SACHI, Society for Art & Cultural Heritage of India and Palo Alto Art Center are pleased to present

Indigo, Salt and Khadi: Textile Art as an Expression of National Identity

by Shelly Jyoti

Delhi based Artist, Designer, Poet, and Independent Curator

The Event is Free and Open to the Public. RSVP recommended, kalpana@sachi.org; Tel. 650-349-1247

Shelly Jyoti is a visual artist, fashion designer, poet and an independent curator whose work references the cultural context of modern Indian history. She trained in fashion design and clothing technology at the National Institute of Fashion Technology, New Delhi. She has a keen interest in India’s material and socio-political history which has inspired her textile work over the past few decades. Working with different mediums, her works excavate history and celebrate the subaltern. She collaborates with ninth and tenth generation Ajrakh craftsmen living in Ajrakhpur, Bhuj, Gujarat who migrated from Sindh and Baluchistan in 1600 CE. Her recent exhibitions include The Khadi March: Just Five Meters (2016-17); Salt: The Great March (2013-15); Indigo: New works by Shelly Jyoti & Laura Kina (2008- 2014); Beyond Mithila: Exploring the Decorative (2008); Lyrical Abstraction: A Room of/for Muses (2007).

Ajrakh is a unique process of block printing found in India’s earliest settlements. It is still practiced in northwest India and Pakistan, particularly in the city of Bhuj, where Jyoti travels to create her work. One of the key dyes used in this technique, indigo, led to an extended series of work exploring the indigo trade. Using traditional natural pigment dyes and printing blocks of both ornate and minimal geometric shapes and patterns, she skillfully combines individual components into a complex whole. Her deceptively simple designs provide a generous space for the luxuriously printed patterns to be fully appreciated. Jyoti will discuss select works from her 100 pieces of textile artworks grouped as ‘Assemblages’ from three bodies of works: Indigo Narratives (2009-17); Salt: The Great March (2013-15); and The Khadi March (2016-17).

SACHI gratefully acknowledges the support of Asha Jadeja and Jadeja Family Foundation.

Image Credit : Timeless Silhouettes: Angrakha 1, 33 x 50 Inches Ajrakh printing/dyeing/needle work on khadi fabric, 2014. Courtesy Shelly Jyoti