‘Sutr Santati’ holds expo with contemporary take on Indian crafts; Himachal Pradesh displays handmade products

Chandigarh, November 20

The exhibition “Sutr Santati – Then.Now.Next” in collaboration with Abheraj Baldota Foundation began on November 18, and would conclude on January 7, 2024.

The exhibition celebrates India, through contemporary handmade textiles.

The exhibition titled “Sutr Santati – Then.Now.Next” curated by Lavina Baldota was inaugurated by actress Vidya Balan.

The exhibition comprehensively represents country’s uniquely rich and diverse geography and culture.

This is the third edition in Mumbai, the first opening in the National Gallery in Delhi and the second travelling all the way to Melbourne, Australia.

The piece displayed from Himachal Pradesh is designed and woven by the artists at Kullvi Whims, based in Naggar, Kullu Valley.

Titled “The Weaver’s Song” the panel centres around the shuttle and its rhythms and celebrates the rich tapestry of Kullu and Kinnauri motifs in a naturally dyed palette. The panel is handspun, and woven with Himalayan sheep wool.

On display are approximately 200 textile exhibits created with processes of hand weaving, embroidery, resist-dyeing, printing, painting and appliqué, among other forms of yarn and fabric manipulation.

These intricate creations feature a diverse array of fibers, including indigenous varieties like Kandu and Kala cotton, mulberry and wild silks, camel and sheep wool, goat and yak hair, and unconventional materials like lotus, banana, and water hyacinth. The exhibition’s curatorial vision seeks to promote the ideals of organic and slow consumerism in defining a nation such as India’s self-worth, and the inherent collective, collaborative efforts which are required to push towards such goals. On this path, the rural and urban, the historical and the contemporary, and above all the local and the global become one.