On the primary flooring of Salar Jung Museum in Hyderabad, Varna (N), a collective show of textiles and drawings makes an attempt to indicate guests what three modern practitioners of artwork can do once they take a recent method to the normal craft of kalamkari. Anindita Chakraborty, Rajarshi Sengupta and Sharmistha Kar use imagery from the previous and the current, pure dye pigments and embroidery to reach at new narratives.

The result’s artworks that modify from wall hangings, utilitarian baggage and cushion covers. “We don’t consider baggage and cushion covers as lesser entities than artworks that function showpieces,” says Rajarshi, a PhD in Artwork Historical past from the College of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.

He, Anindita and Sharmistha crossed paths on the College of Hyderabad. Rajarshi taught on the Division of Superb Arts at SN College of Arts and Communication, College of Hyderabad (UoH). Anindita pursued her Grasp’s in Superb Arts from the UoH, and Sharmistha, who’s now based mostly in Canada, studied and labored as a lecturer on the identical institute.

The collaborative thought for Varna (N) took form in 2019, following a number of cellphone and on-line conversations. “We wished to include three of our practices — drawing, dyeing and embroidery,” says Sharmistha.

A couple of artworks turned out to be collaborative, with Rajarshi and Anindita engaged on the drawings, dyeing after which delivery them to Sharmistha who would then embroider so as to add a brand new narrative layer.

Varna (N) refers to each colors and narratives. Rajarshi dipped into his analysis on conventional kalamkari imagery. Within the craftspeople’s studios in and round Machilipatnam, he discovered imagery representing the seventeenth and 18th Century East India Firm period in addition to South-East Asian cultures, because of commerce routes.

One of many artworks bears photos of women and men washing and dyeing the yarn and the fabric on the river mattress. Rajarshi wished to depict the dyers and their lifestyle that was interlinked with the river and the canal networks. Whereas artwork historical past has a number of references to crafts and commerce routes, he observed that there’s little or no concerning the dyers. He developed pure dyes and every time he was on the crossroads to develop particular hues, steering got here in from dye specialist Jagada Rajappa.

Anindita additionally labored on portraiture and different drawings utilizing pure dye pigments which are used within the kalamkari course of. “At instances, my work tends to be autobiographical.” Working with pure dye pigments on pre-washed paper posed a problem. “The pigments react with paper in a method that’s completely different from, say, watercolours. I learnt how a lot I wanted to make use of, with time.”

The interaction of approach and imagery that blends the normal and the modern is obvious within the displays. One of many artworks, as an illustration, depicts the intricate particulars of a giant tree. “We discover this tree typically within the botanical backyard (in Kondapur). Even within the early hours of the morning, town is bustling and so is the tree; it’s an ecosystem by itself, which we’ve got tried to depict in finer element,” says Anindita. Drawings similar to these additional come to life with refined embroidery by Sharmistha.

The three artists have a look at Varna (N) as a metaphor for the layering of historical past, reminiscence and experiences, constructing on the generational apply of constructing kalamkari textiles.

Artist Shruti Mahajan who was a part of the inauguration of the show places issues in perspective when she factors out, “I discover it fascinating when components of a narrative unfold to type a bigger image. A conventional approach similar to kalamkari could be overwhelming. It’s a problem for a recent artwork practitioner to enter that realm and produce out their very own robust voice.”

Varna (N) is on show at Salar Jung Museum until December 15.