Watch | A walkthrough of Red Lilies, Water Birds

Watch | A walkthrough of Red Lilies, Water Birds

Red Lilies, Water Birds: The Saree — In Nine Stories has been put together by The Registry of Sarees (TRS), a Bengaluru-based research and study centre that enables design, curatorial and publishing projects in the area of handspun and handwoven textiles. “It is a narrative that is 150 years old. And Red Lilies, Water Birds feeds the curatorial path TRS has embarked upon,” said Ahalya Mathan, founder of TRS.

The nine stories refer to the broadly categorised textiles on display — kora or unbleached materials in their undyed form, the colour red, the ikat weave, stripes and checks, metallic brocades of Deccan and South India, metallic brocades of Deccan and Gujarat, traditions of Varanasi handlooms (in two parts), and global influences. “It took Ally [Ahalya] and me three years of travel across the country to acquire over 500 saris. We have brought 108 of those to Anegundi,” says Mayank Mansingh Kaul, the curator. 

It was a deliberate decision to take the handloom narrative out of museums into more interactive spaces. The saris are displayed in four heritage homes with lime-plastered walls that have been converted into galleries, and as we visit each one, the stories about the draped garments from the late 19th to the early 20th century unfold.

Read the full story here:  Red Lilies, Water Birds: an exhibition in Hampi showcases the sari in nine stories 

Production: Surya Praphulla Kumar