Carpet Baggers

Over 18 artists have lent their works to be turned into limited-edition,designer carpets that will be sold for the cause of People F or Animals (PFA). The artists featured range from S H Raza,M F Husain,Ram Kumar,Jehangir Sabavala and Manjit Bawa to T Vaikuntam,Chitravanu Mazumdar,Paresh Maity,Manu Parekh and Sujata Bajaj. There are a few younger names as well,like GR Iranna,Thukral and Tagra and Binoy Varghese. Five designers,including Manish Arora and Rohit Bal,have also contributed their designs for the project.

The prices start at Rs 35,000 and the most expensive are Raza’s and Husain’s for Rs 5 lakh each. The carpets are hand-woven and carry an authentication certificate from the painter.

One of the interesting transpositions from painting to carpet is Sabavala’s Casuarina Line,a series of three canvases of which one sold for Rs 1.7 crore at the Saffronart auction in June — a record for the octogenarian. “I’ve known Maneka Gandhi (chairperson of PFA India) for a long time,so when this project was presented I was happy to be a part of it. They told me they wanted to present one of my paintings as a carpet and so I sent them a whole book to choose from,” says Sabavala,who is known for his sublime cubist landscapes and deeply spiritual figures. “Because I’m not technically a carpet person I wanted them to choose and it so happened that they picked the third painting in the Casuarina Line series. The work is named after the casuarina tree and they transposed it from pastel shades to bright reds. It’s a novel idea,” says Sabavala whose 5 ft x 7 ft carpet echoes the bright,happy themes that run through all the works.

Raza’s flaming red carpet sports a bindu with a snake that often connotes the union between the male and female principles. Raza’s geometric works have a very strong design element and his paintings have been translated into scarves and pendants. Raza has often said that his art should reach out to more people,one reason he has encouraged collaborations with designers and serigraph artists.

“It is a very interesting thing to do a carpet from paintings or drawings,” says Jaishree Burman. “My drawing was turned into a carpet. I was excited to see it getting transposed to stunning colours.” Maity says,“It’s always interesting to see your works in forms other than canvas. Art should be a part of life. Still,whatever project you may extend your art to,it should be rooted in your signature style.”

The exhibition will be held at the Lalit Hotel from August 27 to 29.

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