The origins of Indian textiles date back some 6,000 years. Such a lengthy history - marked by the hand of harvesters, dyers and weavers - has made recording the nation's textile story a monstrous task. But this Fall, an exhibition - hosted by the Victoria & Albert Museum in London - hopes to tell India's fabric story.
The 'Fabric of India' is the first major exhibition to explore the rich and fascinating world of handmade textiles from India.
Gathering together some of the finest and most fascinating textiles, curators Divia Patel and Rosemary Crill looked within the museum's vaults and in other collections across the globe to best recreate the "processes, history, and politics associated with these incredible objects."
The headline attraction of the V&A’s India Festival, the exhibition spans from the 3rd century to the present day- even showing pieces from contemporary clothing designers Manish Arora, Sabyasachi Mukherjee and Rajesh Pratap. All in all, over 200 objects are featured - many on display for the first time.
"Visitors can expect a stunning range of historic dress, heirloom fabrics, and cutting-edge fashion," reads the exhibition directive online.
The exhibition is broken up into several key sections. The first - 'Nature and Making', explores India's textile-making materials and processes.
"Over centuries, most regions developed specialities based on local conditions, such as the golden silks of Assam, the fine cottons of Bengal, or the red dyes of south-east India," explains the V&A online.
'Sacred' portrays the religious symbols, word and figures inscribed into India's textiles that speak of different faiths.
"Whether worn for rituals, offered by devotees to temples and shrines, or used as hangings to decorate sacred spaces, textiles still play a key role in religious observance in India."
Showcases a variety of India's royal masterpieces is 'Splendid' - each piece crowned by Tipu Sultan’s massive 18th century chintz tent towering above the gallery, while 'A Global Trade' tells of India’s global export textile market.
"[The weavers'] skill lay not only in the mastery of textile techniques – spinning, weaving and dyeing – but also in meeting the different needs of [foreign] markets."
'Textiles in a Changing World' traces this history of India’s textile industrialization and new technologies are explored in relation to hand-made textiles in the 'Cutting Edge' section.
“We’re talking about hand skills and we also show that they survive in India in a very contemporary way," Crill told WWD.
"It’s not just a quaint, old-fashioned thing but it’s something that has been taken up by contemporary designers both in terms of the hand making and weaving but also the use of natural dyes and fewer chemicals."
The 'Fabric of India' will be at the V&A from 3 October 2015 to 10 January 2016.