Shamlu Dudeja's Kantha Revival celebrates 30 years with a fashion show

Dudeja is a well known personality in the fashion scene, who through her S.H.E Foundation promotes the native embroidery art of Kantha stitching.

Former Governor of Bengal M K Narayanan and ITC GM Atul Bhalla attended the event as the chief guests.

The event also saw a short film being showcased on Kantha, following which the fashion show witnessed models walking the ramp in Kantha creations designed by couturier Paromita Banerjee Sarkar, with jewellery by Neha Agrawal.

The event was choreographed by supermodel Nayanika Chatterjee.

Speaking at the event, Dudeja said, “Kantha story is all about a little stitch. It is based on a running stitch. Today Kantha is appealing to women all across the world. When Kantha started, women were not paid for it. As stitch art Kantha has not only delved into the mythology but also modern representations including Rabindranath Tagore writings, travelling across nations depicting his work as a humble homage.”

Commenting on the same, M K Narayanan added, “I look upon Shamlu as part of these smart, capable and intelligent women who make up India and Calcutta is lucky to have someone like that. After having met Shamlu, it took me almost four years to realize the kind of efforts that go into creating these masterpieces and how much work one single woman has put into it to make it a success.”

Academician Gouri Basu (Principal, Loreto House) in traditional Thakur Bari attire, spoke about the history of Kantha.

Basu said, “The concept of Kantha is all about conservation of the culture. It is about recycling and reinventing into something that reaches its maximum potential. Sometimes the object produced from their labour would be of unmatched beauty and they formed the tangential cultural heritage of Bengal.”

Isheeta Ganguly closed the show with her soulful music to which the Friends of Kantha walked the ramp, including ITC GM Atul Bhalla and wife Kangan Bhalla, danseuse Tansuree Shankar, Laura Amalir (spouse of director Alliance Francaise du Bengale Stephane Amalir), Meeryung Hall (spouse of the US Consul General in Kolkata Craig Hall), actor Arjun Chakraborty and wife Neelanjana Chakraborty, academician Gouri Basu, Neha Agrawal, MP Lok Sabha Dinesh Trivedi and wife Minal Trivedi and former Governor of Bengal MK Narayanan with wife Padmini Narayanan.

Following the fashion show, popular singer Usha Uthup took to stage to enthrall the audience.

Also present at the event were dancer Aloknanda Roy, business personality Sandeep Bhutoria, US Consul General to Kolkata Craig Hall, actor Ramanjit Kaur and Honorary Consul to the Royal Norwegian Consulate MS Nayantara PalChoudhury among others.

Images by IBNS