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DR. BHAU DAJI LAD MUMBAI CITY MUSEUM

Connecting Threads: Textiles in Contemporary Practice

Presented by Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Museum

Curated by Tasneem Zakaria Mehta & Puja Vaish

Participating Artists: Anita Dube, Anju Dodiya, Archana Hande, Desmond Lazaro, Lavanya Mani, Manish Nai, Manisha Parekh, Monali Meher, Nilima Sheikh, Paula Sengupta, Priya Ravish Mehra, Pushpamala N, Rakhi Peswani, Reena Saini Kallat, Shakuntala Kulkarni, Sharmila Samant, Shezad Dawood

The exhibition attempts to trace textile practices, traditions and histories in Contemporary Indian Art. As a medium textile, has an intrinsic meaning and context. The material’s history, its modes of production and its function as a cultural object inform its use in contemporary art practice. Textiles, both as practice and form are inextricably linked to complex histories of legitimation and hegemony, colonial trade, industry, and the freedom movement. Textiles define culture through the relationship between body, cloth, selfhood, attires, identities and fashion.

Juxtaposed with the Museum’s textile collection, the exhibition re-looks at the narratives invoked through a range of artworks. It showcases many forms of artistic practice that have approached the process of art-making by engaging ‘craft’ and ‘traditional’ practices, to address contemporary concerns.

Read More      Press Release

We would like to acknowledge the support of the following galleries: Chemould Prescott Road, Mumbai; Guild, Mumbai; Galerie Mirchandani + Steinruecke, Mumbai; Nature Morte, New Delhi, Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi; Akar Prakar, Kolkata

We would like to thank the following individuals and institutions who have loaned works for the exhibition: Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, New Delhi; Devi Art Foundation, New Delhi; Anandi Mehra, holder of the estate of Priya Ravish Mehra; Ms. Shilpa Kalanjee.


JAN 19, 2019

Conference

Connecting Threads: Textiles in Contemporary Practice

A unique opportunity to hear the curators and participating artists speak about their work as well as hear expert theorists on contemporary practices and concepts and the historic contexts associated with textile in contemporary art.

Conference: Connecting Threads: Textiles in Contemporary Practice
19 January 2019 | 2pm – 5.30pm

A unique opportunity to hear the curators and participating artists speak about their work as well as hear expert theorists on contemporary practices and concepts and the historic contexts associated with textile in contemporary art.

2.00- Registrations & tea
2.30 - Welcome address and introduction by Museum Director, Mrs. Tasneem Mehta
2:40 - 3:30 – Speaker: Dr. Jyotindra Jain (on Textile History & its Relevance: Cotton history, Colonial trade and the freedom movement)
3.30 - 3.45 - Q & A with the audience moderated by Mrs. Tasneem Mehta


INDUSTRY, CRAFTSMANSHIP AND LABOUR

3: 45 - 4:30 pm - Discussion moderated by Abhay Sardesai. Panellists- curators, artists and Dr. Jain (Artists: Nilima Sheikh, Rakhi Peswani, Lavanya Mani, Manisha Parekh, Sharmila Samant, Archana Hande, Manish Nai)

This session will discuss ideas of the ‘decorative arts’, ‘crafts’ and the ‘traditional’ in the contemporary context. The use of the term ‘decorative art’ is connected with the organisation of knowledge as it developed in the Western world. In most other cultures, what are now considered the visual arts (painting, drawing, sculpture etc) were considered crafts on the same level as textile weaving, ceramics and wood-working. The discussion will explore how the works featured in the exhibition deliberate on such classifications and refer to the possibilities of contemporary Indian art to straddle several knowledge systems and generate layered meanings.


MATERIAL, MEMORY AND IDENTITY

4:30 - 5:15 - Discussion moderated by Dr. Arshiya Lokhandwala, Panellists- curators, artists and Dr. Jain (Artists: Anita Dube, Anju Dodiya, Shakuntala Kulkarni, Paula Sengupta, Pushpamala N, Reena Saini Kallat)

As a medium, textile has an intrinsic meaning and conveys a context. The material’s history, its modes of production and its function as a cultural object inform its use in contemporary art. Textiles define culture through the relationship between cloth, body, selfhood, attires and identities. This session will discuss the metaphors explored through textiles in the artists’ works, which reference personal and national histories, and identities.

5:15 - 5:30 - Concluding Remarks – Mrs. Tasneem Mehta


DEC 6, 2018    2 pm - 5 pm

Workshop: Digital Embroidery with Christian Lolkes

In collaboration with Goethe-Institut/Max Mueller Bhavan Mumbai

Join us for a special, one of a kind, workshop inspired by our ongoing exhibition, 'Connecting Threads: Textiles in Contemporary Practice'.

An interactive tour of the exhibition with a member of the Museum's curatorial team will be followed by an activity in which participants create patterns and shapes using computer codes and maths. These designs will then be fed into a digital embroidery machine and embroidered.


DEC 22, 2018    11 am - 2 pm

Free Workshop | Explore the Exhibition 'Connecting Threads'

Explore the Museum's current special exhibition, 'Connecting Threads: Textiles in Contemporary Practice' on an interpretive tour this Saturday! Respond to the artworks, materials, themes and histories you found most striking and evocative through words and images!


JAN 20, 2019       11:30 am - 2:30 pm

Free Tour and Workshop of the Exhibition 'Connecting Threads'

Join us for a free interpretive tour of the Museum's current special exhibition, 'Connecting Threads: Textiles in Contemporary Practice', followed by a hands-on craft activity in response to the works in the exhibition!


FEB 03, 2019       11 am - 2 pm

Free Workshop | Make Your Own Block-Print Stories

Explore the Museum's current special exhibition, 'Connecting Threads: Textiles in Contemporary Practice' on an interpretive tour! Respond to the artworks and create your own story using block-printing! Get creative with natural and found material to build your character and story board.


FEB 16, 2019      4 pm - 6 pm

A special walk through of our exhibition 'Connecting Threads'!

Join us for a curators' walkthrough of 'Connecting Threads: Textiles in Contemporary Practice.

The exhibition attempts to trace textile practices, traditions and histories in Contemporary Indian Art. As a medium textile has an intrinsic meaning and context. The material’s history, its modes of production and its function as a cultural object inform its use in contemporary art practice.


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