“THE FABRIC OF INDIA”

The exhibition “The Fabric of India”, is exhibiting at the Victoria and Albert Museum, the finest embroidered from the third century to the present day.

The exhibition coincides with the Festival of India in which the protagonist of this wonderful nation and all that is artistic, cultural and social.

A blast from the past to understand the present: why now more than ever the Indian designers seek to combine the ancient techniques and traditions textiles with the new forms and the avant garde of the fashion system.

Many meetings and special events are scheduled in the exhibition activated from October 3, 2015 to January 10, 2016：free talk with curators Rosemary Crill and Divia Patel, Michael Palin’s illustrated talk, covers several of his visits to India, special evening of performances featuring north Indian classical music and folk music. All events are available on the web site.

Nuomerous and meters of cloth found to prepare the exhibition：inlaid fabrics, dyed, embroidered and stitched to perfection by following the traditions artisans most illustrious of Indian courts.

All the content of the exhibition belongs to different imperial dynasties such as Mughals.

Other rooms are filled with raw materials, who are the lifeblood of its people.

“The importance of textiles to India’s economy is illustrated in various room showing their commercial success” {translation from moda24.ilsole24ore}

From the simple khadi cloth as a symbol of ideology and independence, to its ornate and colorful temple hangings, India’s identity is tightly interwoven with fabric. Now its history is told through remnants of a 2000 year old blanket, dyes of brightest red and deepest indigo, and gold and silver brocaded silks, in a new exhibition transforming London’s Victoria and Albert Museum into a bazaar of myriad hues. (The Guardian)

“The V&A’s textiles curator Rosemary Crill describes the show as the “total story” of Indian fabric, from the third century to the present day.”

 

CURATORIAL APPROACH

The approach of the exhibition, by Rosemary Crill and Divia Patel, has managed into show the wide-ranged splendor and majesty of Indian fabrics. People may have glance of an authentic India through the colors traditions settings scenarios.

It took a few months to construct and the moving room of Tipu Sultan to recreate the magnificence of the drapery and upholstery.

The curators tended to manage the huge amount of gold, beads and embroideries and apply them to a minimalist approach.

An attempt so low profile would not go down to a mistress shock effect as Diana Vreeland: she probably would have focused attention on just glows, on many meters of fabric, and maybe she put a real elephant inside the room.

Surely “The Fabric of India” is a magnificent exhibition, which could not be displayed in small gallery. The Victoria and Albert Museum is a perfect location for hosting those valuable and historically important pieces featuring a large group of audience.  .

Moreover, the curatorial approach must respect the marketing of the museum. In the interview between Judith Clark, art dealer and researcher for the London College of Fashion, and professor Christopher Breward, explains her opinions about her methodology of fashion exhibits. As the owner of a small gallery, Clark is able to personalize the exhibition to apply the special curatorial approach, rather than adopting a mediocre methodology to scaled galleries, which in her opinion lost the independence and freedom in order to satisfy the taste of the audiences.

There was a rigid impression or even a stereotype of fashion exhibitions. It was no more than a fancy wardrobe filled with various garments and unrealistic fairy tales.

The Telegraph criticized that the curator of the exhibition try to cover the lack of video, music, and design displaying the garments.

 

KHADI: THE FABRIC OF FREEDOM

The most beautiful fabrics in “The Fabric of India” are made exclusively with cotton fabric by hand. The khadi, precious Indian cotton, has been part of the history of this nation and represented as an important step towards the liberation from the English constraint.

The Indian designers today are trying to implement the ancient craftsmanship to modern design. One of them is Asha Sarabhai, Indian artist and designer who has made her experience a trademark. She adopt natural method of weaving and dyeing these techniques. She aimed to modernize her fashion instead of to her clothes , to preserve.

Behind Asha’s clothes, there is a political convinction: it is the continuation of the philosophy of mahatma Gandhi?

England had forced the Indians to import English fabrics and abandon their local textile industry. After years of struggle and protests, India could eventually recover their assets. Asha and her husband were supporter of the movement for Independence.

This exhibition is a part of a big step that India is making from the years of Liberation.

“The fabric of India” is an exhibition that gives new shine and light to ancient techniques that should not be neglected but should be renewed and renovated.