Reply To: Meet and Greet

[Krishnapriya]

Hello Amorette and everyone else on this forum!

My name is Krishnapriya Rajshekar – I usually go by KP. I studied architecture and majored in History, Theory & Criticism during my masters. I am currently teaching at an architecture school based in Mysore, Karnataka. I am deeply interested in the History of Art & Storytelling and wish to grow my knowledge regarding various global movements and indigenous bodies of art & craft. Textiles tell stories of our varied cultures and geographies, and being bequeathed textiles from one’s family is a great way to inherit stories of our families as well 🙂 My interest in textiles was kindled during my Masters while I was in Ahmedabad – a city renowned for its fabrics. My Mexican roommate at the time, who is a good friend and a brilliant craftsperson & scholar of textiles herself, played a huge part in me starting to recognise associations with textiles that went beyond the mere aspect of wearing clothes . I also recently happened to visit my grandmother’s ancestral village in Kerala, that is renowned for its handlooms. I grew emotional while being given a tour of a hand-weaving unit because there is such an unfathomable amount of care, precision & effort that goes into producing a single saree that we wear with such casual ease during occasions. I was also mind-blown by the network across India that goes into crafting sarees, dhotis & towels that are ultimately known only by the name of one place while hands as far as from Surat & Salem have played their part at varied stages of production, while families from Karnataka & Tamil Nadu have been practising their craft in Kerala since generations. If textiles don’t make a case for national integration, I don’t know what does!

I am quite excited about taking this course and hope that we have some great discussions on this forum. Thank you MAP Academy for the initiative, and for the generosity in making this course so accessible 🙂

– KP