Silk River Journey commemorates Indo-UK year of culture: Envoy

British High Commissioner to India Dominic Asquith today said the 'Silk River Journey' commemorated the Year of Culture between UK and India and created curiosity about the two rivers - Thames and Hooghly - in respective countries.
The project, involving people in 20 locations along the banks in India and UK, will help build a bridge of culture over which the traffic of people can travel back and forth, over which ideas can flow back and forth, Asquith said in his address at Victoria Memorial here.
"In this case two rivers become examples of links," he said.
Pointing towards the 20-hand woven, hand-painted Murshidabad silk flags, created at the art workshop by UK organisation Kinetika and India's 'Silk River India Walk' and flaunted during the walk across river banks, Asquith said, "Silk is soft, pretty natural and extremely valuable and in sharp contrast to plastic which is harsh and ugly."

"So by using silk flags in the Silk River project, which put together some extraordinary people from both countries, we are celebrating environment in such a beautiful context," he said.
The British High Commissioner also congratulated the Government of West Bengal and Victoria Memorial for organising the culmination of the 'Silk River India Walk' which began on December 6 from Murshidabad and ended at Batanagar in South 24 Parganas today.

Key members from the 10 river Hooghly localities joined the 18 UK delegates to flaunt the 20 hand-woven, hand-painted Murshidabad silk flags accompanied by a dance display to reflect the cultural diversity of two countries.

Director British Council Alan Gemmell said, "Silk River has threaded communities and craftsmanship along the rivers Hooghly and Thames."
West Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra said, the 20 silk scrolls represented the unique and rich culture of 20 different localities on the banks of Hooghly river in India and Thames in UK.