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Art & textile historians,
writers, researchers, scholars, curators, designers and story tellers
revisit the many myths of creation depicted as the narrative in Indian
Textiles…
PROGRAMME
About Mantles of Myth
Mantles of Myth – The Narrative in Indian Textiles
is Siyahi's effort to come forward with another endeavor to understand, explore and discover India. This conference will focus on the origins of myths and stories that laid the founding stones of our shared history. Textile experts, art historians, writers, poets, musicians, performers and narrators, will bring together for the first time the diverse riches and forms of story telling as depicted on Indian Textiles. These myths and stories have often been heard as oral traditions, performed by bards and become part of our rituals. They have become creative works in performing arts and are seen on textiles. The conference will provide a forum for discussions, debate and interaction to focus on how essential and integral it is for us to protect and preserve the colors and threads of our rich textile material culture and the unique stories they tell us.
Indian textiles have evolved with the development of civilization and its significance is hallowed by traditions. Textiles with narratives depicted on them are seen across the country and their range varies from painted and printed textiles to woven and embroidered pieces. These textiles remind us of the inordinate riches of stories in traditional communities and the wealth of accumulated knowledge that are a crucial record and map of our culture.
Mythology of the
Cloth
Adam and
Eve were cast out of Eden when they became aware of their
nakedness. They covered themselves with fig leaves. The fig
leaf then became clothing made of bark, then animal hide and
finally cloth. Each of these shifts and turn reflects a
change in culture which then resonates through mythical
narratives. In India, Shiva wears animal hide, Vishnu wears
only yellow silks, gods are clothed to make them worldly,
goddesses are clothed to make them domestic.
This session explores
the mythology of cloth and clothing in the cultural context
of India.
Devdutt Pattanaik,
Pramod Kumar KG
Flower Fields to Fertile Landscapes: The Phulkari
of Punjab
Phulkari
an embroidery technique from Punjab literally means
flower working (Phul Kar), and was used as a synonym for
embroidery. Shawls sparsely embroidered with floral and
imaginative description of a narrative story depicting
village scenes from everyday life are essentially Phulkari.
Interestingly this highly stylized but clear individual
observation of the life of village women are embroidered by
women themselves.
Jasleen Dhamija, Alka Pande
Mukand and Riaz (in the lawns of Hotel Diggi Palace)
Mukand
and Riaz
is a picture book based on the true story of Mukand’s
friendship with Riaz and their subsequent separation
following the partition. The unique feature of the book is
its visual presentation using the art of women’s appliqué
work on cloth, which is common to both Sindh in Pakistan and
Gujarat in India. The film was a part of the Big Small
People Project, Israel, the Tokyo Broadcasting System,
Japan, the Kala Ghoda Festival in Mumbai, the Edinburgh
Animation Festival, the International Video Festival,
Thiruvananthapuram and won many awards.
Nina Sabnani
Woven Narratives from the North East
The
lush and verdant seven sister states from the North East of
India have a unique indigenous culture where myths and its
depiction on textiles are commonplace. These textiles often
woven on narrow womb looms by women are worn by men as
mantles of merit and are a cloth of identity,
differentiating between tribes and communities. Though many
stories of the origins of these motifs and designs are lost,
they still continue to be seen in these textiles.
Mamang Dai,
Pragya Deb Burman
A film on
The Tree of Life
by Ritu Kumar
A contemporary view of the classic
Tree of Life motif.
Ritu Kumar
Retelling the Ramayana: Two 19th Century kalamkari canopies
from Coastal Andhra in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum,
London
The main function of Kalamkari temple hangings is didactic
rather than decorative and the illustrated themes are drawn
from the Ramayana, the Mahabharata, the story of Krishna,
and local ballads. A number of centres in Southern India
specialized in the production of kalamkaris: This talk will
focus on the different pictorial retelling of the Ramayana
in textiles from Andhra and Tamil Nadu, now in the
collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
Anna Dallapiccola
The Tree of Life
The Tree of life is an ancient motif seen in the decorative
arts of several cultures around the world. Its portrayal as
a flowering plant is meant to depict the axis mundi
or the center of the world, with fabulous beats, birds,
fruits, flowers and other living beings portraying live
forms emanating from its fertile base.
Paola Manfredi
Telling Tales
A performance by Mallika & Revanta Sarabhai
Painted
epic of Rajasthan, Pabuji and Dev Narayan
Pabuji Ki
Phad
or the epic of Pabuji and Dev Narayan are amongst the most well
known picture showman traditions in Rajasthan. Pabuji, a medieval
Rajput hero from the desert region around Marwar is widely
worshipped as the folk deity capable of protecting against ill fortune.
Equally important is the story of Dev Narayan, another folk hero from
Rajasthan. Their stories of valour are depicted by painting on textile
panels called phads. Bhopa, the bard priest narrates the
story during night long singing sessions in front of the painted phad
or the scroll textile depicting the sequence of images that retell the
exploits of Pabuji and Dev Narayan.
Kavita Singh,
Shreelal Joshi, William Dalrymple
Supported by – Rajasthani
Bhasha, Sahitya and Sanskriti Akademi
Stitching Women's Lives: Sujuni and Khatwa from Bihar
Contemporary textiles depicting a running stitch (Sujni)
and appliqué (Khatwa) are immensely popular for their
depiction of human and inanimate motifs. These textiles tell
stories of the lives of women, their festivals,
weddings and daily commerce along with a depiction of more
poignant observations on topical subjects such as education,
women’s work, nature, environment, social issues,
AIDS, peace and communal harmony.
Skye Morrison, Laila Tyabji
Vrindavani Vastra: Vaishnavite Textiles from Assam
Vrindavani Vastra
is a name given to silk Lampas textiles from Assam
that depict scenes from the lives of avatars of the
Hindu God Vishnu along with scenes from the
Ramayana and the Bhagvad Purana. These textiles
were first made in around 1567-69, under the supervision of
the Vaishnavite reformer Mahant Sankardeva and the cloth
depicts scenes from Krishna’s childhood home of Vrindavan.
Rosemary Crill
Pano Bhaju : The Story from Goa
When the Portuguese converted the Hindus, the famed edicts
of 1560 and 1736 changed the lives of the Goans
completely. Hindu customs and clothing were abolished and
replaced by Western Catholic traditions and costumess. The
improvised
Pano Bhaju
seemed the only way out of this dilemma and women began to
adopt an embroidered long blouse (bhaju), a pleated
wrap over skirt (pano) and a stole draped over the
shoulders.
Wendell Rodricks, Mallika Sarabhai
Khadi as a Narrative in the
Nation's Freedom
Mahatma
Gandhi’s ability to moot the freedom Movement around
Khadi or indigenous handspun hand woven cloth was
made possible by raising the issue of cloth to primary
economic and political importance. Gandhiji used a
‘symbolically charged moral language’ when speaking of
Khadi, reviving the semi dormant ‘magical’ and ‘moral’
belief that has always been attributed to cloth in Indian
society. This session will help elaborate on how the
universality of Khadi allowed it to transcend the
limitation of language in a multilingual country to become a
rallying point for Indians during the freedom movement.
Susan Bean
Court Coverlets: The Chamba Rumal from Himachal
The
Chamba Rumal (kerchief) a decorative coverlet
flourished as a narrative textile in the hill states of
Chamba, Kangra and Basholi. The outlines of the designs
are believed to have been painted by court painters while
the motifs themselves were embroidered in floss silk by
ladies of the royal household. These rumals depict
religious, historical, and mythological themes such as
Krishna Ras Leela, a subject frequently illustrated in
the region.
B N Goswamy
The Pichwai's of Srinathji
Shrinathji, an incarnation of Krishna has been revered by
adherents of the Pushti Marg, a Vaishnavite sect from
the turn of the 16th century. The temple town of
Nathdwara, the main site of pilgrimage is the seat of
the idol of Srinathji. The decorative cloth hangings used as
a backing to the main idol are known as a Pichwais.
Woven, painted, printed or embroidered, these ceremonial and
religious textiles depict scenes from Krishna’s life and
events in the liturgical calendar of the Vallabhacharya
sect.
Kalyan Krishna
The Narrative in
Buddhist Art: Tanghka Paintings
Originally popular among traveling monks, a Tangkha
is a Buddhist scroll paintings on a flat surface
that could easily be carried from monastery to monastery.
Images of deities depicted in these paintings are used as
teaching tools when explaining the life of the Buddha
and describing historical events concerning important
Lamas, or retelling myths associated with other deities
in the Buddhist pantheon.
Monisha Ahmed
Namavali: The Devanagri
Textiles
Textiles in India which depict verses, sacred chants or the
Lord's name across multifarious materials and forms are
called Namavali textiles. Literally,
Namavali means a row of names, printed, painted, woven
or embroidered on cotton, silk and other textiles. In their
role as sacred vestments they are presented and draped on
the Gods, and worn by priests and patrons on religious and
ceremonial occasions.
Jaya Jaitly, Chandramani Singh
The
Morarka Centre Session -
Confluence and
Continuity of Storytelling Traditions
Storytelling as an art form is one continuous narration
of myths, legends and histories that have been
embellished and enhanced during their long passage
through centuries. In India it is very often spoken,
performed or recited as chants, song, dance and by the
narration of epic poetry. Its existence as a depiction
on textiles is a unique manifestation in our cultural
arena. This session will focus on the present state of
narrative textiles across the country and the need to
have a viable global vision for preserving and
perpetuating storytelling traditions in their myriad
forms.
Raghavendra
Rathore, Namrata Joshipura, Sangita Kathiwada
Narratives of a Nation
The
narratives of a nation are not just restricted to the
written word but to the many histories of its people
recounted in multifarious forms. From oral traditions to
myth making and to its rich and varied material culture,
human have devised elaborate and diverse methods of
communication to pass on their travails and histories to
future generations. This session examines other forms that
constitute the collective memory of a nation and their
relevance as significant markers to be examined and
remembered.
Lord Meghnad Desai, Dipankar Gupta, Namita Gokhale
Aye Kuzu Le –
Weavers' song by the Sumi Tribe from
Nagaland
Aye
Kuzu Le
is a unique narrative sung and performed by the women of the
Sumi tribe of Nagaland. Enacting all stages of work in
weaving their traditional shawl, the performers begin with
the planting of cotton seeds, to plucking the cotton buds,
deseeding, spinning and weaving. This performance is a
medium by which women pass on their traditional weaving
skills to the next generation, allowing for the preservation
of indigenous weaving techniques and its unwritten history.
Togheli, Viholi, Khekoni,
Khekatoli, Toholi, Botoli, Inatoli, Mary, Hokhuli, Atoholi, Boholi,
Botoli, Atoli, Ato and Mughato
Mantles of Myth - Conceived & Curated by Pramod Kumar KG
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