Meaning Metaphor – Handspun and Hand woven in the 21st Century

Conservation of heritage textiles, curated textile exhibition in india.

The collection of the finest examples of hand spun (Khadi) and hand woven textiles in India was raised as Khadi- The Fabric of Freedom in the year 2002. Curated by textile historian Martand Singh, the collection is a study of skill supported by handspun (khadi) textiles from nine states in the country and hand spun sarees from Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal.

Drawing from this collection, Meaning, Metaphor – Handspun and Hand woven in the 21stCentury was curated by Mayank Mansingh Kaul as an attempt to revisit the relevance of hand spinning in India today. This catalogue is a pictorial documentation of the sarees that The Registry of Sarees is the custodian of. Given its historical significance, Kaul ably captures the significance of raising such a collection, the design processes, the authenticity of the exercise and the future of hand spinning in three interviews with the original team of Rta Kapur Chisti, Rahul Jain and Rakesh Thakore.