A shower of colours, weaves and designs bring out the beauty of silk and cotton saris at two pre-Deepavali exhibitions. While ‘ Silk India 2014 ,’ presented by a Bengaluru- based NGO at Valluvar Kottam , celebrates edgy designer and traditional saris from all parts of the country. Rang Mahal , an NGO from Kolkata, showcases cotton saris from Nadia district, at Sankara Hall .
At both venues, the weavers shared their stories and explained the creative processes.
At Silk India, Banarasis, Uppadas, Kashmir silks, Bhagalpur tussars, Bengal cottons, Karnataka silks, Kantha and Kashmir embroidered saris open up a world of festive choices. Uppadas in brilliant jewel colours with gold and silver borders and smart striped pallus enthral. Flowers from the Kashmir valley such as roses and chrysanthemums picked out in Ari embroidery stitches embellish silk saris, shawls and kurtas. And ‘Byloom’ saris with enormous leafy patterns give a couture look to cotton and silk saris.
Shantipur’s cotton saris with jamdaani borders are perfect festive wear as are Samyukta Majumdar’s batik saris in silk and cotton. Explaining the process of creating a stunning black and white batik sari on display, Samyukta says, “I first draw the outline and basic lines and then put molten wax with a brush on the figures. Once dry, the cloth is dipped in boiling water for colouration.”
‘Bengal Weaves from Rang Mahal’ is about finely woven and moderately priced cotton Tanghails , Balucheris, Bengal resham organic silks and more. Naqshi bordered Tanghails made by A. Mondol are a special attraction and come in every colour of the spectrum. The Balucheri cottons have motifs derived from ancient sculptural and architectural forms. These follow the embossed technique with three shuttles working. Stripes dominate the Tanghail range, while Jalchuri saris have colourful bangle-like borders. ‘Silk India’ is on view till October 12, while Rang Mahal till October 15.
