Textile chronicles... Mapping out the history of the textile trading industry through the mills of Mumbai, this exhibition features unique artwork

Textile chronicles...

Mapping out the history of the textile trading industry through the mills of Mumbai, this exhibition features unique artwork

Capturing the history and culture of Mumbai, Social Fabric is an exhibition which traces the history of textile trading in Mumbai from early colonial days. The city’s oldest museum, Dr Bhau Daji Lad Museum that currently has a strong focus on contemporary art has come together with INIVA, the Institute of International Visual Arts, London to feature artworks by eminent artists like Sudhir Patwardhan, Archana Hande, German artist Alice Creischer and UK based artist Celine Condorelli among many others. “A lot of research was done to bring this exhibition together. I have studied the textile industry for a long time and we wanted people who were serious about their work to put forth their best. If you see, every artist has their own way of expression and in the end that is what matters,” says Grant Watson, co-curator. The museum also has many dioramas and models that find congruence with subject of textile mills as they showcase culture and life of people as depicted in the exhibition. “There are dioramas of the earliest mills in Mumbai, of the first chawls, of a textile weaver’s hut and clay models demonstrating the various processes of making and embellishing textiles,” says Tasneem Mehta who is the curator for the museum. The exhibition uses textiles to explore labour, capital, colonialism, radical politics and international trade ergo bringing forward the economic and social role of textiles. Alice Creischer, who brought about an international perspective to her artwork, says, “I have tried to bring my experiences in Latin America and India into the artwork and explain the effect of colonialism and globalisation.” Her artwork is made from the combination of cut paper, photographic images, letters and buttons etc. On display is also Sunil Patwardhan’s acrylic on canvas painting of Girangaon (the village of mills) from his work ‘Lower Parel’ (2001) which shows the forms of cultural expression of the working class labour assembled under the shadow of the factory. The Collections of the Textile Manufacturers of India by Dr Forbes Watson from the museum’s collection are also exhibited with Social Fabric. When & Where: Every Sunday till October 28, Dr Bhau Daji Lad Museum, Byculla