This new textile exhibition at MAP Bengaluru takes you on a journey where art, history and culture are shared between India and Sri Lanka

Once upon a time, along the Coromandel Coast of India, merchants transported more than just goods — they carried traditions, artistic expressions and beliefs that became interwoven with Sri Lanka. Over the decades, these Indian textiles began to reflect Sri Lanka’s sacred imagery. Figures from the small island’s pantheon appeared on Indian fabrics too, illustrating the fluidity of cultural exchange between the two regions. Now as exciting as this sounds, the Museum of Art & Photography (MAP) and exhibition curator Yash Sanhotra have put together a captivating display of palampores and textile fragments, dating back to the 18th century, all of which unravel stories of a shared heritage woven across the shallow waters of the Palk Strait. Titled Chay Reds, Ferrous Black: The Untold Stories of Indian Trade Textiles in Sri Lanka, curator Yash lets us in on what this new exhibition has in store.

What inspired the curation of this exhibition?

As a person passionate about South Asian culture, I often tend to take up the challenge to explore its lesser-known cultural aspects. At MAP, the aim is to highlight these thought-provoking narratives that potentially become a stepping stone toward deepening scholarship on textiles, something I deeply resonate with. Our collection has a range of trade textiles made for the Asian, European and Middle Easter n markets. Historically, these textiles were famed for their intricate designs and the bright colours achieved by the superlative quality of dyes and dyeing techniques followed in India. However, the trade with the subcontinent’s own southern neighbour, Sri Lanka, is not frequently discussed. This is how we embarked on the journey to find out more about these textiles, which the Dutch called sarasse and the British referred to them as chintz.

Could you elaborate on the significance of the title? Why focus on the colours chay red and ferrous black?

I spent some time taking a closer look at the textiles, to assess the condition, materiality and visuals. During this process, we noticed that most of the textiles had a dominance of red and black. These colours signify the aesthetic affinity of the Sri Lankan market, which helped us identify the textiles that will be displayed in the exhibition. If you take a closer look at Sri Lankan art in general, the colours red and black are quite prominent. This might be due to the availability of botanical and mineral resources. Chay root dye, a natural red colourant obtained from the chay plant (oldenlandia umbellata), has been used in textiles like kalamkari since the seventeenth century. The dye’s vibrant red hue comes from alizarin in the bark, extracted by boiling the root with alkali, while the cloth is treated with alum as a mordant. The Sri Lankan chay root was known to be of superlative quality. With the help of the calcium-rich water found in the northern part of the island, the Sri Lankan dyers produced the brightest and deepest shades of red. The term ‘ferrous’ in dyeing refers to dyes containing iron. To achieve a deep black colour, base cotton cloth is treated with myrobalan (terminalia chebula), a tropical fruit rich in tannins.

What can art and textile enthusiasts expect from Chay Reds, Ferrous Black?

This exhibition is divided into three major sections that display the textiles used as costumes, textiles used to decorate spaces and sacred textiles. Visitors can witness handpainting with mordants and wax resistors, block printing and a combination of these techniques which were used to produce these naturally dyed artworks. A section in this exhibition highlights the step-bystep process of production of these textiles, as narrated by prominent artist and scholar Renka Reddy. The motifs found on the textiles are reflective of the culture and natural resources in Sri Lanka. Horses and elephants were a significant part of the trade between India and Sri Lanka. Peacock or mayura is considered to be protective creatures in the Buddhism, Hinduism and ancient Vedda traditions for their protection against venomous creatures such as snakes and centipedes. Hamsa is often used as a decorative and spiritual element in South Asian art. Kindura, gandaberunda and makara are prominent mythological creatures that are featured in Indian textiles produced for the South Asian market. This exhibition displays textiles from the 18th and 19th centuries and is a part of the MAP collection. Due to their age, a lot of them are fragile in nature.

Entry free. On till March 1, 2025. At Kasturba Road.