Textile traditions: Exhibition opens to a Central Asian journey back in time

The displays included hand-woven sheets inspired by Mughal gardens, water bodies, animals, and flowers. Many of the designs include symbolic motifs such as the evil eye;  borders that had a unique significance in culture. “These fabrics originated from Central Asia, China, and Uzbekistan nearly 5000 years ago”, David Housego told mediapersons.

“The Silk Road is what connects us to Europe and to Asia,” said David, detailing the “visible influence of Chinese and Malaysian patterns” and how the tradition practically disappeared at the outbreak of World War I and then flourished again at the beginning of the 20th century.

Trustee of the Kasturbhai Lalbhai Museum Jayshree Lalbhai said,  “We have that rare talent with which we can bring the past back,” she said, adding, “Certain designs were specialized by distinct communities — for example, Jews were considered specialists in Bukhara.”

Asked what inspired him to enter this field, David said, “I was born in Iran, and I grew up watching this kind of surrounding and how the market amazed me, and how these were made and what were the thoughts behind this, so I decided to get into this field and know more.”

Explaining the art of Ikat, Mandeep said, “Ikat is one of the oldest design patterns in which they dip threads in colored dye and create patterns out of it. It was mostly made by men and is the hardest and oldest design out of all.”

The exhibition will be open till November 30.

(Jyoti Chauhan & Drishti Bhatt are interns in the Ahmedabad office of The Indian Express)