Pampa | In Hampi’s ruins, a textile template emerges

The bamboo poles cease simply in need of grazing the partitions of the seventeenth century construction that, for 10 days, housed Pampa: Textiles of Karnataka — introduced by the Abheraj Baldota Basis, in collaboration with Karnataka’s division of tourism and the Archaeological Survey of India. A cautious matrix of comparable poles, held collectively sturdily with jute ropes, criss-cross the aged ceiling of the Mantapa Picture Exhibition Centre and maintain the magnificent textiles.

In a means, the exhibition design is an apt metaphor for the intent behind Pampa: one in all constructing connections between the previous and the brand new, every displaying off the opposite to their greatest benefit to revive curiosity within the textiles of the state. “What we want is a synergy,” says Lavina Baldota, who made her curatorial presence felt because the patron of Sutr Santati: Then, Now, Subsequent, a celebration of Indian textiles in 2022. Pampa is her sixth presentation, an ode to her marital dwelling of Karnataka.

The state shouldn’t be the primary to be related to a powerful or storied textile legacy, particularly in relation to wonderful materials — compared to, say, Bengal or Gujarat or nearer dwelling, to Tamil Nadu — however Pampa (an historical identify for the mighty Tungabhadra), she hopes, will assist it declare its rightful place within the solar. “As a survey exhibition, the primary iteration of Pampa units the framework for additional work that the Baldota Basis intends to take up within the area,” she provides. “The analysis will deepen, adopted by documentation, revivals, and new commissions resulting in exhibitions in different cities in Karnataka and past.”

Nayaka Kalamkari panel (cotton; handwoven, hand-drawn, resist-dyed utilizing pure dyes) commissioned to Sriyasmita Mishra and Vipin Das of Chennai-based Aksh Studio
| Picture Credit score:
Courtesy of the Baldota Basis

Crafting an ecosystem

It’s a formidable ambition however there are few higher positioned than Baldota to grasp it. As custodian of the 54-year-old Abheraj Baldota Basis, an affiliate of the diversified Baldota Group, with companies in mining, energy, metal and related core industrial areas, she is uniquely positioned to drag collectively discrete work on crafts and textiles — her core curiosity areas, constructing on an schooling in trend and textiles — and supply them a robust platform. Just like the bamboo poles within the historic construction, Baldota allows weavers, designers, practitioners to get in contact with their desired audiences, together with market-facing counterparts, in order to construct a whole ecosystem.

Set up of Navalgund durries
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Courtesy of the Baldota Basis

In a means, it’s a acutely aware effort to replace the finely balanced honeycomb of farmers, spinners, weavers, dyers, merchants, transporters that existed within the pre-colonial heydays of handwoven Indian textiles. Right now’s set-up nonetheless requires all of them, nevertheless it additionally wants champions who can take mental possession, in a fashion of talking, of specific textile clusters to create documentation, disseminate data, forge connections, design for brand new generations and assist construct respectful markets.

That that is no remoted endeavour is obvious from the truth that Pampa is the twentieth textile exhibition Mayank Mansingh Kaul has curated previously 10 years; it’s additionally his fourth for the Baldota Basis. By any requirements, that’s a powerful quantity, given the months of analysis every of them should have required. However it’s as spectacular as an indicator for the elevated urge for food for textile data among the many cognoscenti and the curious.

Set up view of the exhibition
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Courtesy of the Baldota Basis

Saris and their tales

That includes 108 textiles in 9 sections, the exhibition (March 1-10) hits all the appropriate notes, together with an early Kalamkari recreation of the Shiva-Parvati marriage ceremony mural on the central ranga mantapa ceiling of the seventh century Virupaksha temple, and a show of the Tricolour in khadi, crafted in close by Hubbali. The Karnataka Khadi Gramodyoga Samyukta Sangha is one in all solely 5 models authorised to make the nationwide flag in its initially mandated weave. “After we set out on our analysis journeys a couple of years in the past, Lavina and I assumed we’d discover possibly 10 examples of handmade textiles,” says Kaul. “As an alternative, the additional we travelled, the extra we acquired.”

The curatorial workforce (L-R) Pragati Mathur, Lavina Baldota, Mayank Mansingh Kaul, and Nupur Saxena
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Courtesy of the Baldota Basis

Deflecting often-justified criticism concerning the elite contents of textile exhibitions, Pampa makes it a degree to showcase clothes and home-linen of every day use: summer-friendly lungis, sheepwool kambli (blankets), shiny Navalgud durries. There are additionally good examples of vibrant Lambani embroidery and geometric kasuti work, each of which have discovered industrial success in lots of kinds.

The Lambani enclosure, that includes the Day and Night time Sky tent, showcases the intricate stitches of the Lambani tribe together with the dupatta, bangles, and lehenga-choli of Banjara ladies. It additionally features a Kora Khadi
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Courtesy of the Baldota Basis

Every of the textiles on show carries its personal story, however maybe none is extra emotive than those woven into the warp and weft of saris. Traditionally, when artisans took to their looms, they discovered inspiration within the nature round them. Although a lot has modified over the centuries for Indian textiles, the hand-fans and turtles woven into the textured Kotpad handlooms of Odisha, as an example, nonetheless survive. Likewise, the ceremonial patteda anchus of Gajendragarh — initially made as an providing to native deity Yellamma — nonetheless use a joyous palette of mustards, maroons, greens and pinks and abjure inauspicious black.

Ilkals, with their distinctive tope-teni (loops-joined) pallus, pay homage to the jowar (sorghum) that grows throughout the farming city; the design is impressed by the stalks of the crop, and the homegrown sari was additionally the agriculturists’ favorite drape. A number of related tales tumble out over the following few days: the vivid purple palla of 1 is a tribute to menstrual blood, the woven border of one other resembles hen toes as a simple promote to a poultry-farming neighborhood, and plenty of extra.

Impressed by the temple carvings of the Vijayanagar dynasty and the drawings of Dr. Pierre-Sylvain Filliozat, these textile panels are block printed on handwoven silk-cotton material
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Courtesy of the Baldota Basis

Born from the previous

Probably the most placing a part of the exhibition, for this author not less than, is the juxtaposed collections of a number of practitioners. Some, like Pavithra Muddaya of Vimor, the textile model from Bengaluru, would baulk at being known as designers, regardless of their years of labor within the area, however they’ve taken conventional weaves of the state and made them their very own, whereas sustaining their conventional constructions and motifs.

Silk ghagra and dupatta with Kasuti embroidery designed by Gaurang Shah
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Courtesy of the Baldota Basis

Khann or khana, for instance, is a narrow-width material of geometrical designs generally used for tailoring blouses in neighbouring southern Maharashtra. However, within the arms of Nationwide Institute of Design graduate Geeta Patil, it finds fabulous expression in saris.

Equally marvellous is the sq. inch-by-square inch recreation of a 150-year-old Molakalmuru, the eponymous textile of a city in Karnataka’s Chitradurga district. In a state the place the rich fell again on both Banaras or Kanchipuram for his or her occasionwear, Molakalmuru has lengthy been recognized for saris brocaded in silk and metallic yarns. At Baldota’s course, exhibition curators Pragati Mathur and Nupur Saxena sourced a powerful blue-and-red silk from Bengaluru-based textile aficionado Uma Rao and satisfied her to half with it briefly. They then scoured Molakalmuru until they zeroed in on grasp weaver D.S. Manjunath.

Set up of the Molkalamoru saris
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Courtesy of the Baldota Basis

“Initially, I used to be very assured of having the ability to replicate the sari,” says Manjunath on the exhibition, as he introduces his work. “Then I turned it over, noticed the underside and the unbelievable fineness of the work, and stated it’s inconceivable.” With encouragement and time, although, Manjunath was profitable in his efforts — and he even improved on it, by making certain the double-parrot motifs on the intersection of the physique and the palla have been an evenly spaced dozen, as a substitute of the 12-and-a-half as within the unique.

Maybe one of the crucial rewarding takeaways of a well-curated exhibition is to witness its shows in a continuum. Whereas there’ll undoubtedly be a domino impact, Pampa will in all probability be greatest served if it travels again to the place all of it started, to Ilkal and Navalgud and Molkalmuru and all the opposite clusters, bearing information of curiosity and funding to get the looms working with renewed vigour.

The author is an editor and researcher based mostly in Bengaluru.