Hampi Art Labs’ new exhibition reimagines indigo beyond a natural textile dye

Recently, Hampi Art Labs’ (HAL) unveiled its fifth exhibition — Blue Futures: Reimagining Indigo. Curated by Meera Curam, textile scholar and director of HAL, the exhibition traces the journey of indigo — from soil and dye to art and innovation — bringing together contemporary and traditional expressions through installations, textiles and mixed-media artworks. The show offers an immersive exploration of indigo’s deep cultural roots in the Indian, French and Japanese art history; and its reimagination for the future. This exhibition is a part of founder Sangita Jindal’s ongoing vision of fostering cross-cultural dialogues between art, craft and contemporary practice.

We took a quick trip to the ancient city for a walk-through of this exhibition with Meera to discover how differently this exhibition traces the journey of indigo. If you didn’t already know, natural indigo dye is made from plants, primarily from the leaves of the Indigofera Tinctoria.

“Blue Futures reveals indigo’s cultural depth through time, memory and making. If one spends time with each artwork, layers of history, mastery and lived knowledge begin to emerge. Indigo practices across India, Japan and Africa have long been connected through shared knowledge systems, trade routes and material exchanges. While each region retains its distinct identity of craftsmanship, these practices are bound together by indigo’s shades and its migratory histories. The exhibition allows these interconnections to surface quietly, through techniques, materials and the voices of practitioners embedded within the works,” Meera begins.

The gallery opens to a huge indigo-dyed wall coated with beeswax acting as the backdrop to an earthen pot containing live indigo in a vat. “You can actually taste it,” Meera said and so, swallowing up our hesitation, we did. Alkaline yet sweet! As we walked forward, a vivid display of artworks revealed themselves to wow us.

“The title Blue Futures gestures toward continuity rather than nostalgia. Today, many farmers are returning to the cultivation of high-quality indigo and artisanal communities are reviving traditional fer mentation practices. The indigo vat placed at the entrance of the exhibition stands as both evidence and symbol of possibility of continuation of tradition and sustainable practices,” she elucidates.

The exhibition presents approximately 18 artworks, arranged in sections that unfold conceptually and materially. Upon entering, visitors encounter an installation by Manish Nai, a hand-painted panel by Ajit Das and an installation by Savia Mahajan. “These works are placed together intentionally. Ajit’s Neel Basant, with its myriad shades of indigo, flowers and birds gestures toward future practices while Savia’s collaborative work with indigo artisan Ashok Siju explores indigo on porcelain, expanding the dye beyond its conventional textile associations,” Meera shares.

Section one traces indigo’s layered histories through cloth, thread and memory. Here, indigo is presented as a carrier of historical weight and lived experience. A stoneware work etched with narratives of indigo cultivation, extraction and its status as ‘blue gold’ pays tribute to the Indigo Revolt and the darker colonial histories tied to the dye in India. “Shelly Jyoti’s contemporary works, created in dialogue with ajrakh artisans, speak of trade routes and shared histories. Alwar Balasubramanian’s indigo embedded in resin explores material permanence and fragility. The installation by Takuma Shimada (Slow Fabric Studio, Tokushima, Japan) reveals the meticulous process of shibori, creating tree bark–like textures through repeated binding and dyeing,” she reveals.

We also view works by Kavin Mehta and Vyom Mehta, including indigo on sandstone that point toward new applications, highlighting indigo’s adaptability across surfaces. Bridging the first and second sections are handwoven kimonos by Bappaditya, embodying handcraft traditions and contemporary textile techniques, shaped by the influence of Japanese mastery. “Section two presents indigo as a regenerative practice. Works include Buaisou’s exploration of 100 shades of indigo, along with refined katazome (a traditional Japanese stencil dyeing technique that uses hand-cut paper stencils, katagami and a rice paste resist to create intricate patterns on fabric) noren curtains,” the director says.

The exhibition is curated with a strong focus on material experimentation and unconventional applications of indigo. While indigo-dyed textiles are a globally familiar practice, this exhibition deliberately expands that vocabulary. “Visitors encounter indigo on jute and found materials in the form of sculptural poles; and aluminium; and textiles such as ramie. Together, these works demonstrate indigo’s capacity to move across materials, geographies and temporalities — remaining alive and continually reimagined,” she concludes.

On till February 28. At Vidyanagar Township, Toranagallu.

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