ABOUT THE COURSE:This course puts forward an invested and interdisciplinary way of examining, analysing and appreciating Indian textiles drawing on the ongoing scholarly discussions around craft-art interface, visual and contextual analysis of art practices and sustainability. A selected set of textiles and allied craft and art practices from the early modern to the contemporary period in the Indian subcontinent is addressed in this course. By situating textiles within the larger spectrum of artisanal and art practices in given temporal settings, this course emphasises interconnections between makers, communities, processes, objects and consumers. This approach is beneficial for art practitioners, designers, aspiring art historians, and those preparing for competitive examinations.Studies in Indian textiles have underscored a range of pertinent topics, including textiles and trade networks (Barnes 1997, 2017; Crill 2006, 2008; Peck 2013), materials and techniques of textile making (Bean 1989; Cecil 2013; Cohen 2016), textiles and identity formation (Edwards 2011, 2016) and innovation and sustainability (Sethi 2016; Venkatesan 2010). Alongside, fresh perspectives into textile makers’ intelligence (Fee 2020; Sengupta 2021) and sensory perception of historical textiles and other artifacts (Houghteling 2022) situated Indian textiles in the intersection of art history, material culture, design history and practice-based studies. Drawing on these ongoing discussions, the course aims to broaden the scope to consider the concepts and tangible presence of textiles and allied practices and their deep impact on societieINTENDED AUDIENCE: Students and professionals in Fine Arts, Design and Humanities
Threads of Visual Exploration: Textiles and Allied Practices
Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur and NPTEL via Swayam
Overview
Syllabus
Week 1: Visual Exploration and Textiles
The relevance of textiles in studying art history and material culture
Identification and salient features of different forms of Indian textiles
Visual exploration and art theory Week 2:Woven Textiles and Allied Practices
Brocade and extra weft weaving forms and their co-relation with architecture and artifacts
Baluchar saris of Bengal, Kanchipuram saris of Tamil Nadu
Figuration and geometric abstraction Week 3:Textiles and Mughal Miniature Paintings
Mughal brocade, velvet and woven rugs and their relationship with miniature paintings
Representational space in textiles and miniatures
Interrelations between courtly art and textile practices beyond visual appearance Week 4:Kalamkari and Allied Practices
Dyed, painted, printed and resist-dyed cottons of the Coromandel
Relationship between kalamkari, architecture and Deccani craft
Kalamkari and trade networks
Artisanal perspectives into art history Week 5:Embroidered Narratives
Embroidery on textiles as a way of narrating and overwriting stories
Kashmir shawls, rumals of Chamba and kantha quilts of Bengal and their allied practices
Needle of embroidery as a tool for drawing and writing
Workmanship, domesticity and textiles Week 6:Colonial Interventions and Khadi
Textiles into colonial catalogues and exhibitions
Marginalisation of indigenous textiles and the rise of anti-colonial resistance
The long-lasting impact of Khadi in nation-building and self-sufficiencyWeek 7:Fashion in the Post-independence India
Indigenous textiles and designers’ interventions
Redefining of traditional meaning and associations of textiles
Visvakarma exhibitions and artisan-designer collaborations
Sustainability, slow fashion and their social impactWeek 8:Textiles and Contemporary Art Practice in India
Textile as a medium of contemporary art, textile in contemporary art
Nilima Sheikh’s textile-like scrolls, Shruti Mahajan’s transference of weaving metaphors into paper
Contemporary dyed textiles of M. Kailasham and Ajit Das
Textiles as part of performance art
The relevance of textiles in studying art history and material culture
Identification and salient features of different forms of Indian textiles
Visual exploration and art theory Week 2:Woven Textiles and Allied Practices
Brocade and extra weft weaving forms and their co-relation with architecture and artifacts
Baluchar saris of Bengal, Kanchipuram saris of Tamil Nadu
Figuration and geometric abstraction Week 3:Textiles and Mughal Miniature Paintings
Mughal brocade, velvet and woven rugs and their relationship with miniature paintings
Representational space in textiles and miniatures
Interrelations between courtly art and textile practices beyond visual appearance Week 4:Kalamkari and Allied Practices
Dyed, painted, printed and resist-dyed cottons of the Coromandel
Relationship between kalamkari, architecture and Deccani craft
Kalamkari and trade networks
Artisanal perspectives into art history Week 5:Embroidered Narratives
Embroidery on textiles as a way of narrating and overwriting stories
Kashmir shawls, rumals of Chamba and kantha quilts of Bengal and their allied practices
Needle of embroidery as a tool for drawing and writing
Workmanship, domesticity and textiles Week 6:Colonial Interventions and Khadi
Textiles into colonial catalogues and exhibitions
Marginalisation of indigenous textiles and the rise of anti-colonial resistance
The long-lasting impact of Khadi in nation-building and self-sufficiencyWeek 7:Fashion in the Post-independence India
Indigenous textiles and designers’ interventions
Redefining of traditional meaning and associations of textiles
Visvakarma exhibitions and artisan-designer collaborations
Sustainability, slow fashion and their social impactWeek 8:Textiles and Contemporary Art Practice in India
Textile as a medium of contemporary art, textile in contemporary art
Nilima Sheikh’s textile-like scrolls, Shruti Mahajan’s transference of weaving metaphors into paper
Contemporary dyed textiles of M. Kailasham and Ajit Das
Textiles as part of performance art
Taught by
Prof. Rajarshi Sengupta
