The Eye of the Needle: An exposition on the Kantha or the quilt embroidery of Bengal

The exposition, open from 12 noon to 8 pm, on all days (except Mondays and public holidays), until May 13, was inaugurated on Wednesday.

Apart from Ruby Palchoudhuri (Advisor and President Emeritus, Crafts Council of West Bengal), Goutam Ghose (filmmaker and actor), fashion designer Sharbari Datta, Niaz Zaman from Bangladesh, Paola Manfredi from Italy, and Kasturi Gupta Menon and Gita Ram from the Crafts Council of West Bengal were also present.

Jayashree Mohta, Chairperson, Birla Academy of Arts & Culture delivered the inaugural speech while dancer Preeti Patel executed a Laksmi Vandana, which set the mood for the evening.

The exhibition consists of  nearly hundred selections, some of them being heretofore unseen work.

Eye of the Needle is not merely a display of quilting but also shows the evolution of the concept of quilting i Bengal, from a household chore to an element of fashion designing.

Kantha stitching was essentially a part of the household work of women of Bengal (now divided into West Bengal- India, and Bangladesh) who prudently recycled old sarees to make bed spreads, wraps, covering for various objects, etc.

Over time, the kantha stitching gave them an opportunity to express their artistic dreams and their innermost thoughts.

Even though the stitches were simple, the women could create anything from simple patterns to complicated designs.

It was this simple yet artistic method of stitching that was adopted to embroider textiles, including sarees, etc. with the advent of fashion designing.

Curated by Palchoudhuri and Shanta Ghosh (President of Crafts Council of West Bengal), the display consists of exhibits from the late 19th century to contemporary pieces from various collectors, including The Union Ministry of Culture, Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, and private collectors such as Shanta Ghosh, Shamlu Dudeja of SHE, Ranjan Sarkar, Rakhi Sarkar, Weaver’s Studio, Nilanjan Ghose and Bina Dey (who contributed a national award winning piece).

Speaking at the launch, Palchoudhuri said, "For our golden jubilee year, we wanted to bring the craftspeople to the fore, and I hope with the 'Eye of the Needle', we are able to support and create awareness."

Paola Manfredi who has come all the way from Italy, told IBNS, "It is really a fantastic arrangement as it gives the opportunity to see the different styles and tradition of this piece of art work.”

"I would encourage them [the craftspeople] to go beyond what they have really achieved so that they can fulfill higher goals and create works with which they can challenge themselves," she said.

“We have plans to take this exhibition to other parts of the country as well,” said Ruby Palchoudhuri to IBNS.

Apart from the exhibition, there will also be special seminars, talks, gallery walks on different days.

(Reporting by Sourajit Choudhury)