Kutch to Oaxaca: Artisan to Artisan Design

Talk
September 15, 10 - 11 AM
Please RSVP

Trunk Show
September 15, 11 AM - 5 PM

“This collaboration let us go beyond our limitations.” - Adil Khatri, Kutch India

We have a special treasure to share with you at Living Threads this September. In 2019 a first-of-its-kind textile collaboration took place that connected weavers, needle artists, and natural dyers from a far corner of India with those from a far corner of Mexico. 

Somaiya Kala Vidya, an institute of design education for artisans in Kutch, and the Textile Museum of Oaxaca spearheaded this virtual intercontinental gathering that spanned 10 languages and 11 time zones, all connected through messaging apps. What followed was an amazing exchange of concepts, techniques, and cultures. Each team member created a collection evoking a commonly decided theme.

Judy Frater was integral in making this collaboration come into existence and will be presenting a talk on the project as well as a trunk show, offering up a selection of the unique handmade treasures created during the collaboration by the Kutch India masters. We are thrilled to be able to host this one-of-a-kind expression of deeply rooted skill and creativity! 

Judy Frater is a curator, author, and school director who lived in the Kutch region in Northwest India for 30 years. An award-winning Ashoka Fellow, she founded a design school for artisans currently operating as Somaiya Kala Vidya and co-founded the Kala Raksha Trust and Museum.

"Fabrics are like music: although the performer speaks another language, he can interpret the musical notes ... so too in textiles, where the weaving is the compass, the notes are the embroidery, the fraying, the knotting." - Moisés Martínez, Oaxaca Mexico.