India celebrates NATIONAL Handloom Day on August 7, in a proud salute to handloom’s heritage-in-continuum, with a history going back 500 years. And what an evocative history it is, matching the beauty and romance of the handloom fabric. Recorded in the silent testimony of the tiny scrap of woven cloth wrapped around silver spindle unearthed at Mohenjodaro, in the words of 5th century BCE Greek writer Megasthenes’ — ‘fine flowered muslins of India’, the poetic ‘vetri venti’, or ‘woven out of breeze’ cloth coveted by Roman aristocracy, as a favoured textile of the ‘Silk Route’ and of the courts of Europe — and a prime mover in making India the only economic powerhouse of the 17th century!
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After a 200 period of the devastating decline of “handloom manufactures” under repressive British colonial laws, India has seen a flowering of handloom in the post-Independence years, propelled by Government policies, the passionate dedication of iconic craft activists like Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay and others, NGOs working in the craft sector and the creative outpouring of artisans, designers and entrepreneurs. And above all, by the hereditary handloom weavers’ diligent efforts to revive, innovate and reimagine ancient handloom traditions for the coming generations.
Today, the handloom story in both its pristine and evolving avatars is being woven across the country to the music of countless looms, in cool eco-friendly statements of everyday wear, furnishings, home décor, and so on.
The handloom story continues at The Crafts Council of India’s (CCI), Textile Show, which presents a specially curated collection of handloom saris, made-ups and fabrics, unfolding the fabled textile stories of Benares, Baluchari, Jamdani, Tussar, Muslin, Khadi, Patola, Odisha, Pochmapalli, Ikat, Kota, Maheshwari, Chanderi and more. Many of the saris have been specially designed for the Textile Show.
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Incredible handloom experiences unfold at the Textile Show — for the first-time ever, 250 count muslin sari spattered with fields of curving flowers designed by Ramkumar Haldar; a tussar silk sari woven with an Oriya folk tale; a Baluchar with Mughal revival flowers all over and borders woven with vignettes of forgotten Nawabi lifestyle; saris ablaze with Bandhani flower motifs crafted by Fahd Khatri Gulamhusen; a Gadhwal sari with a pallu featuring a beautifully woven motif of a woman wearing a Maharashtrian nine yards sari conceptualised and woven by Vinay Narkar; and Mohammad Bilal Khatri’s Baghhand block sari in checks. Also, a wealth of handloom saris and fabrics from other regions of India.
Additionally, National Handloom Day will be celebrated on August 7 at CCI’s Kamala Craft Shop with a display of select saris and some pieces culled from the Textile Show. It’s time for Chennaites to seize the handloom moment and make ‘Everyday a Handloom Day’.
August 4 and 5.
At The Crafts Council of India, MRC Centre. RA Puram.
— Pushpa Chari