Malvika Singh’s Saree of Memory Project revives 21 traditional drapes from across the country, and gives weavers the gift of design mastery
Malvika Singh’s Saree of Memory Project revives 21 traditional drapes from across the country, and gives weavers the gift of design mastery
On a sunny, hot summer afternoon in Delhi, the gates of the Embassy of Brazil are open to visitors. Not just for caipirinhas, but for a pop-up (the ambassador is a friend of the craft), among household items and clothing, there is a line of exquisite sarees developed by the textile maven and author. Malvika Singh, Shopping experience is in association with yalikRetail arm of The Registry of Saree Project headed by Perfumer and Textile Lover Ahalya Mathana, And the stars are the hand-woven Venkatagiri saris with Kannada characters spread along the borders, telling the story of the Hindu god Vishnu.
Malavika has embarked on a mid-pandemic collaboration spree with weavers of 21 traditional sarees, the Sarees of Memory Project – Kickstarting bouts of design creation and improvisation that will ensure beneficial participation of weavers. “It is not just about selling sarees, but about how individuals can be catalysts to revitalize existing skills and make them relevant to the manufacturer as well as the wearer,” she says Recommends Venkatagiri, a dusky blue cotton with shiny silver Zari, lighter than expected in my hands. Malavika has worked in the field of textiles for five decades, and she is the author of books such as New Delhi: Building a Capital And forever cityand publishers of seminarA monthly seminar of ideas and initiatives.
A Venkatagiri saree from Malavika Singh’s Memory Project sarees. photo credit: yali
A hat tip to Vishwakarma
“We have already sold many saris online [in collaboration with Yali] Affordable prices between ₹6,000 and ₹8,000]before we started doing physical pop-ups,” she says. These Venkatagiri, as well as the other 20 developed by Malavika, echo the famous Vishwakarma textile exhibitions of the 1980s, led by Martand Singh, which highlighted the beauty and importance of traditional Indian weaving for home consumers. They were “the last known practice where many weaving centers were commissioned”.
Now handed over to Smriti, it is the spirit of Vishwakarma that is still alive in his efforts – working with local weavers and getting his product to the right audience at the right price. “Here you have a country whose greatest skills are still alive,” she says. “They will start dying out simply because alternative places for economic growth are easier. It is therefore very important to have mentors who also act as catalysts and allow the artisans to do their best.”
A weaver at work photo credit: Anjali Gopan
She further says that there should be a basis to lead the market, not its leadership. “You get the right patronage, you lead the market, and you continue to skill – not a billion people, but as a conservation craft that it always was.” This means delving deeper into the archives and traditions of weaving, many of which have been lost in the race to match factory production standards and use machine-made yarn. handloomIn the glow of ‘imported’ fake Zari Which irritates the skin and leads to unsightly product interference.
Some of the 21 groups involved in the project are what I discuss with Malavika: Kasavu Kerala saris, a revival of a heritage Banarasi with British-inspired sun-blasts but I motif in beautiful Zarias well as a stunning hunting ground Kalamkari By Kolkata-based artist Ajit Kumar Das. Each innovation focuses on rejuvenating the craft as well as involving the wearer, so that each saree is not only something beautiful to wear, but a work of noble and intricate craftsmanship, tradition and relevance. . “After Vishwakarma, nothing of this nature was done,” she adds.
a double Ikat Patan Patola Created with mathematical precision by resisting tie-and-dye prior to weaving. Designed by Rakesh Thakore for Vishwakarma, looms weren’t making this pattern until Malavika’s Saree of Memory project revived it. photo credit: special arrangement
put weavers first
But why undertake this seemingly gigantic task in the midst of a worldwide pandemic? “When COVID hit, just to prove myself, and so that I could make something for my grandchildren, I decided to pick 21 weaving traditions of India and recreate the sarees in them.” It took them about a year and a half to design and develop the sarees, one from each cluster.
Malvika mentioned how she called the Delhi-based archivist and curator Pramod Kumar KG After seeing an old picture “from the 1870s”, a Queen Kerala wearing a cotton Kasavu with Zari Pallu, “I asked her if she could recreate the same saree, with the same proportions, in 120-count cotton, with the original Zari, And he said he’d try.” Cut nine months later, and an amazing Kasavu Was prepared.
Kasavu Saree commissioned by Malvika Singh | photo credit: Anjali Gopan
Malvika says that this initiative was personal. She made 21 sarees for her family and the weavers working on them are free to weave and sell the sarees as per their choice. (The textile developments done for Vishwakarma were available in state-owned co-optex stores. Here, there is no government involvement, and the weavers own the designs.) It was, in essence, a purely personal intervention that proved It has been pointed out that the skill of weaving and producing excellent traditional fabrics is still flourishing in India. And this makes her project all the more relevant because by tradition, the most intricate hand-woven garments were for royals and aristocrats.
Read | 150 year old ‘Kavani’ revived to weave sarees for collection
Today, the only thing that has changed is the nature of the patrons. As the success of this pop-up has shown, they are looking forward to more such path-breaking actions to invest in and cherish as a reminder of the importance of not only wearing it, but the incomparably skilled craftsmen of India. are ready for.
The author is a fashion consultant and commentator based in New Delhi.