Sharan Apparao and Rupa Sood have curated weaves for a long time and are showcasing their contemporary appeal through an exhibition. Ankita Jain catches up with them
Much before an army of designers hopped on to the handloom bandwagon, a few have been quietly working with weavers for decades. Collections that come from their studios aren’t limited by fashion trends. The saris, ethnic and Indo-western ensembles spell class and stem from an understanding of weaving techniques. And there are few curators like Rupa Sood and Sharan Apparao who hand-picked those apt designers and did a thorough market research of their latest collections to celebrate the best of Indian weaves.
“I bought this hand-painted dupatta. I think it is gorgeous but what matters more is that, whenever I wear it, I will carry a part of the remote village where loving hands wove it,” smiles Rupa Sood.
The exquisite creations that we so casually buy and throw on are works of art made by people who live incredibly difficult lives. However, none of that pain or pathos shows in their beautiful creations. We may have romantic notions about handlooms but those in the know such as Rupa and Sharan say that blood, sweat and tears go into keeping that romance alive. “I have spent 33 long years in this field. And when I see the weavers working on their looms, my eyes are glued to their hands moving dexterously with the shuttle, winding the yarn around the bobbins, meticulously fixing an occasional broken yarn. Then my gaze roams up to their faces single-mindedly focussed on the job at hand. And I wonder what goes on in the head while the hands mechanically go through the motions of weaving. I wonder if he is actually thinking about the unfolding design, or trying to figure out how to manage the next meal for the family or pay his child’s tuition fee, or the next instalment on his loan. When the weaver is a woman, I am in awe of her multi-tasking. Her day begins before the crack of dawn. She finishes her household chores, weaves, spins, winds bobbins, sometimes dyes yarns, takes care of kids, goes to the market and, before she knows it, it’s already time to cook dinner. She is as tightly wound up in this cycle as her yarns are around the bobbin. To me, every piece of handloom is special because of this human touch. It speaks volumes about a weaver’s dreams, desires and hopes,” says Sharan.
Recalling her childhood memories, she adds, “Handloom, to me evokes warm memories — Mom and her many beautiful saris; grandparents and their Khadi outfits; trousseau shopping and timeless classics. I was always excited about choosing saris for my mother and grandma. Stories of our freedom struggle, of people and places, our rich culture and a glorious heritage of legacies passed on from mother to daughter. A fabric woven by the efforts of hundreds of hands. But each product is unique, singular and individual. It is a fabric of our past and for our future.” Sharan believes her love for crafts and culture has woven her journey so far.
Rupa feels there’s a lot of government push which has resulted in more and more people wearing handlooms. “But just wearing handlooms is not enough. We need a bottoms-up approach,” she says. Adding to this Sharan explains, “Traditional weavers have left weaving to become domestic help, security guards, etc. Weavers are perennially in debt and they call themselves coolies. They don’t have the money to become entrepreneurs. Few government schemes reach them. Many of the schemes have been planned by people who have no real understanding of the weaving fraternity and their problems or requirements. Weavers with amazing skills have been abandoned. There are no follow-ups. And we must realise that the weaver is only one person in the cycle. There is also the farmer, the spinner and the dyer who are equally important. Unless we address the ecosystem, we cannot save the handloom.”
Asked about the solution, Sharan elaborates, “Ideally, a lot more people should engage themselves in this revival process, since one person’s input is not going to be ever enough. But here we must take into account that these engagements have to be by people who understand weaving and designers who have a handle on the process that they are going to put their design into. This can’t be done by everyone, so we then talk about NID graduates, graduates of textile technology and so on.”
The challenge today for them is to bring the youth on board. “I am not bored yet as the trends keep changing. The test lies in how you keep up with life. In art, one has to adapt. How do I bring the younger lot to adapt; that’s what I am battling now. I want to see the younger lot wearing the Indian designs and feel pride in it,” says Sharan. The exhibition pays tribute to the ancient textiles of the country and presents them in new, eclectic ways through the aesthetic sensibilities of 19 talented designers.