The Indigo Art Museum was meant to be shifted from the Kasturbhai Lalbhai Museum property in Shahibag to Arvind’s manufacturing campus, where it really belongs, but that plan seems to have been shelved. It has made itself even more at home in Shahibag now, with the addition of a series of new artworks.
Titled Latent Echoes, the new exhibition showcases paintings, sculpture, textile art, and installations that use indigo dye, which is the mainstay of the denim manufacturing process. These new works replace some of the old works that were on exhibit since the museum started in 2019. Many of the pieces were created at a new workshop set up by the Lalbhais in Gota and use indigo in wholly new ways. “The work is process oriented,” says artist Surabhi Kochar, who is closely associated with the museum and was my guide for the visit. “We have received several patents for the innovations.”
Eighteen artists have taken Arvind up on its indigo mandate and even collaborated with the company by using materials from its manufacturing process, such as denim waste. Krupali Maraviya has produced a blue-on-blue canvas that reveals subtle designs when viewed from certain angles. Artist Upendra Ram has produced ceramic works fired with indigo, a difficult process that Arvind’s technical staff helped with. Japanese artist Chiaki Maki’s contribution is in the form of a wall hanging featuring a wavy weave that we are told is hard to create.
Other interesting pieces include Minal Damani’s painstaking work featuring lines of indigo ink on paper and Poorvesh Patel’s canvas that uses indigo dye mixed with iron rust. Then there is Bhasha Chakrabarti, whose work is inspired by the revolt of the indigo farmers in Bengal in 1859. And Mrugen Rathod, who uses fluff waste on a base of wood to create a sea of indigo.
And what good is a museum without a shop? While inaugurating the Latent Echoes exhibition, Indigo Art Museum also launched its own souvenir shop that stocks indigo-dyed textiles and tableware.
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