Design by Urban Matter, Inc.
All content © 2012 by Designwala
by Shagun Singh
Sotheby’s is holding an exhibition/auction around Indian contemporary design and art. The exhibition that is aptly called “inspired by India” will showcase photographs, textiles, ceramics, jewelry, furniture and more. It will be held in London from May 8th to 15th. The exhibition has been curated by Janice Blackburn, London curator and as an article in NY times puts it – a high end tastemaker, her passionate and uncompromising adoption of the crafts world has put a telling imprimatur on an emerging artistic market”. The exhibition is being designed by Designers Guild, a company founded by Tricia Guild and her brother Simon Jeffreys in the 1970′s. Their’s is a lifestyle company that sells everything from wall coverings to bed and bath collections worldwide.
The designers that are showcasing their work come from everywhere. They maybe not all be Indian but their work is inspired by the culture, color and crafts of India.
Christina Kim
The selling exhibition will feature collection of shawls by Christina Kim from the fashion brand Dosa. Christina worked with SEWA (Self Employed Women’s Association) in Ahmedabad, India. SEWA is a trade union organization in India which organizes women workers for full employment. In an interview Christiana stated – “Depending on the size of my projects, I work with about 50 to 200 women at any one time. They work with me on projects that require large units and a lot of handiwork, such as embroidery, weaving or fabric dying” Christina also uses Khadi (a hand spun, hand woven Indian cloth made popular by Mahatma Gandhi). She says – People don’t want to pay a premium for this fabric. In turn, families who once relied upon this form of work can no longer support themselves. Their children don’t want to be khadi fabric weavers and are more attracted to working in the high tech industry where wages are significantly higher. It’s a sad loss and a sign of our times. I’m pleased to say there is a great revival of indigo and tea fabric dyeing. I like to introduce new ideas and ways of working with artisans who dye fabrics with tea and indigo. I usually work in ways they are used to, and gradually over time, I will introduce changes to mix new techniques with traditional ones.”
Alice’s meenakari and Temple collections
Alice Cicolini jewelry designs have been handmade in India by one of the last Jaipuri ‘meenakari’ trained in the enamel traditions of Persia, this technique has been passed down through his family for over 200 years. According to the the talisman gallery – items of the highest craftsmanship made by the family are owned by the Maharajas of Patiala and Jaipur and have been exhibited around the world. The sacred architecture and patterns of the Silk Route are the inspiration for Alice Cicolini’s jewellery.
Dumroo
Gold and Silver leaf Dining Throne
Wrap is a luxury and lifestyle brand established on social and environmental sustainable principles. Wrap seeks to revive and invigorate India’s traditional crafts by positioning them at the heart of contemporary home. Their furniture collection of gold and silver wrapped Dining Thrones and Dumroo has had critical success.
Red Clay Vases by Rahul Kumar
Indian Hippy Toofan Mail
Gita Pandit's photographs
Delhi-based potter Rahul Kumar has made a unique series of pots for “Inspired by India”, all in red clay. The work also includes Gita Pandits photographs and a great collection of vintage Bollywood posters by the ‘Indian Hippy.
Luisa Cevesa's prayer rug
Italian designer Luisa Cevese’s started out working in research in a silk mill and became aware of the vast quantity of waste created in textile production. Cevese was inspired by this industrial by-product and founded Riedizioni, which uses plastic and industrial remnants such as selvedges, damaged yarns, cuts from garments etc and textile scraps to create a new material. It was by chance that Cevese came upon the idea for the new pieces. “One time I got some remnants from a company, and I also received this very beautiful eighteenth-century textile with gold embroidery,” she says. “They came from a sacred textile company that makes fabrics for priests.”
Sabyasachi
Last but not the least, the showcase cum auction will feature Sabyasachi Mukerjee. According to Janice Blackburn in the Times of India – “He is to my mind the finest and most original of the Indian dress and accessory designers. He doesn’t look to the West for his inspiration but rather the colourful low life of India – gypsies, the desert, Bollywood. His work is very Indian but in a way that in the West we understand and appreciate and value.”
She goes ahead to say – “I visited and travelled extensively in India for many years and am particularly interested in crafts such as weaving, tie-dying, embroidery, enamelling, paper and so on…. It is sad that most of the skills and craft traditions we associate and value in India are dying out and not being passed on to the next generation who prefer to go to the cities. Much of the work is now mass-produced and poor. But there is a new generation of designers who are adapting these traditional skills and using them for well-designed contemporary work. This is what interests me. I have met and worked with several of these designers before. Sabyasachi clearly was someone special. His workmanship is exquisite – all handmade – embroidery, beading,”
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