The beautiful survives

Heirlooms, a recent exhibition in Edinburgh on the centuries-old textile trade between India and Java, showcased a rare collection.

October 08, 2011 04:16 pm | Updated 04:30 pm IST

Naomi Robertson, master weaver at Dovecot Studios, creating The Kantha Diaries. Photo courtesy: David Grinly

Naomi Robertson, master weaver at Dovecot Studios, creating The Kantha Diaries. Photo courtesy: David Grinly

Lining the walls of the galleries of the Dovecot Studios in Edinburgh recently was a selection of rare textiles from India and Indonesia. The exhibition “Heirlooms”, organised for the Edinburgh International Festival was presented in partnership with Dovecot Studios at the studio premises. It showcased “the centuries-old exchange between Indian and Javanese textile traditions”, and the interaction through trade between the two countries. The contemporary influence of Indian textile traditions on Scotland was brought out through the commissioned work of three artists from Dovecot. The exhibition sought “to show how tradition is a continuing thread influencing modern present day visual culture.”

Indian silk double ikkats were highly prized in Indonesia, learns the viewer, and so too were the beautifully dyed and printed cloths of India. The ikkat weaves were exquisitely replicated on the batiks of Java which revealed skill in the use of “canting” — wax pen — as well as natural dyes. The Indonesian section of “Heirlooms” had many of these prized specimens on display. While the historical exhibition was curated by Jonathan Hope and Ben Divall, the contemporary display and exchange was coordinated by Elizabeth Guest.

The exhibits in the Indonesian section were from the private collection of Jonathan Hope.

A striking wall hanging in Batik executed in the style of “wayang kulit” (shadow puppets) showed long nosed, stylised figures of the Pandavas and the Kauravas, gazing belligerently at each other. Another showed a line up of female figures. Placed strategically at the centre of the hall it was in the tradition of Jain paintings. The religious cloth was used for ceremonial occasions. On display too were skirt cloths in earth colours decorated with lotus blossoms floating in the water, metres-long bordered material intricately patterned in browns, off whites and blacks, and sumptuously decorated material lit up by Garudas and Mt. Merus. Trouser cloth patterned with elephants and tigers, replicated from ikkat, breast wrappers with rust borders, and elaborately printed sarongs were some of the fabrics used by royalty. Books on the extraction of natural dyes and on methods of dyeing and printing completed the display.

In the Indian section, beautiful Dacca, Balachuri and Jamdani saris were on view, many of which belonged to the 19th century. More than a century old embroidered Kantha material was also on view as well as contemporary works such as the exquisite piece depicting palanquins and their bearers, western men in trousers and women in gowns, and birds and fishes.

Heirloom sarees

Many of the heirloom sarees belonged to the collection of Ruby Palchoudhuri of Crafts Council of West Bengal; some of the pieces were from Chotelal Bharany's collection. Ruby accompanied by Jamdani weaver Jyotish Debnath and Kantha embroiderer Bina Dey was present at the exhibition.

“Dovecot is a tapestry studio set up in 1912 to revive this traditional art,” said David Weir, Director of the Dovecot Studios which is housed in an aesthetically converted Victorian public bath. “The old art is revived but always with a contemporary touch. The founding weavers came from the famed William Morris studios. Since 2008 we are giving this studio a wider context by working with international partners. The Director of the Edinburgh International Festival, Jonathan Mills' East meets West theme this year has been a perfect opportunity for us to further cultural exchange with India. I see this as the start of a long conversation with India.”

Ruby Palchoudhuri came in contact with Dovecot when she visited Scotland for a story telling project on the Scotsmen who came to Bengal during the Raj. This led to the cultural exchange programme, with the three artists of the studio visiting West Bengal to familiarise themselves with Kantha embroidery and Jamdani weaving.

Naomi Robertson, master weaver at Dovecot who has been with the studio for 21 years, said she was asked to produce a contemporary piece and she decided to tell of her journey in India. Her tapestry “Kantha Diaries” is woven with the images of daily life as in traditional Kantha. Ambassador taxis, mosquitoes, temple decorations, women in sarees, rickshaws, and even cockroaches merrily coexist on a rich blue background. “There is no point in producing replicas — our experiences and responses should come into the work,” she said.

A fusion

Artist Deirdre Nelson's “Repository of Memory” “fuses the traditional skills of Kantha with contemporary references to Information Technology in India”, while Sarah Sumsion's creation “Threads of Life” is about “the symbolism and importance of colour in everyday lives” in India.

Elizabeth Guest, the curator of the Indian section said, “We are trying to show the importance and beauty of Indian textiles both in the past and present. Pieces from Gujarat that went to Indonesia were highly prized.” As for the minimalistic touch, she explained, “The focus is on the styles and techniques of embroidery that influenced artists of our studio who visited India. There is such a wealth of Indian textiles. Unless you are focussed, you can't do much. We had to focus on living textiles, to connect the past and the present, the heirlooms of the future.”

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