Tag: Heritage
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Textile Trails: Where The Loom Comes Alive
Did you, like us, not want National Handloom Day to end? Beautiful images of effortlessly draped handwoven sarees, weavers working their magic on the loom and cities steeped in textile traditions made us long for an earthy aesthetic. It also evoked in us severe wanderlust. After all, Chanderi, Maheshwari, Kota, Paithani – all get their […]
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Out of the Woodwork
In a world of steel, glass and chrome, where does wood, one of the earliest materials used in a home fit in? In nearly every corner! As accents like keepsake boxes, tissue boxes and tea-lights, as serveware like trays, platters and bowls or table ware with coasters and napkin holders. Once largely relegated to the […]
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Design by Flowers
Roses, tulips, chrysanthemums and peonies; acanthus and Irises… the grammar of ornamentation on textiles, jewelry, furniture and architecture has always included flowers. Whether they were carved onto wood, sculpted in stone or block printed on fabric, the human world has had an unceasing fascination with floral motifs. Flowers were perhaps one of the first things […]
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Punjab: an Amalgam
Famous for its scenic landscape, mustard blooms, ancient fertile lands, religious diversity and gregarious people, Punjab, despite it’s beautiful mountains and rivers was not always as blessed! Punjab has always been the center point of civilizations due to its strategic location as the entrance to the Indian subcontinent. Foreign invaders like the Persians, Greeks, Scythians and Kushanas came […]
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Uzbekistan : A Thriving Culture
Uzbekistan is one of the oldest civilized regions of the world. First settled by Iranian nomads, Uzbekistan has been in turns ruled by the Greeks, Turks and Arabs, the much feared Genghis Khan and Taimur; the ancestor of Mughals. By the time Uzbek tribes became powerful in the 15th century, Uzbekistan had already cemented its […]
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Charting a Contemporary Course for Traditional Craft Forms
How does one contemporarize traditional crafts without compromising on their purity? Taking heritage arts and crafts off the walls and elaborate mediums, designers today are bringing some of these into our homes through unique products, making them more accessible to a larger, appreciative audience. Bidriware from Bidar, Karnataka Striking strokes of silver against a deep, […]
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Indian Craft Meets International Design
The rich cultural heritage and exquisite craft forms of India have always been a source of inspiration for global fashion and international designers and the latest thing to add on to this list are the beautiful embroideries done at a workshop called ‘Aditiany’ in Kala Ghoda, Mumbai, India. Finding their way to the red carpets […]
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Event Focus: Devi Art Foundation Presents ‘Fracture – Indian Textiles, New Conversations’
Fracture is not a break. It is a continuation and a cycle, of tradition, which itself is ongoing and ever evolving. Drawing from India’s rich handloom and textile tradition, the Devi Art Foundation spearheaded by Lekha and Anupam Poddar, alongwith three co-curators – textile curator Mayank Mansingh Kaul, designer Sanjay Garg and textile author and […]
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To Alwar and Back in a Heartbeat
The yellow of her odhni, of the mustard in the breeze, of the unabashed sun. It is the color that follows you through the dusty roads that lead out of Delhi and towards Alwar, the ‘Gateway to Rajasthan’. Sitting to the north of the capital city Jaipur, this erstwhile princely state now beckons weekend free-wheelers […]
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Passing on a Precious Legacy: The Handloom School in Maheshwar, Madhya Pradesh
Among the many treasures of India, the heritage derived through a Handloom is one of the most exquisite. This tradition has been celebrated in the past by kings and commoners alike, but the future looks sadly uncertain. According to the 2011 Census data, nearly seven million families are involved in earning their bread through weaving […]
Storytellers of Wonder 