Kashi Kaleidoscope September 23, 2009

Kashi Kaleidoscope - Exhibition

Kashi Kaleidoscope - Exhibition. A display of the fruits of the Varanasi Handloom, a compote of tradition & modernity to the design of Sribhas C. Supakar. Shri B.K. Sinha IAS Development Commissioner (Handlooms) will be the Chief Guest. In the race towards modernization and branded consumer-wear, Indians are gradually forgetting the weavers and innumerable hours they spend in making hand-woven clothes which sometimes affect their health and shorten their lifespan. This was also one of the reasons for the father of the nation, Mahatma Gandhi, took so strongly to khadi which was also hand-woven and spun it himself to understand the pains the weavers went underwent. Sixty-two years after independence, it is time to really stop paying only lip service to some of the ideals of our freedom fighters and martyrs and really attempt to live up to their ideals. Kashi Kaleidoscope is an attempt to present a rare insight into the incredible and manifold creativity of the Varanasi weavers. Living in cramped cottages in conditions far from opulent, denied exposure to fashion and design trends in the world, and solely guided by centuries of craft memory and inherited tradition and skill, they manage yet to produce the most wondrous oeuvres to emerge from Varanasi (Kashi), the abode of the Divine Artist, the Lord of Dance, Shiva himself! A tribute to the memory of Padmashri Jadunath Supakar, the artist and textile designer who strode the world of textile design for over 30 years and whose genius was discovered by the Czarina of Indian culture Pupul Jayakar, the exhibition has been conceived and curated by his talented son, designer Sribhash Chandra Supakar, who continues to live in Varanasi.

Official Website: http://www.buzzintown.com/?138680&ref=yupg&refcity=1