INDIA
India mania has hit!
We both see and hear a great deal about India; their
politics, culture and history. Their
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has just been on a State visit to England resulting
in excellent trade agreements – the first visit by an Indian PM for more than a
decade.
The Textile exhibition is so comprehensive and beautifully
displayed, for once I visited it twice – there was so much to enjoy. Every stage of existence, birth, betrothal,
marriage and death is marked in lndia with gifts of cloth. The exhibits show
the love of colour and texture all augmenting life’s rich pageant. Even the spinning wheel became a weapon in
the struggle for women’s freedom.
Textiles for centuries have also been central to opening up
India to the world and their far reaching presence today both inside the
subcontinent and outside is a testimony to their continued importance. They have a live quality due to the skill and
dexterity with which they are manipulated – a simple length of fabric, a sari
becomes animated when wrapped around a woman, another length can become a
turban, a dramatic form which I would dearly like to master.
Textiles have always been prized in India for clothes and furnishings. One of the most exciting display in the
current exhibition is a ‘palace room’ completely hung tent-like with beautiful
embroidered fabrics. Even their
elephants had lavish gold and silver encrusted embroideries at royal
ceremonies. One year, our stitching
theme on the Italian trip was ‘Elephants’ a great subject for canvas work and
here are some of the results just showing how colour and stitching can be so
individual.
Fabrics opened India to the world, and their far reaching
presence today both within the subcontinent and outside is a testimony to their
continued importance.
In the 19th Century with the industrialisation of
cloth manufacture in England, India was compelled to concentrate on beautiful
hand-woven and embroidered fabrics. Today
many internationally known designers use the skills of Indian craftsmen for
beadwork and embroidery and for a taste of sumptuous and vibrant textiles one
can glimpse an impressive array in Green Street, Southall, Wembley or Belgrade Road in Leicester.
We both see and hear a great deal about India; their
politics, culture and history. Their
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has just been on a State visit to England resulting
in excellent trade agreements – the first visit by an Indian PM for more than a
decade.
In addition the Victoria & Albert Museum here in London
has also catered to our long term interest in all decorative crafts with the
current exhibition Textiles of India and the Bejewelled Treasures, the collection
of Al Thani which opened last week.
The Textile exhibition is so comprehensive and beautifully
displayed, for once I visited it twice – there was so much to enjoy. Every stage of existence, birth, betrothal,
marriage and death is marked in lndia with gifts of cloth. The exhibits show
the love of colour and texture all augmenting life’s rich pageant. Even the spinning wheel became a weapon in
the struggle for women’s freedom.
Textiles for centuries have also been central to opening up
India to the world and their far reaching presence today both inside the
subcontinent and outside is a testimony to their continued importance. They have a live quality due to the skill and
dexterity with which they are manipulated – a simple length of fabric, a sari
becomes animated when wrapped around a woman, another length can become a
turban, a dramatic form which I would dearly like to master.
Textiles have always been prized in India for clothes and furnishings. One of the most exciting display in the
current exhibition is a ‘palace room’ completely hung tent-like with beautiful
embroidered fabrics. Even their
elephants had lavish gold and silver encrusted embroideries at royal
ceremonies. One year, our stitching
theme on the Italian trip was ‘Elephants’ a great subject for canvas work and
here are some of the results just showing how colour and stitching can be so
individual.
Fabrics opened India to the world, and their far reaching
presence today both within the subcontinent and outside is a testimony to their
continued importance.
It was the late 17/ early 18th century when
England became involved in the trade, particularly of chintz, a glazed fabric, which
became so popular and still are to this day.
In the 19th Century with the industrialisation of
cloth manufacture in England, India was compelled to concentrate on beautiful
hand-woven and embroidered fabrics. Today
many internationally known designers use the skills of Indian craftsmen for
beadwork and embroidery and for a taste of sumptuous and vibrant textiles one
can glimpse an impressive array in Green Street, Southall, Wembley or Belgrade Road in Leicester.
I am biased, the Victoria and Albert Museum is my favourite
museum in all of London and I do think that the membership of the Friends, even
of one seldom gets to London is worthwhile just for the beautiful V&A
Magazine and free priority entry to all exhibitions when in the capital.
Textiles of India Finishes on the 10th of January
Bejewelled Treasures Finishes on the 28th of March
http://www.vam.ac.uk/
Textiles of India Finishes on the 10th of January
Bejewelled Treasures Finishes on the 28th of March
http://www.vam.ac.uk/
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