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The Vimor Museum of Living Textiles

Textile Tourism

Through the rich oral tradition of story-telling, the museum aims to preserve and hand down design stories to future generations to relive their grandmother’s legacy.

Textiles of India are clearly a great example of unity in diversity. The museum would preserve and showcase antique textile designs and heirlooms owned by people across India. Most Indians have an emotional connection with sarees, be it holding their grandmother’s pallu or sitting on their mother’s lap. The hidden stories on the weaving techniques and designs inspired from the weaver’s environment like animals, flowers, jewellery and food are very enlightening. The design and weaving techniques and colours varied according to the region, climate and culture of the place. The migration of the weaving communities, trade and commerce across borders led to assimilation and evolution of new patterns, adding beauty to the textiles. Through the rich oral tradition of storytelling, the museum aims to preserve and hand down these stories to future generations to revive or even relive their grandmother’s legacy.

The session will include the following:

  • Brief introduction to the non-profit’s mission: why conserve handlooms and how does it empower the contemporary artisan?
  • Touch and feel different types of yarns, and understand how these yarns combine to create fabrics of different textures.
  • Try your hand at a loom to weave a few threads together.
  • Guided tour of the non-profit’s museum. See and understand speciality weaves, designs, and the myths and stories associated with them
  • Try on Indian fabrics for yourself: saris for women, lungi and Mysore peta (turban) for men.

Workshops

Workshops are a space for exchange and synthesis intended to restore dignity, pride to inspire and motivate the weaver to create innovative designs and thus contribute to the evolving of new and independent cultural identities.

Keeping in mind the spirit of assimilation and synthesis of knowledge, the workshop is a space for interaction of weavers from different parts of India. During the workshop, weavers observe and get to study old textiles which they otherwise do not have access to. Under the guidance of mentors/experts, they learn from each other’s techniques, improve their own craft production and also develop new and innovative marketable designs. The innovative design pieces created during workshops will act as a “product showcase directory” for new business orders and thus create future production and livelihood stability for weavers.

These workshops also intend to restore dignity, pride and self-confidence in the weavers with regard to their ancestor’s skill and heritage. This inspiration and motivation would enable the weavers to create innovative designs and thus contribute to the creation of new, independent cultural identity.

Spaces for Interaction

The living museum intends to host talks by various eminent personalities who contributed immensely to the growth and conservation of the textile tradition of India. It will provide spaces for interaction among eminent personalities in the textile space, designers, weavers, students and the general public. These spaces enable people to understand and empathize with different perspectives and create avenues for convergence. This is a space where they can use different looms on the premises to innovate and experiment first hand.