Breaking Silos | Sense and sensibility highlights the Voices of Textile CraftSpeople, Designers and Artists

The lines between craft, art, and design are blurring now more than ever before. Artisanal Techniques, Once Seen as the Antithesis of “Cool”, are Gaining Ground in Art and Design Circles.

Last Year Saw Several Narraves Around Textile, Helping Transform Them Into Powerful Tools of Inquiry into Cultural Identity and Sustainability. Exhibitations such as When Indian flowers bloomed in distant lands ( From Folk to Fibre – Featured at the ‘Journeying Across the Himalayas’ festival in December under the Royal Enfield Social Mission – Celebrated The Myths, Stories, Stories, and Social Bonds Woven Into TEXTILES FROM NIMALENE HIMALANE Regions.

Reimagined by a new wave of artisans, designers, and craftspeople, these showcases challenged tradational biases in textile storytelling, offering unique personal, enVer Cultural Concerns.

Wall hangings, upholstery textiles and pillar floor lamps by this and that, a furniture design brand Led by arianne thakore ginwala

Themes of Community and Empathy

Sense and sensibilityA Showcase by Bengaluru-Based Research and Study Center the registry of sarees (TRS) at last month’s raw collaborative exhibit exhibit in gandhinagar, invited viers to seekstiles not bus textiles not like bus but as extensions of identity, Prompting reflections on Personal and collectative narratives. Ahalya matthan, founder of tras, descriptions it as “an explocation of human interactions”.

(L_R) Ahalya Mathan with Vishwesh Surve, Radha Parulekar and Aayushi Jain

She Adds, “There is a divisiveness [between art and craft]Thought it isn’t at always achnowledged. EXhibits like this place the onus on us to tell the story including, highlighting not just just craft, art, and design, but the people behind them – their processes, materiality, materiality. “

Curated by Textile Designers and Researchers Aayushi Jain, Vishwesh Surve, and Radha Parulekar, The Exhibition Breaks from Academic Rigour to Explore themes of Community, Empathy, EPATY IDENTY IDENTY. Textile History is often Shaped by Academicians and Experts, While The Vernacular Voices, Particularly Theose of Contemporary Stakeholders By Amplifeing these perspectives, tras aims to build a knowledge register that addresses the environmental, economy, and sociological challenges textiles presented in mooderan life.

Nearly 100 Works From 36 Designers, Artists, Darners, Collectors and Community-LED Initiatives Participated, The Works on Display Tracing A Continuum of Influences: from Industialization and Art Deco Top Bauhaus, Minimalism, Sustainability, and Technology. Be it monochrome ikatBrocade and jamdani Artworks by designer duo david Abraham and Rakesh Thakore, Kutchi Torans From collector salim wazir’s private collection, heirloom banarasi brocades showed at the festival of India exhibitions in the 1980s and 90s, toda embroidery from the pastoral peavel of nilgiris, Or 17th-19th century carpets from Iran and Iraq from Bengaluru-Based Collector Danny Mehra’s collection.

A series of works with toda embroidery, presented by coonoor & co

“Even 76 years after independence, we’re still grappling with questions of identity. Authenticity starts with understanding with under. And Art Present – Not just aesthetics, but the human connections they foster. Every textile cluster embodies the desire to connect;Ahalya matthan The registry of sarees

Breaking Conventional Divisions

The emotional Resonance of Textiles was Seen in the Juxtaposition of two works. Naye mein purana By Vankar Vishram Valji and Between indigo and light By Textile Designer Chinar Farooqui’s Brand Injiri. The former, “An Intricate Piece Woven from Handspun Cotton, kala Cotton, Tussar Silk, desi oonMerino Wool, and Acrylic Yarn, Reflects The Valji Family’s Deep-Roted Weaveing Tradition in Kutch ”, Says Dinesh, One of the Four Sons of the National Award-India, and WHO DADICATED 25 Days to WEVINS Piece. jamdani Panels, and a Contemporary take on the mehrab Motif, Traditionally found on the walls of mosques.

Naye mein purana By Vankar Vishram Valji

The two installations – one by a craftsperson, the other by a designer – represented distinct social and creative experiences. And the proximity of the works, particularly giving “A Designer [who knows how to sell] Bridges the gap between the market and the craftsperson, who often lacques that market-facing approach, “Says dinesh. Farooqui Adds,” Design and Craft Must Merge-We Can’t Must Merge-We cannot eat

Between indigo and light by Injiri

As Shama Pawar, Founder of Kishkinda Trust (Which Promotes Cultural Industries and Creative Economies in Anegundi-Hampi) Explains, The Myth of Craft-Making Is Changing. “People are taking more liberties; it’s about creating partnerships that inspire.” Her OWN Installation, The shuttle of timeCrafted from Banana Fibre and ILKAL PALLU Yarn, symbolized the fragile balance between heritage and the future.

Shama Pawar

A Cultural Exchange

Rather than framing India’s crafts as relaics of colonial plunder, the narrative is evolving into a dynamic, ongoing chultural exchange between rural and urban practitioners, craft and commerace, and the paste, and the paste and the Present. “I question how much we should revere craft or freeze it in time,” States Mala Pradeep Sinha of Vadodara-based Bodhi Design Studio. “For craftspele, it’s about responsible.

This Thinking Translated Into Sinha’s QR Code QuiltA Striking Black-Rang-Wall Hanging Made from Upcycled Block-Printed Scraps. “Quilt-Making isn’T just about stitching fabric togeether; it’s about bringing people togetra to share conversions, tifin, and ideas. Work Creatively. “

Mala Pradeep Sinha’s QR Code Quilt

Sustainability and Community was also Central to the work of Jagriti Phukan, Based in Dhemaji, Assam. Her Textile Piece, Inheritance of natureCreated from long strands of matted, Handspun Muga and Eri Silk, Expressed The Symbiotic Relationship Between Heritage, Tradition, Folklore, and Nature.

Jagriti phukan

Textiles and Fibre-Based Art Are More Complex Than People often Think. As Aratrik Dev Varman, The Founder-Designer of Ahmedabad-Based Tilla Studio, Puts It, Thei Are About “Intent and Exploring Personal Expression”, and Not Just Just Creating for the MARKETET. “Exhibitions Like Sense and sensibility Are Crucial for Mapping India’s Evolving Textiles and Crafts Before They’re Lost, “He Concludes, Stressing the Designer’s Role in Influencing and Recording Change.

The writer is a columnist and critic, with a keen focus on fashion, textiles, and culture.