Textile exhibition ‘Vayan’ in New Delhi delves into the history and art of Indian brocades

The 17th-century English explorer Edward Terry wrote of his visit to India: “The natives there show very much ingenuity in their curious manufactures, as in their silk stuff, which they most artificially weave, some very neatly mingled either with silver or gold or both…”…” It is these glowing, glistening, lustrous "silk stuffs" that are the subject of a dazzling exhibition at the National Crafts Museum & Hastkala Academy in New Delhi, this month. Vayan – The Art of Indian Brocades is the second in a series of small but significant textile exhibitions, curated by Mayank Mansingh Kaul for the Devi Foundation, in collaboration with the National Crafts Museum. Representing a period broadly from the 19th century to the present, the exhibits are drawn from both their collections. Watch | Textile exhibition 'Vayan' in New Delhi Entering the exhibition, your eyes adjust to a dark black void from which gradually emerge luminous patches of radiant colour. Each of the six sections highlights different weaving styles from all over the country linked by common visual, aesthetic and technical attributes—Banaras, of course, and Kanjeevaram, but also textiles from Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Central India. Many of the pieces are saris or odhnis with ornate decorative pallavs and strong, deep colors — red, magenta, orange — and broad, patterned gold-edged borders. Stylized paisleys, both as end pieces and as ornamental konia corners, are a recurring feature, as are trailing floral arabesques and stylized roses and poppies. Includ...