Curatorial Note:

In 1997, Colombian textile artist, Pilar Tobón, founded WTA – Women in Textile Art. It later transformed into World Textile Art to include male artists. This year, WTA celebrates its 25th anniversary with the X International Biennial “25 YEARS WTA”, to be held from October through January 2023. With this 10th. Biennial more than 20 countries will be linked.

Thread to Freedom

This year World Textile Art (WTA) is celebrating its 25th year and we at Zapurza Museum of art & Culture are excited to be a part of the 10th WTA Biennale.

The museum has a great collection of textiles single-handedly collected by Mr Ajit Gadgil. As we are being a part of WTA for the first time, we would like to bring attention to the rich history and heritage of Indian textiles. The textiles of India and the weavers are an integral part of day-to-day life. It was always a part of ancient belief and keeps appearing in folklore, mythology, music, literature and painting. The silk route and India’s trade of textiles are well known.

Kabir the Weaver draws parallels and tells us philosophical stories using the allegories of weaving. The cotton growth and exploitation in the colonial era got Mahatma Gandhi to think of spinning and making our own clothes. The spinning wheel became a symbol of the freedom and independence movement and hence, this show ‘Thread to Freedom’.

The process of curation is to bring various layers of history, tradition, philosophy and contemporary time together. We are not just having the artists but the various media to express these thoughts.

Raju Sutar

(Artist/ Curator)