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The Fabric of India

The Fabric of India will be the first major exhibition to explore the rich and fascinating world of handmade textiles from India. We will be gathering together some of the finest and most fascinating textiles from the V&A and collections across the world to illustrate the processes, history, and politics associated with these incredible objects. The journey from idea to exhibition is long, and often challenging, but also incredibly exciting. It requires the commitment and enthusiasm of many people: from curators, coordinators and conservators to designers and digital editors. This blog brings together stories from across the exhibition team to track the highs (and lows) of the exhibition research and making process. We will also be inviting team members and guest contributors to share their thoughts on what fascinates and inspires them about Indian textiles. The exhibition, The Fabric of India will be at the V&A from 3 October 2015 to 10 January 2016.

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Featured

A Room with a View

Back in February, after months (really years) of preparation, the V&A formally announced The Fabric of India to the press. Rosemary and Divia spoke with a number of...
Avalon Fotheringham
Conservation

All that glitters (part 2) …. is most definitely not all gold!

A few weeks ago Rosemary posted a blog about Indian textiles which incorporate metal or metal wrapped threads (April 23, 2015). She was very careful not to mention what the metal...

null Elizabeth Anne Haldane
The Fabric of India

A Room with a View

Back in February, after months (really years) of preparation, the V&A formally announced The Fabric of India to the press. Rosemary and Divia spoke with a number of...

null Avalon Fotheringham
The Fabric of India

The Spinning Wheel of Democracy

Today on 7th May 2015, when we in the UK can exercise our democratic right to vote for the next government it is perhaps timely to remember the birth of the largest democracy in...

null Divia Patel
The Fabric of India

Event Round-Up

We’re very lucky at the V&A to have the details of inspiring and exciting events shared with us regularly, and we thought we might use this week’s post to pass...

null Avalon Fotheringham
The Fabric of India

All that glitters…

  Sparkly gold embroidery (zardozi) has, to be honest, never been my favourite kind of Indian textile. But during the selection process of pieces for The Fabric of India I...

null Rosemary Crill
Research

In the Thick of It

What a month it has been! To all who missed a blog post last week, we can only apologise. We were all simply swamped! Over the past few weeks we’ve been working hard to...

null Avalon Fotheringham
The Fabric of India

Guest Post: A Canvas of Colour

Sarah Strickland is a producer with CultureShock Media, and is working with The Fabric of India team to create the exhibition’s audiovisual content. She recently returned...

null Avalon Fotheringham
The Fabric of India

Guest Post: ‘Same but different’: Lehnga for every woman!

  In a previous blog we visited a designer wedding show to take a glimpse at the luxury end of the wedding market. This week we have a very different perspective from our...

null Avalon Fotheringham
The Fabric of India

Raw Mango

I remember my first encounter with a Raw Mango sari. In November 2010, at the end of a few long and intense weeks of visiting studios and meeting designers, my colleagues and I...

null Divia Patel
Conservation

Hello from the Conservation Team!

  We thought it was about time that we introduced ourselves properly and with a smile! So far we have been lurking behind the scenes, popping up in the occasional blog post...

null Elizabeth Anne Haldane
The Fabric of India

A Riot of Colour

In the past weeks I talked a lot about my filming reccie trips in India, but this is all now seeming a long time ago – the film crew have returned with lots of footage and...

null Rosie Wanek
News and Updates

A very big hanging

We recently returned from a week’s visit to Delhi and Jaipur, where we visited some of the designers showing work in the exhibition and also picked up several of our new...

null Rosemary Crill
The Fabric of India

Location Scout III: Sparkle and shine

So here is one final post from my trip to India last month. I was in pursuit of locations to film hand embroidery in progress and visited a variety of workshops.  Many of these...

null Rosie Wanek
The Fabric of India

Location Scout Part II: Resist block printing

After a hurried fortnight of preparing storyboards and briefing the film crew, they have now been packed onto their flights and are off to India to capture some of the remarkable...

null Rosie Wanek
The Fabric of India

Location Scout: The Khadi weavers of Kaladera

This post has been a little delayed owing to a gastric souvenir that I have bought back from my recent trip to India (not charming and you’ll be grateful that I have no plan...

null Rosie Wanek
The Fabric of India

The Indian Wedding Show

Last Sunday (25th January) the Fabric of India team went to the Aashni + Co Wedding Show, held at The Dorchester, London. It showcased the work of some of India’s leading...

null Divia Patel
The Fabric of India

Beautifully Unphotogenic

“Well, that just looks awful…” You would think a beautiful textile would be easy to photograph beautifully. After all, the thing is gorgeous! Luminous! Glorious!...

null Avalon Fotheringham
The Fabric of India

‘Textiles for every use’

During my recent visit to India I was searching for handmade textiles and I found them in all sorts of places. My rickshaw driver in Jaipur was very proud of his kantha...

null Divia Patel
Research

Happy Holidays From The Fabric of India!

See you next...

null Avalon Fotheringham
The Fabric of India

Inspired to Make: Angry Birds

As the last days of 2014 fly away, the Fabric of India team is working hard to be ready for what will surely be a very busy year. We’re packing in as much as...

null Avalon Fotheringham
The Fabric of India

Indian blues… and reds… and yellows

A major focus of The Fabric of India is on the making of Indian textiles, and dyeing has been a key part of that process for thousands of years. Indigo is the dye most often...

null Rosemary Crill
The Fabric of India

In Bhuj

I was in Bhuj last week, not because I was hiding from the police, but because I was in search of interesting textiles. Sorry – I really couldn’t help that reference to the...

null Divia Patel
Research

Epic Object Disintegration, and Other Tales from the Registered Files

“Director – It is my duty to report the breakage of a Glass Huqa-bowl on loan from the Victoria and Albert Museum for the Royal Academy Exhibition of Indian...

null Avalon Fotheringham
The Fabric of India

Modern markets for traditional techniques

Indian textiles have long held great appeal to European consumers; so much so that in the 17th Century the Indian textile industry were seen as a direct threat to British textile...

null Rosie Wanek
The Fabric of India

The Difference is in the Detail

Aneeth Arora with her label Péro, has emerged as one of India’s most respected young fashion designers. Her debut collection was in 2009, and I first visited her Delhi based...

null Divia Patel
The Fabric of India

The Reject Files

When the idea for an exhibition on Indian textiles was first given the go-ahead, I had some sleepless nights wondering how we could possibly fill even one of the...

null Rosemary Crill
The Fabric of India

Size matters: Putting on an exhibition

Now we have an object list, the preparation of The Fabric of India exhibition can really get under way. One of the first things I need to organise is the assembly of key object...

null Olivia Oldroyd
The Fabric of India

The Story So Far: A Huge Variety From Around The World

Hunting Through the Weird and Wonderful at the Economic Botany Collection, Kew Walking into the Economic Botany Collection stores at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, the first...

null Avalon Fotheringham
The Fabric of India

The Story so Far: Only 200

The last few weeks mark a particularly exciting moment in the development of any exhibition: we have appointed an exhibition designer.  Gitta Geschwendtner and her team of 3d, 2d...

null Rosie Wanek
Our projects

Inspired to Make

Design in the Details As Research Assistant for The Fabric of India, I spend a lot of time with my nose in books. But when I’m not in the library, there’s a good...

null Avalon Fotheringham

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