A pillar right here, an elaborately carved door there, trellised balconies and stone carvings supply tantalising glimpses of what it will need to have been like 2,000 years in the past when Paithan, then often known as Pratishthana, was the capital of the mighty Satavahana dynasty, and later the Vakatakas, the Yadavas and the Marathas. The city positioned a bit of greater than 50 km from Aurangabad metropolis was a bustling hub of commerce, cash and nice affect.
A few of that buzz was briefly recreated just lately when locals and textile aficionados from the nation converged to go to Kāth Padar — Paithani & Past, an unique exhibition organised on the Shri Balasaheb Patil Authorities Museum. Introduced by Maharashtra’s Directorate of Archaeology and Museums together with Pune-based The Vishwas & Anuradha Memorial (TVAM) Basis, it was an try and shine a light-weight on the wealthy and historical heritage of the place the place the Paithani sari discovered expression.
Kāth Padar — Paithani & Past exhibition in Paithan
| Photograph Credit score:
Courtesy of TVAM Basis
Mayank Mansingh Kaul, an unbiased researcher, author and curator, who labored intently with TVAM’s founder-chairperson Rasika Mhalgi Wakalkar for over a yr to offer form to the present, believes that at present tradition has grow to be far faraway from the individuals, it has been ‘museumified’.
Mayank Mansingh Kaul and Rasika Mhalgi Wakalkar at Kāth Padar
| Photograph Credit score:
Courtesy of TVAM Basis
“There’s a must take such instructional codecs of textiles to artisan centres the place there’s an lively neighborhood of textile makers. The exhibitions [of handspun, handwoven textiles] that I’ve had the possibility to curate at Chirala, Coimbatore, Hampi, Jaipur and Paithan have all emerged from this want,” says Kaul, who has an abiding curiosity in post-Independence histories of textiles in India. “My perception is that such exhibitions must transcend formal establishments and deal with audiences past the large metro cities.” A perception that’s justified: he recollects 4,000 weavers visiting the Chirala exhibition (in 2018) within the house of per week, and coming again to go to time and again.
“These initiatives are very important as they attain audiences which are usually missed, and embody them in these very important conversations on tradition. As Mayank demonstrated in Hampi [at Red Lilies, Water Birds, an exhibition of handwoven textiles conducted last November], the place the reveals had been superbly mounted in small village properties, it takes a transparent assertion of intent that’s coupled with a sure design ingenuity to make these workout routines potential in many various environments throughout the nation.”David Abraham Inventive director of vogue model Abraham & Thakore
Such initiatives are particularly very important as a result of the unhappy fact is that in a rustic with an extremely wealthy historical past and number of handwoven textiles, documentation is lax. Whereas few are stepping as much as fill the gaps — in Bengaluru, The Registry of Sarees, a analysis and examine centre based by Ahalya Mathan, is making an attempt an interdisciplinary method that allows design, curatorial and publishing of tasks within the space of handspun and handwoven textiles, and Varanasi has just lately began a centre devoted to showcasing its weaving strategies — there’s room for far more.
Initiatives akin to this assist. “At a time when there’s a surplus of complicated mis-representation in Indian textiles, exhibitions akin to Kāth Padar carry readability of hands-on studying from the supply of a cultural textile follow. They create bridges the place as soon as solely pockets of remoted studying existed,” says Mathan. “These are extra inclusive, experiential methods to grasp the tradition behind textiles that will in any other case be seen solely by way of geographical contexts. Hyperlinks based mostly on weaving technicalities and practices might now be furthered between weaving communities throughout the nation.”
What can textile exhibitions do?
In accordance with Kaul, exhibitions akin to these “create a bodily platform for a non-commercial instructional format. They are often the ‘curriculum’ within the absence of coaching modules in textiles”. He believes that exhibitions backed by analysis will narrate textile tales in an accessible method in order that the knowledge is inspirational pedagogy. “They are often taken out of huge cities into a unique demographic, and so they additionally spotlight the significance of archiving and creating an archive.”
“By means of initiatives akin to Kāth Padar, we expertise a tradition by way of the window of the previous. It’s a approach to decolonise the previous and introduce us to talent units that we battle to duplicate now. Exhibitions akin to these are a product of interdisciplinary research the place textile designers, archaeologists, historians, artists, writers, and conservationists all contribute a lot.”Ahalya MathanFounder, The Registry of Sarees
A deep dive into Paithani
Paithani, with its jewel tones in high quality silks and embellished with floral and fowl motifs, is a textile of the Deccan. They had been expressions of the facility and status of the dynasties that dominated over this area, particularly the Maratha aristocracy. The fragile and costly Paithani was wanted as far-off as Rome and anecdotal references say that Roman brides wore them!
The intricate borders of the Paithani
| Photograph Credit score:
Courtesy of TVAM Basis
A shela (left) and a Paithani sari
| Photograph Credit score:
Courtesy of TVAM Basis
The 20 items on exhibit embody saris, voluminous shelas (shawls) normally worn by males, safas or turban fabric, and borders. “The Paithani just isn’t a singular id; it has connections to completely different weaving traditions, and has travelled far and broad. A few of these textiles incorporate one thing of jaamdaani, the Irkal, and Chanderi,” says Kaul. “The motifs on a few of them have a visible similarity to Kashmiri shawls. Different motifs, such because the lotuses, are paying homage to the artwork within the Ajanta caves. There may be additionally proof that the Nizams of Hyderabad had been eager patrons and instituted workshops to revive the Paithani.”
A Paithani headgear
| Photograph Credit score:
Courtesy of TVAM Basis
The historic items have been drawn from the collections of the Shri Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Museum in Satara, the Shri Bhavani Museum and Library, Aundh, the Nagpur Central Museum in Nagpur, and personal house owners.
Bollywood join
Designer Nachiket Barve loves the Paithani and has labored with it extensively. He commissioned particular Paithanis for the 2020 movie Tanhaji, about Shivaji Maharaj’s trusted lieutenant. “I’m now engaged on a Marathi Movie, Maan Apmaan, which once more makes use of numerous Paithani saris as it’s set in an aristocratic milieu and is a couple of fictional princess,” he says. Whereas Barve believes that seeing conventional textiles on display screen has the potential to revive curiosity in them, the celebrated Maharashtrian textile will thrive solely when it enters the ‘coveted checklist’ throughout demographics, the best way the Benarsi has.
“Rasika and I went by way of a map of Maharashtra and recognized a minimum of 50 Maratha households. We met a number of of them in Miraj, Gaganbawda and Baroa, in addition to elements of Madhya Pradesh,” he says. “We started with our assumption that Paithani was a trophy textile that received patronage from the wealthiest aristocratic and royal households. And, after all, we visited the state museums, from the place most of the reveals are drawn.”
Lots of the planning and analysis undertaken by TVAM for the exhibition had been based mostly on the seminal work of historian R.S. Morwanchikar, from his thesis titled Paithan By means of the Ages, and his ebook Paithani: A Romance in Brocade. “Dr. Morwanchikar has been the foremost scholar on Paithan for the final 50 years,” says Wakalkar. “The black and white images of woodwork in Paithan that you just see on the exhibition had been taken by him within the 1980s. He has donated over 200 pictures and positives to TVAM, for our analysis functions.”
Black and white images of woodwork in Paithan
| Photograph Credit score:
Courtesy of TVAM Basis
The facades of outdated Peshwa homes in Paithan
| Photograph Credit score:
Courtesy of TVAM Basis
The woodwork in Peshwa homes
| Photograph Credit score:
Vishal Magar
Assets within the native language had been invaluable too, provides Kaul. “Sushma Deshpande’s PhD in Marathi on the costumes and attire of the Peshwas [the second highest office in the Maratha Confederacy] gave us meticulously recorded particulars. She is now writing about references to the Paithani in Marathi literature and poetry.” Lots of historic assets, sadly, are from the western world, he says, and had been seen by way of a prism of the colonisers. Whereas they’re a priceless supply, a lot is commonly misplaced in translation and lacks native nuances. So, the conversations Kaul and Wakalkar had whereas placing collectively the present, and the assets accessible within the native language went a great distance in ‘decolonising’ the knowledge.
An expertise to be replicated
Even when such exhibitions at artisan centres can’t be equivalent or templated variations of one another, as a result of distinction in atmosphere, house, communities and infrastructure, they are often pushed by the identical sentiment and spirit, believes Kaul. “In Hampi [at ‘Red Lilies, Water Birds’, an exhibition of handwoven textiles held last November], we didn’t have a museum like we do in Paithan, so the reveals had been mounted in village homes. In Coimbatore, recognized for a few of the world’s best mill-made cotton, the ‘Meanings, Metaphors’ exhibition [housed in a mill] made an announcement in regards to the handmade.”
Authorities help is necessary for this. The Ministry of Tradition Affairs aided Kāth Padar by fast-tracking conferences, guaranteeing funding and fast approvals. “There was help proper from the extent of the minister to the native employees on the museum,” says Tejas Madan Garge, the director of the Directorate of Archaeology and Museums, including that he believed collaborations with consultants will revitalise conventional textiles. “The state authorities museums are a wealthy repository of supply supplies, and such exhibitions may very well be replicated in different state departments as nicely.”
Creating archives
One of many outcomes of Kāth Padar will probably be to make sure correct documentation of motifs, weaving strategies and colors of Deccan textiles, particularly for the weavers. “A weaver weaves to promote. Forty or fifty years after a sari leaves a weaving centre, the weaver or his kids can have no pattern listing or archive to check with,” says Wakalkar. “What which means is that markets will dictate design selections relying on what’s ‘promoting’ extra. The appear and feel of a Paithani has modified at present. I gained’t say if that’s good or dangerous, nevertheless it was one of many causes to undertake this challenge. It’s an open invitation to weavers, students, designers, merchants, patrons and patrons, to take part within the dialog, and have their very own take-aways.”
“By means of initiatives akin to Kāth Padar, we expertise a tradition by way of the window of the previous. It’s a approach to decolonise the previous and introduce us to talent units that we battle to duplicate now. Exhibitions akin to these are a product of interdisciplinary research the place textile designers, archaeologists, historians, artists, writers, and conservationists all contribute a lot.”Ahalya MathanFounder, The Registry of Sarees
Constructing a bridge
In the meantime, weavers from Paithan are coming ahead with info and samples of outdated items that they or their mother and father and grandparents have woven — which is critical when even the Paithan museum doesn’t have an outdated Paithan textile. “That is the type of response that’s so gratifying,” says Wakalkar, as she admires a duplicate of an outdated Paithani sari richly woven with peacocks, parrots, lotuses and creepers. It was made by a member of the family of Shameen Bhai, a grasp weaver himself.
A Paithani weaver
| Photograph Credit score:
Courtesy of TVAM Basis
Shantilal Bhandge, an 80-year-old weaver of the Paithani sari, who visited the exhibition on its first day, shares that he was overjoyed to see the historic textiles. “Not often does anybody weave saris like that any extra; it will be too costly. However, if weavers at present see this assortment, they are going to be impressed to lift the bar [there are around 300 weavers in Paithan and neighbouring Yeola]. There may be a lot magnificence within the particulars,” he says. As an example, the exhibited borders depict lotuses that seem like they had been painted on, underlining the usage of the interlock tapestry weaving approach to carry out color tones. “Kāth Padar gave me lots to consider,” provides Bhandge, who gained the Nationwide Award in 1991.
“Exhibitions akin to these offered outdoors of the large cities permit for a brand new viewers who’re native and sometimes extra conscious of the normal features of the woven textiles on show than their city counterparts. ”Lekha PoddarCo-founder, Devi Artwork Basis
Having extra researchers collaborate with state governments to host textile exhibitions in small cities will even encourage conversations that may elevate consciousness and entry to info. “Lots of instances, heritage collections will not be open or accessible. A ebook or a listing is informative, however seeing examples of the work is a really completely different factor,” says Sucharita Beniwal, co-lead of textile design at Ahmedabad’s Nationwide Institute of Design, who encourages her college students to go to as many exhibitions as they will. “Extra so in environments faraway from large metros, you see the textiles in one other mild and context. It is a vital format that has to return up.”
The author is a contract journalist based mostly in Coimbatore.