Titled Feeling Through Fibre, a new show at 47-A in Mumbai’s Khotachi Wadi confronts viewers with a multitude of perspectives—all imagined and woven by women.
Julie Kagti was only seven when she learned to weave from her Assamese grandmother. Every afternoon, post-lunch, Aita would set up her backstrap loom in the verandah to keep an eye on the salted vegetables and fruits drying in the sun. This became story time—Aita would captivate Kagti with tales about her childhood, simultaneously teaching her how to warp, make a graph and translate it into a weave. Transfixed, seven-year-old Kagti learned how to work the loom even as her grandmother’s stories wove an unbreakable bond between them. Years later, it was the fondness with which she looked back on these afternoons that pushed Kagti to study textile design.
Having pursued tapestry weaving alongside teaching textile design and running a boutique travel company that curates localised experiences in the Northeast of India, when Kagti met Srila Chatterjee, founder of Baro Market, co-founder of 47-A and fellow textile enthusiast, it was like having a conversation without words. Ten months later, the product of that telepathic exchange is Feeling Through Fibre, a new art show in Mumbai curated by Kagti, which unites 11 women weavers from across the country who use textiles as a form of self-expression. “In Assam, it’s mostly the women who are involved in the weaving practices so the decision to have an all-women exhibit felt like a no-brainer,” says Kagti. “This show also opens during the week of Handloom Day, which is special in itself.” Starting today, the exhibits will confront viewers with a multitude of viewpoints, from the degradation of our environment and the ordinariness of everyday moments to the patience of spiders and the underrated beauty of pigeons—all imagined and woven by women. “I hope the show inspires viewers to appreciate the magic that comes from hands, the connection between what the artist feels and what she creates, and the wonderful range of emotions that are on display from a wide variety of very different and empowered women,” says Chatterjee.
Ahead of the show, Vogue India had an exclusive look at the artworks and asked the 11 artists questions about why they created what they created for the show:
Gunjan Jain
Your work delves into how art can be used as the glue that puts back together a nation that is, once again, on the brink of division. Is there a specific artwork, according to you, that has successfully made people question their bigotry?
I am a fan of the street artist Banksy. His artwork ‘Love is in the Air (Flower Thrower)’ (2003) is a symbolic appeal for peace to replace violence. The artwork shows a protester seemingly about to throw a bomb or stone but instead holds a bunch of flowers in his hand. Banksy’s art often carries potent social and political commentary propagating people to turn to peace and communal harmony against war, capitalism and hypocrisy. His works have influenced generations.
Another big influence is the 15th-century poet Kabir Das. His couplets emphasise the importance of unity by urging us to look beyond superficial differences based on religion, caste and class and instead focus on the inner qualities and wisdom of individuals.
Over the past 15 years, I have collaborated with Buddhists, Muslims, Vaishnavs and Adivasis. My work is reminiscent of my journey into the world of textiles and my connection with the handloom weavers where I realised that the common language between us is the art and craft that we practise together instead of our social standing.