(Indian Handmade
embroidered patchwork wall hanging)
The Phansi Museum kicks of the year with an intimate Pop Up
Exhibition of a selection of Indian Textiles titled Other Routes.
Traditionally the textile industry in India, after
agriculture, is one of the only industries that has generated immense
opportunities for employment for both skilled and unskilled labour in textiles.
The textile industry continues to be the second largest employment generating
sector in India and offers direct employment to over 35 million people in the
country.
According to the 2011 Crafts Economics and Impact Study
(CEIS) by the Crafts Council of India around 200 million people are involved in
the handicraft sector. Similarly, to
South Africa, traditional artisans are mainly rural based and often times
belong to low socio-economic sectors of society. Their skills are learnt as
youngsters or passed on by family members outside the mainstream educational system.
Cotton, silk, and wool are the three materials from which
Indian textiles are woven. The cotton plant grows in many regions of India,
each of which produces a different grade product. The artisan communities in
India, very much like southern African crafters developed their crafts
essentially from the use of natural resources readily available in their local
environments, for example clay, wood, found objects, bone and grass.
India has always been exalted as the country of symbolic
colours. The use of colour in Indian textiles has been a large part of the
Indian consciousness. The same can be
said about the symbolic use of colour in South African beadwork where colour
denotes feelings, beliefs, desires and power.
Textiles have a long and distinguished history in the Indian
sub-continent. The technique of mordant dyeing, which gives intense colours
that do not fade, has been used by Indian textile workers since the second
millennium BC. Similarly, Ilala basket weavers
and potters from KwaZulu-Natal use natural dyes such as mud, plants, charcoal,
bark and a variety of roots to colour the product.
Indian textile traditions are reputed all over the world and
admired for their beauty, texture and durability. The fabrics on display depict the
extraordinary dexterity and illustrate the intricacy and beauty of Indian
textiles. We would like to invited the public to view and carefully examine and
scrutinise the magical make-up of the works on display.
Other Routes will
be on display until February 18. Phansi Museum is situated at 500 Esther
Roberts Road, Glenwood, Durban. For more information contact 031 206 2889 or
email: admin@phansi.com
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