreted the technique to shorten the process? "If a treatment is intrinsic to a fabric's being, then we have to keep it. We just have to try and make it relevant. Also, one has to respect the craftsmen. Say, if some communities who practise ajrakh don't want to make skulls, we shouldn't push it down their throats," he says.
The other design - the gamcha jacket - stemmed from Singh's love for checks. He wanted to use something off the street. "It [his design] combines local traditions with global aesthetics and merges hand-making skills with technology," writes Patel as her reason for choosing this from Singh's collections.
Handwoven with a touch of Pero: Aneeth Arora
Telling a modern story: Abraham and Thakore
Patel acquired two pieces from the collection of Abraham and Thakore - a double ikat sari woven in Andhra Pradesh and a jamdani from West Bengal. "The double ikat silk with the houndstooth motif was part of our Autumn/Winter collection at the Wills India Fashion Week, I think in 2012," says David Abraham. The collection was inspired by men's garments worn by women. "We blew up the graphic and teamed it up with a men's shirt and a belt," says the designer. The duo have worked with weavers from across the world for the longest time. According to them it is part of their development as a design resource. "We try to find something particular to our culture and interpret it in a contemporary fashion. The idea is to tell a story that is relevant to that season," says Abraham.
The exhibition will be held at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, between September 26, 2015 and January 10, 2016
Indian season at the V&A
To coincide with the 25th anniversary of the opening of the Nehru Gallery of Indian Art that displays important objects produced between 1500 and 1900, the museum will be presenting an India season of exhibitions and events
- Captain Linneaus Tripe: Photographer of India and Burma (1854-1860): To be held between June 24 and October 11, 2015, the exhibition will feature some of the earliest photos of the landscape and architecture of India and Burma by the British photographer. Linneaus mastered the art while on leave from his post as an officer of the Madras Infantry and was commissioned as "Photographer to the Madras Government".
- Bejewelled Treasures: The Al Thani Collection: To be held between November 21, 2015 and March 28, 2016, the exhibition focuses on the Indian jewellery in the collection. The highlights include Mughal jades, a rare jewelled gold finial from the throne of Tipu Sultan and more.