Textile Resurgence & Rejuvenation!

Chitra Balasubramaniam explores textile rejuvenation which is achieved by borrowing from foreign influences.

- Chitra Balasubramaniam

The history of Indian textiles is peppered with stories of how a particular form of weaving or embroidery was introduced by a traveller. How the art of block printing came from Persia or a weaving style from the Far East. Centuries later, one can witness similar things happening again in the field of textiles. With hand skills of textiles losing their mass flavour in most countries, India is the only place which in which it thrives in such large measures and so it is not uncommon to see some of the dying textile crafts seeing a resurgence in India and that too on a mass scale. The list of innovative techniques which have crept in include shibori, itajme, Indonesian ikat weaving, ikat from Thailand and Cambodia, block printing using designs inspired from Malaysian ikat or pau kumbu and more.

In this process to accurately pinpoint the origins of these textile traditions, what is usually ignored are the consummate skills of the Indian craftsmen who can adapt to a new technique with consummate ease. Today, there is a great deal of experimentation with hand skills and an interesting mix and match seems to be evolving. With foreign artists and designers working with a host of Indian artisans, newer techniques are being incorporated and there is a deviation from the tried and tested. It is not as if the tried and tested is not happening but there is a constant evolution. May be in the annals of history, a century later, such crafts will be written about and their origins contemplated upon just like we do with a lot of different forms of weaving today. What is heartening though is that these techniques have not been incorporated as a one of kind experimentation but are available freely in the market. It can be used for haute couture or prêt a port collections.