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The
Course is offered by Sanskriti Foundation
in association with Delhi Crafts Council
Course Curator: Jyotindra Jain
Course : Ten illustrated lecture-sessions,
once a week
(From Saturday, 30th January, 2016 to Saturday, 9th April,2016)
Days and Timings: Every Saturday from
11 am to 1 pm, followed by lunch
Venue : Sanskriti Kendra, Anandagram,
M.G. Road, New Delhi- 110047
Fee: Rs. 15,000/- for the entire Course.
Registration:
• Maximum batch of 25 to 30 participants
• Registration opens from 21st December, 2015
• Last date of submission of Form: 5th January, 2016
• Last date for payment of fee: 15th January, 2016
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Introduction
Sanskriti Pratishthan, established
35 years ago, is dedicated to nourishing practices of art,
craft, literature, the performing arts and social work. Besides
providing facilities for international artists’ residencies,
children’s workshops, meetings, seminars and conferences,
the Foundation houses three museums, namely The Museum of
Everyday Art, Museum of Indian Terracotta and Museum of Indian
Textiles.
Delhi Crafts Council is affiliated
to the Crafts Council of India and to the World Crafts Council.
The Council was founded by Smt Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay in
1967 and is working for the promotion and development of craft
skills, sustainable livelihoods, marketing, design and revival
of languishing crafts.
To further strengthen the objectives
of these Institutions and to educate sensitive public towards
the art and cultural heritage of India, we plan to offer short
term courses to public on various aspects of Indian art and
culture.
With this aim, we announce a Course
on Indian Textiles: Traditions, Trade and Social Histories,
to be held from January 30 to April 9, 2016. The Course, to
be taught by an eminent faculty, will comprise eleven sessions
of two hours each. The concluding session will be with a contemporary
fashion designer who would share his/her creative journey
in the field. Participants will have full access to Sanskriti
library, having a rich collection of books on Indian textiles
and will also be given a guided tour of the Sanskriti Museum
of Indian Textiles as an introduction to the Course.
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Course Details
The Concept and
Content:
It is not by chance that the people
of ancient India expressed their philosophical ideas and summarized
their world view in terms of textile terminology. For example
the term sutra, the spun thread, was understood not only as
the material basis for any fabric but also as the metaphorical
fabric of the Universe. The holder of thread (sutradhara) was
thus conceived as the world’s premier architect- the creator.
It seems only appropriate that the people whose early perceptions
of the nature of the Universe were expressed figuratively in
terms of weaving, should have created such rich and glorious
traditions of textiles over the centuries.
New Approach
Until recently, most deliberations on Indian Textiles have confined
to treating them as a part of the colonial museological category
of “material culture”. For decades now, almost the
entire academic focus has been on descriptions of their traditional
genres, technology, and aesthetics in terms of their materials
and techniques, designs, patterns, and visual appeal. This is
certainly legitimate considering the uniqueness of technology
of their production, variety and extra-ordinary charm that they
possess. However, this sharp focus on their beauty, charm and
variety has receded them into the arena of “decorative
arts” and a sort of feminine territory. Parallel to this
celebratory engagement with textiles, there have been other
histories –histories of their trade and politics; of gender
and marginalization; of colonialism, urbanism and nationalism.
This additional focus on the lesser known aspect of Indian textiles
will add a fresh dimension to our understanding of the field.
I. Genres of Traditional Indian Textiles:
In this segment, the aim is not just to survey the various genres
of Indian textiles such as embroidery, resist-dyed fabrics or
brocades, but to bring into focus some of the lesser known regional
traditions, such as Kodali Karruppur, the printed and gold-brocaded
saris; aspects of North-Eastern Indian textiles; rare and lesser
known Kalamkaris from the Andhra region; ritual textiles for
goddess worship in Gujarat in the form of a model for an anthropological
approach for the study of Indian ritual textiles as such; and
of the Indian sari traditions, both in terms of their materials
and techniques as well as their drapes in the regional contexts.
II.Ancient and Medieval Indian Textiles Trade and Exchanges
The history of Indian textiles trade and exchanges, the world
over, goes back not only to the Indus Valley-Sumerian contacts
nearly 5000 years ago – but expands and continues over
the following millennia, for example the export of Gujarati
textiles to Fostat in Egypt from early medieval times until
the 19th century, and major demand of patolas of Gujarat in
Indonesia and other Southeast Asian countries. Parts of Gujarat,
Coromandal Coast, Bengal and Orissa conducted extensive foreign
trade with Europe and Africa as well as the Southeast Asian
countries.
III.Social and Political Histories of Indian Textiles
By the end of the 19th century, a new industrial economy had
begun to take root in the major cities of India. During the
American Civil War (1861-65) the supply of America’s ‘King
Cotton’ to the mills of Lancashire came to a halt. Britain
started looking to India for supply. By 1863, when the Civil
War ended, Mumbai had earned 70 million pounds from the boom.
The new money was not only invested in building infrastructure
of the city but in starting spinning and weaving mills reducing
imports into India of the British mill fabrics. Gandhi’s
khadi movement led to production of 16 million yards of khadi.
The boycott of British goods led to the closing down of nearly
75 mills in Lancashire and Blackburn within four years.
At the peak of the Indian freedom movement,
while countering British goods with the weapon of khadi and
village industries, a notion of revival of Indian clothing traditions
began to gain ground in elitist circles, particularly through
Sarojini Naidu, Kamala Devi Chattopadhyaya, Rukmini Devi Arundale,
Pupul Jayakar, and others which led to the birth and popularity
of ‘handloom fabric’.
One of the highlights of the Course
will be to examine how the Indo-British textile trade and cultural
exchanges caused an influx of visual culture of the contemporary
western fashion into India, which in combination with the rise
of Indian urbanism led to the emergence of the modern sari –
touching upon the tradition-modernity debate.
It is also envisaged to have the concluding
session by a contemporary fashion designer to speak on tradition
and innovation: re-inventing the sari – a personal journey
of a designer.
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Faculty
• Jyotindra Jain
- Art Historian
Jyotindra Jain,
formerly Director of the National Crafts Museum; Professor at the School
of Arts & Aesthetics, Jawaharlal Nehru University; and Member Secretary
of the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, all New Delhi, was
a Visiting Professor at Harvard University and a Rudolf-Arnheim Professor
at Humboldt University, Berlin. An eminent scholar and curator, his
major publications include: Master Weavers (1982); Tradition and
Expression in Mithila Painting (1996); Other Masters: Five Contemporary
Folk and Tribal Artists of India (1998); Picture Showmen: Insights into
the Narrative Tradition in Indian Art (1998); Kalighat Painting: Images
from a Changing World (1999); Indian Popular Culture: ‘The Conquest
of the World as Picture’(2004). He was recipient of the 1998
Prince Claus Award for Culture. Presently he is a Member of the International
Advisory Board of the Humboldt-Forum, Berlin, and Editor of Marg Publications,
Mumbai.
• Omana Eappen - Managing Trustee,
Nauras Trust
Omana Eappen is
the Managing Trustee of the Nauras Trust, Bengaluru, that is dedicated
to the conservation of the heritage of the Deccan . She has been working
on a project with the Archaeological Survey of India and the National
Culture Fund to revitalise the 17th century Adil Shahi Gardens of the
Ibrahim Rauza and the Gol Gumbaz (the tombs of Ibrahim Adil Shah II
and his son Mohammad Adil Shah respectively) in Bijapur (now Vijayapura),
Karnataka and on its related publication. Looking for evidence of gardens
in textiles led to an in depth study of a rare group of 16th/17thcentury
kalamkaris from South India. She is writing a monograph on these textiles
for Jnana Pravaha, Varanasi. She is interested in relating these projects
to our times in multiple ways to connect across the plural segments
of our society.
• Rta Kapur Chishti - Textile Scholar
Rta Kapur Chishti, is a recognized
textile scholar, co-author and editor of the ‘Saris of India’
volumes on the previously published ‘Saris of India’ volumes
on Madhya Pradesh, Bihar & West Bengal as well as ‘Handcrafted
Indian Textiles -Tradition and Beyond’. She has been a contributing
author to several other publications. As a writer and translator she
has written of the life and work of craftsmen and scripted for films
and exhibitions. She has been consistently involved with research anddevelopment
of handspun-handloom textiles. She is founder of the “Sari School”
which produces saris & organizes workshops & private classes
for those who wish to learn the wonders of this unstitched garment &
make it more relevant to their lives today. She has also collaborated
with ‘The Daksha Sheth Dance Company’ to develop the production
titled, ‘SARI’, a tribute to the process of turning by hand,
raw material into a wondrous woven unstitched garment.
• Bessie Cecil - Textile Researcher
Bessie Cecil - completed her Ph.
D in Textile Design and Textile Conservation from the University of
Madras, 2010 and gained experience in research and guidance having been
a Visiting Fellow at Victoria and Albert Museum, London, on Nehru
Fellowship (2006) and Fulbright Doctoral and Professional Fellow at
the Florida State University, USA (2006-07). She was Research Associate
(2007-2008) at the Craft Education and Research Center, Kalakshetra
Foundation, Chennai during which time the prime focus was exploration
with natural dyes and creating designs. Besides working as a Research
Fellow at Asian Civilizations Museum, Singapore she has also curated
various Exhibitions.
Currently, she is an independent researcher working on Techniques
of Traditional Indian Handloom Textiles and revival of natural dye/dyeing
of historical importance popularly known as Chay root dyeing.
• Uzramma - Founder, Dastkar Andhra,
Decentralized Cotton Yarn Trust, Malkha Marketing Trust
Uzramma , founder of non-profit
research centre Dastkar Andhra, has been associated with the cotton
textile industry of India since 1989. In 2005 Uzramma founded the Decentralized
Cotton Yarn Trust with small-scale units to process cotton to yarn at
field locations. She has been a member of policy groups for the handloom
industry constituted by the Planning Commission and the PMO, and has
participated in various seminars and lectures.
• Aditi Ranjan - Textile Designer
Aditi Ranjan,
formerly Professor in textile department of National Institute of Design,
Ahmedabad, is a well known authority on Indian textile traditions. Prof
Ranjan has done extensive work on textile traditions of North-East India.
She is also the co-author of the Book, ‘Crafts of India: Handmade
in India’.
• Monisha Ahmed - Textile Anthropologist
Monisha Ahmed
is an independent researcher who has been visiting and writing about
material culture in Ladakh since 1987. Her doctoral degree from Oxford
University developed into the book Living fabric - Weaving among the
Nomads of Ladakh Himalaya (Orchid Press, 2002), which received the Textile
Society of America’s R L Shep award in 2003 for best book in the
field of ethnic textile studies. She is the author of several articles
on the material culture and textile arts of Ladakh, and neighbouring
Himalayan areas, co-edited with Clare Harris Ladakh – Culture
at the Crossroads (Marg Publications, 2005) and with Janet Rizvi authored
Pashmina – The Kashmir Shawl and Beyond (Marg Publications, 2009).
She is the co-founder and current Executive Director of the ngo LAMO
(Ladakh Arts and Media Organisation) and is currently Associate Editor
for Marg Publications, Mumbai.
• Sujata Parsai - Museologist &
Art Historian
Sujata Parsai
has a passion for connecting cultural and artistic heritage to the public.
Her varied experience ranges from documenting museum collections, implementing
preventive conservation measures, to display and coordination of textile
exhibitions, and workshops. Engaged formerly as Museum and Exhibitions
Consultant to TAPI Collection (Textiles and Art of the People of India),
she coordinated internationally acclaimed exhibitions from the TAPI
Collection. She has been visiting faculty at NIFT, The National Museum
Institute, Irwin College, and the National Museum Institute. Currently
as part of the Flow India team, she is actively engaged in conceptualizing
and delivering museum workshops and lectures.Sujata Parsai has been
a Fellow and OPA of the Victoria & Albert Museum, London.
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