A new exhibition in Kolkata is illuminating the rich, shared textile history of West Bengal and Bangladesh, spanning four centuries of artistic exchange and trade. Organized by the Weavers Studio Resource Centre (WSRC), the exhibition aims to preserve this vital cultural legacy, addressing a recognized gap in documentation. A companion book, “Textiles from Bengal: A Shared Legacy,” was also launched at the event, further contributing to the preservation effort.
WSRC’s Darshan Shah, whose decades of work exploring West Bengal’s textiles inspired the project, emphasized the urgent need to document this art form. She highlighted the risk of losing invaluable oral histories and knowledge held by senior artisans. The exhibition and book seek to reignite interest in Bengal’s textiles, giving them the international recognition they deserve and initiating crucial preservation work.
The exhibition showcases a diverse array of iconic textile traditions, including muslins, kantha, jamdani, Indo-Portuguese embroideries, and Haji rumals. Rarely seen artefacts from the WSRC archives, carefully conserved, illustrate the region’s significant role in global trade and demonstrate the artistic brilliance that shaped the shared legacy of the two Bengals. The displays reveal how historical events, from the Mughal era to British rule, have influenced the evolution of these textiles. The changing course of rivers, the indigo revolution, technological advancements, shifting geographies, migrations, and the dynamics of supply and demand have all played a part in shaping these traditions.
The exhibition also celebrates veteran textile artists, some in their nineties, recognizing their invaluable contributions to preserving the state’s textile history. Curator Mayank Mansingh Kaul noted the exhibition’s broader scope, moving beyond well-known textiles like kantha and jamdani to reveal the multifaceted contributions of Bengal’s artisans to the global textile landscape.
