One wall is awash in yellow. Shades of the warm, sunny colour immediately remind you of summers. Especially as some of them have sprigs of green leaves, pink flowers and brown twigs.
Wearing Kotas, Mangalagiris, Chanderis and khadis is the perfect way to cope with Indian summers. And here they are, in bewildering array, at Whispering Stones, where Shilpi from Chennai is having an exhibition.
Bright checks and stripes, earthy rusts and indigos, flowers, geometric motifs…they are all there. For the exhibition-weary, here’s what sets this one apart. Pick a sari and ask Simrat from Shilpi to tell you the story behind it and she will. Hand woven, hand printed and ethnic fabrics all have a rich history. And when you learn of it, it makes that sari you own a little more special than the other. Take the Ajrakh saris. Weavers have created it for you just the way their ancestors created them centuries ago. The Ajrakh block printing technique is the oldest in India. These weavers mostly live in the Rann of Kutch area. In that parched and thirsty land, weavers have found inspiration to create fabrics that have fabulous colours and motifs. Muslim weavers, who themselves wear only stark white, produced this cloth for the shepherds. Now, we get to wear that very same thing as stunning saris.
The veshti has been made over into saris too in perfect summer colours. There is something called mud-printing where the good earth is used in the process of dyeing. Soil, cow dung, leaves, flowers…Nature’s bounty is borrowed to dress up the saris, and you can never go wrong with that.
While traditional colours and motifs are timeless and always elegant, innovations sometimes work wonders too. Some of the saris are modern marriages of different textures and techniques.
For example, there is Chikan embroidery done on a tussar and on a leheriya from Rajasthan. Hearty Punjabi Phulkari absolutely transforms a quiet silk into a fun statement. You choose what you want to be — elegant, understated and timeless — in mellow greys, khakis, olive greens and off whites, or vibrant, vivacious and vaa vaa vroom in bright yellows, lime greens, electric blues and candy orange…And Shilpi may have just the sari for you.
The exhibition is on today between 10 a.m, and 7.30 p.m, at Whispering Stones, 1 BRCF, Rajalakshmi Mills Road (Perks Arch Road). All credit cards are accepted and there is parking.
