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“MASTERS OF THE CLOTH” Indian Textiles Traded to Distant Shores
TAPI Collection
Held at the National Museum, New Delhi November 11, 2005 to January 15, 2006.
The exhibition was a collaborative effort of the TAPI Collection, Surat, and India's premier official museum, the National Museum, New Delhi, India.
“Masters of the Cloth…” presents examples of Indian textiles that went by way of trade to the islands of Indonesia, to Thailand and Sri Lanka in the east, and to Persia, Egypt, Nigeria, Portugal, Netherlands, Britain, France in the West. Included is a solitary example of a stamped chintz that reached the US. These textiles, and the supporting lithographic material, reconstruct the tales of their journeys to lands where they played multifarious roles – social, ceremonial, ritualistic, decorative or simply utilitarian. As these cloths were destined for export rather than local use, such examples were not earlier available for study in the Indian Textile collections.
The exhibition provided a unique opportunity for researchers, students, textile lovers, crafts-persons from India and abroad, to get together, and witness the diversity and antiquity of textiles made in India for foreign markets.
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These ‘Trade Textiles' bring home to the Indian viewers, for the first time, a fascinating but forgotten past of India's textile craft. They reflect the ability through the ages, of our humble textile craftsman, to respond to the needs of distant markets. The exhibition presents rare examples of Indian Trade Cloths that survived on distant shores.
Our satellite events calendar included a symposium with eminent scholars on the panel. Included are live demonstrations of textile techniques, a kalamkari and block-printing workshop, lectures, film shows, and art competitions.
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