Living legacy

Patron of the crafts Brigitte Singh celebrates 40 years of creating some of the finest hand-block prints in the world. As inspired by tradition as she is by memory, India’s leading textile designer shares her renewed vision of finding perfection in simplicity.

- Priyanka Khanna

“When young designers are interested in what the older generation is doing, it’s refreshing. You don’t feel like an old crony,” says Brigitte Singh over the phone from her home in Jaipur. We are chatting about the now out-of-print Brigitte Singh: The Printress Of The Mughal Garden edited by Bishwadeep Moitra (Mapin Publishing), an almanac documenting her pioneering work with hand-block prints, which came out in 2018. Singh tells me how the book serves as a gratifying recognition of her life’s work from experts and peers such as Laila Tyabji. They are unanimous in singling out her contribution to Indian textiles. That is what won her admiration by the Rajasthan and French governments with the Prashasti Patra award (2011) andthe Ordre National du Mérite (2015), and led to her ‘Atamsukh’ poppy print coat being featured at the V&A (2015) and showcased in her native Angers.