Commonwealth nations showcase power textiles in Delhi

NEW DELHI - A showcase of textiles from the Commonwealth countries has brought the distinctive dress choices of historical leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Kwame Nkrumah and Queen Victoria in an exposition at the Delhi Crafts Museum.

The exhibition, “Power Cloths of the Commonwealth”, will be inaugurated by Australian High Commissioner Peter Varghese, Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar, and minister of state for textiles Panabaka Lakshmi Sunday as part of the arts and cultural package for the Commonwealth Games 2010.

The textiles and apparel will be on display till Oct 20.

“Power Cloths of the Commonwealth” follows an exhibition held in Melbourne on the margins of the 2006 Commonwealth Games, co-curators Suzanne Davies and Jasleen Dhamija said Saturday.

Outlining the concept of the exhibition, Davies said: “Textiles here signify the political power or political positions of resistance and independence like Gandhiji’s Khaddar Chadar, Gandhi Topi and Khadi as the livery of the freedom fighters; and first president of Ghana Kwame Nkrumah’s ‘kente’ cloth as the dress of Ghanaian independence and identity.”

“The boldly embroidered Nigeria’s Hausa community traditional called the riga; Nelson Mandela’s shirt; Kenyan leader Jomo Kenyata’s fly whisk (fly swatter) or Queen Victoria’s garment representing the centralised power of the Commonwealth also find place here,” she added.

The exhibition is a partnership between the Crafts Musuem and Australia’s RMIT University Gallery, supported by the Delhi government and the high commissions of the Commonwealth countries.

Announcing the exhibition in the capital, Varghese said: “The Commonwealth Games are about sporting excellence, but they are also a celebration of the many bonds that unite Commonwealth countries.”

“This showcase of fine textiles from across the Commonwealth is a spectacular expression of our cultural diversity,” he added.

Davies, director of the RMIT Gallery in Melbourne, Australia, said: “For Commonwealth countries, textiles provide an irresistible opportunity to explore our shared experiences and differences through rich, visceral materials. They highlight our cultural wealth and diversity.”

Drawn from major museum and private collections from around the globe and covering all the five continents, the exhibition presents a tight selection of “key historical and contemporary works, many of which have never been shown before”.

The project is being overseen by an advisory committee that includes Ruchira Ghose, Ashok Dhawan, Sudhakar Rao and Anita Saran.

“In relation to textiles, the idea of ‘power’ has many intriguing connotations. Power refers to a number of qualities and dimensions, including the power embodied in a garment by virtue of the excellence of technique in its making and/or the value of materials from which it is made,” according to the curators.

These include cloths of high aesthetic value which were traded around the world, they added.

The highlights in the Indian segment are a rare printed 16th Kalamkari created by Gujarati masters complimented by a large trade processional “patola” in Moghul brocade.

The textiles have been donated by Shilpa and Praful Shah of Mumbai. C.L. Bharany of Delhi has lent a brocaded “Jama”, a brocaded “khilat”, exquisite Kashmiri shawls, which was a part of the tribute paid by Kashmir to Maharaja Ranjit Singh.

The Mohatta Museum in Karachi has loaned an extraordinary “pugree turban” worn by a Baluchi chief.

Robes of honour from the states in northwest frontier province in Pakistan loaned by Sumant Dhamija merit attention for their richness of colours and fabrics.

The Crafts Museum has contributed a gold embroidered late Mughal khillat, a robe of honour and turban; along with a neelambari and koniya executed on the gossamer jamdanis of Dhaka in Bangladesh which represent the finest of muslin weaves coveted across the world.

“The idea of power also stems from the spiritual, mystical or symbolic cultural status of the garment or cloth, like the clothing of a shaman,” Davies said.

“Such powers may also be embodied in the configuration of particular forms, shapes and images such as in the shaman’s wrapper, Iban from Malaysia, or the Naga head hunters shawl,” she added.