Celebrating textiles: Inaugural ceremony of the Textile Gallery II, “Tradition and Innovation”
Showcasing prestigious textiles and the work of weavers at the opening of the Textile Gallery II.
The Handloom Week celebrates the work of weavers and artisans who have long been part of India’s history and heritage. To commemorate the artistry and dedication of these handloom and textile artisans, the Ministry of Textiles held the inaugural ceremony of the Textile Gallery II, “Tradition and Innovation” at the National Crafts Museum & Hastkala Academy on August 8th.
The event was graced by the presence of Sunil Sethi, curator and co-curator, cultural historian and museologist, Dr Jyotindra Jain of the Textile Gallery II: Tradition and Innovation; Giriraj Singh, Minister of Textiles; Pabitra Margherita, Minister of State of Textiles, and Rachna Shah, Secretary, Ministry of Textiles, with designers Payal Jain, David Abraham and Rakesh Thakore, JJ Valaya, Samant Chauhan, Anju Modi, and Rajesh Pratap Singh. The
The inaugural ceremony commenced with the lighting of lamp with the chief guests followed by the shawl presentation. Curator of the gallery Sunil Sethi welcomed all the dignitaries and guests present at the event and showed them around the gallery, mentioning the importance of preserving our country’s prestigious handmade textiles. He described the preserved pieces of textiles and how they have represented India’s rich heritage and workmanship in terms of art and culture.
Designer Payal Jain presented her installation titled ‘Soul of a woman’ at the event which portrayed her entire career’s work. It depicted repurposing and reusing the scraps of fabric in her narrative which showcased her own story while working with handweavers and artisans from the cities of Varanasi, Kutch, Maheshwar, Chanderi, Sonpur, Kota, Kanchipuram and many more.
“It was an emotional journey for me to curate this piece and seeing it in front of me was an overwhelming experience,” she says. She experimented with traditional crafts and techniques like Bandhej, Kantha, Crochet, Stitch and Tie, conceptualising them into a story that celebrates the soul.