An exhibition of saris in Chennai weaves together stories of nostalgia, grief, and celebration

Cousins Neela Krishnamurti and Vidhya Srikkanth grew up watching the likes of Rekha, Raakhee, and Sharmila Tagore, waltz throughout the silver display screen in drapes of various hues. “Again then, these had been our influencers,” says Neela, a former promoting filmmaker.

However there have been some others who knowledgeable the fashion decisions of this trendy duo too. “Our moms and aunts would put on the best of saris and look beautiful in them. It had extra to do with their manner and smile than their sari itself. I keep in mind how they might all gravitate in the direction of earthy tones in silk saris,” Neela says, reminiscing. She provides that the sisters grew up carrying one another’s saris, blouses, and garments, and had been at all times supported by their moms when it got here to their style experiments.

“I used to be single and needed to put on a white sari to Vidhya’s wedding ceremony. You understand what the elders say concerning the color throughout a marriage. Though some individuals chided me, my mom informed me to do as I happy and at all times supported me. Vidhya and I each misplaced our moms not too long ago. The loss was immense, and I’m nonetheless coping with it. We needed to do one thing collectively throughout this time. That’s after we considered saris,” says Neela.

Between September 18 and 20, Neela and Vidhya, will show over 200 saris in Kotturpuram. They are going to embrace saris from the Benarasi tissue, Benarasi tussar, Chanderi, pure tussar and moga tussar. “Vidhya has been operating a clothes design studio for years and has the knack of placing collectively a number of the most uncommon colors collectively within the cloth. To ensure that the saris to shine, we’ve additionally put collectively attention-grabbing contrasting blouses,” she says. Count on to see conventional block prints and jamdanis; and likewise some gold within the border as Deepavali approaches.

So as to experiment, the duo are enjoying round with the motifs within the border by taking inspiration from their South Indian roots, notably in legendary Tamil creatures like yazhi and berunda. The borders have been sourced and printed in West Bengal, whereas the saris have largely been sourced from Chennai and Mumbai.

Again in 2005, when the 2 cousins arrange their first such exhibition, they known as it ‘nv’, a phrase play on ‘envy’ — a portmanteau of the names. This time although, they’ve determined to flip it just a little and name it ‘laya’, a mixture of the final two elements of their identify. “Laya additionally means rhythm and move. We need to maintain this enterprise fluid and see how this present goes and need to be certain that we get it proper. Our subsequent such experiment is more likely to be one thing very completely different, maybe some indo-western put on,” she says.

Laya is on September 19, 20, and 21 at No. 5, Ambadi Street, Kotturpuram between 11am and 7pm.