Online Lecture Series

Indian Textiles: Histories, Practices, Perspectives

For millennia, Indian textiles have shaped varied cultures, driven global trade, and influenced art, fashion and design. Join us for this public lecture series — presented by Mayank Mansingh Kaul and the MAP Academy — as we journey into the rich histories, techniques, and traditions that define India’s textile legacy, alongside leading scholars and master makers.

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Shelly Jyoti, Timeless Silhouettes: Angarakha 1, 2010, Handwoven khadi, Ajrakh printing, dyeing techniques with needle work, 121.92 cm × 91.44 cm, Courtesy of the artist.

Overview

Indian textiles are a fascinating medium to engage with history while understanding contemporary shifts in society, the economy, and culture at large. This ten-part online series, featuring illustrated presentations, lectures and panel discussions, traces the transregional histories, material dimensions and market dynamics of these textiles. It also examines their influence on contemporary art, aesthetics, and architecture. As the first formal offering of its kind, the series brings together leading scholars, curators, researchers, makers, and entrepreneurs to present a rare blend of academic and practice-based insights into textile design, making, and afterlives.

About the Presenter

Mayank Mansingh Kaul is an independent researcher and curator with a focus on post-independence histories of textiles in India. He is a graduate in Textile Design from the National Institute of Design in Ahmedabad. Kaul has worked in cultural policy and curated seminal exhibitions including New Traditions: Inspirations & Influences in Indian Textiles, 1947–2017 (Jawahar Kala Kendra, Jaipur, 2018) and Pehchaan: Enduring Themes in Indian Textiles (Devi Art Foundation and National Museum, New Delhi, 2025). He edited the Marg publication Cloth and India: 1947–2015. Kaul is based in New Delhi, India.

This lecture series is designed to provide enriching learning opportunities for everyone, from beginners to experts, regardless of prior knowledge. Weekly lectures will be held online via Zoom, and will be accessible to learners from across the world.

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Total Sessions

10

Dates

July 5 –
September 6, 2025

Cost

Free

Platform

Live on Zoom

Outcome

Certificate of Attendance

Prerequisites

None

Sessions

Date (2025)

Guest Speakers

1. Introduction

05 July

-

2. Considering Fibre

12 July

Meena Menon, Uzramma

3. Historical Overview: 9th to 18th Centuries

19 July

Rosemary Crill

4. Colonial-Period References & Rethinking Pedagogies

26 July

Dr Ritu Sethi

5. Towards Recent Histories: 1947 to Now

02 August

-

6. A New Renaissance?

09 August

Deepika Shah, Hemang Agrawal, Dr Radhikaraje Gaekwad, Sharan Apparao

7. Making and Practices I: Indian Fashion — Discussing a New Paradigm

16 August

David Abraham, Jigmat Couture, Kallol Datta, Manish Arora

8. Making and Practices II: On Weaving — Conversation with Monika Correa

23 August

Monika Correa, Pradeep Dalal

9. Making and Practices III: On Ajrakh — Conversation with Ismail Khatri

30 August

Dr Ismail Khatri, Ami Shroff

10. Indian Textiles in the World

06 September

Peter Lee, Shwetasree Majumder, Uthra Rajgopal

Fragment, 1800s, Block-printed with gold leaf (varak) on dark-blue dyed plain-weave cotton muslin, 17.2 x 17.8 cm, The Cleveland Museum of Art, Ohio.

Part I

Five lectures and illustrated presentations, tracing the historical trajectory of Indian textiles.

Ashdeen Z Lilaowala, Installation view of Soar at SURFACE: An Exhibition of Indian Embroideries and Surface Embellishment as Art, Photographed by Anuj Arora, Courtesy of Sutrakala Foundation.

01Introduction

5th July, 2025 | 5:00 pm IST

By Mayank Mansingh Kaul

How have Indian textile practices developed to their present form? What roles have scholarship, curation, collections, and museums played in shaping the formal perceptions of textiles today? This opening session explores these questions by tracing over a century of knowledge-building that has defined the field. It addresses critical gaps such as the complex positioning of textiles between art, design and craft; as well as the challenges of articulating these histories primarily in English. It also sets the framework for the forthcoming sessions.

By Mayank Mansingh Kaul

Briana Blasko, Muga silk yarn, Boko, Assam, 2009, Courtesy of the photographer.

02Considering Fibre

12th July, 2025 | 5:00 pm IST

By Mayank Mansingh Kaul with Meena Menon and Uzramma

The story of India’s textiles begins with the fibres that have shaped its past and present. Handspun cotton from the Indian subcontinent once dominated global markets, and its legacy reflects the intertwined impact of colonial and post-independence policies. In this session, we trace the incredible history of cotton, and lesser-known perspectives on silk, wool, pashmina, and other natural fibres — revealing their vibrant cultural and economic significance across the region.

By Mayank Mansingh Kaul with Meena Menon and Uzramma

Chintz fragments (India), 18th century, Cotton, 48 x 49 cm, Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, New York.

03Historical Overview: 9th to 18th centuries

19th July, 2025 | 5:00 pm IST

By Mayank Mansingh Kaul with Rosemary Crill

Indian cloth has been at the centre of cultural exchange for centuries, carrying with it stories of taste and transformation. This session offers an overview of Indian textiles from the 9th to the 18th centuries, including trade textiles and those made for local courts. It covers textile traditions such as chintz and kalamkari, samite and lampas, as well as the Kashmir shawl. By examining how their popularity grew through commercial networks between India and the world, we learn how elite patronage enabled the highest forms of artistic expression and craftsmanship within the region.

By Mayank Mansingh Kaul with Rosemary Crill

Joseph Nash,The Great Exhibition: India No.I, Watercolour and bodycolour over pencil, 35 x 51.5 cm, © Royal Collection Enterprises Limited 2025 | Royal Collection Trust

04Colonial-Period References & Rethinking Pedagogies

26th July, 2025 | 5:00 pm IST

By Mayank Mansingh Kaul with Dr Ritu Sethi

What can the colonial archive reveal about Indian fabrics — and what does it obscure? This session explores how British imperial records, from Thomas Wardle’s silk volumes to The Great Exhibition inventories, shaped early studies of Indian textiles. Originally compiled to further the empire’s interests, these archives now offer insights into how Indian textiles were viewed, categorised and altered in the colonial imagination. Juxtaposing these with court records and vernacular sources, this session proposes new and critical ways of researching and teaching Indian textile histories today.

By Mayank Mansingh Kaul with Dr Ritu Sethi

Cecil Stoughton, First lady Jacqueline Kennedy attends fashion show in India, 1962, White House Photographs, John F Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston.

05Towards Recent Histories: 1947 to Now

2nd August, 2025 | 5:00 pm IST

By Mayank Mansingh Kaul

What prompted India to develop its own unique fashion language after 1947? This session traces how the post-independence revival of handlooms, which were deeply tied to the freedom struggle, influenced textile design and production. It explores how early economic policies and foreign relations fostered a ‘non-aligned’ fashion aesthetic, and delves into the inception of pioneering designer labels and brands in the decades that followed. By pursuing these developments — from institutional frameworks to iconic makers — we revisit the key shifts in India’s contemporary textile history.

By Mayank Mansingh Kaul

Part II

Panels and discussions moderated by the presenter, with practitioners from diverse regions and backgrounds offering first-hand insights on their creative processes and material considerations.

Installation image from Vayan: The Art of Indian Brocades, featuring 7 Yokings of the Felicity by artist Astha Butail (above) and a 1940s brocade saree from Varanasi, Photographed by Anuj Arora, Collection and image courtesy Lekha Poddar.

06A New Renaissance?

9th August, 2025 | 5:00 pm IST

By Mayank Mansingh Kaul with Deepika Shah, Hemang Agrawal, Dr Radhikaraje Gaekwad, and Sharan Apparao

Are we in the midst of a new renaissance for Indian textiles? Recent years have witnessed a surge in visibility for Indian textiles globally: we’ve seen an exponential rise in textile exhibitions, press interest on textile practitioners, and social media engagement with the subject. This session discusses emerging trends in the industry, the market and in academia, while capturing insights from experts mapping this change in the online space.

By Mayank Mansingh Kaul with Deepika Shah, Hemang Agrawal, Dr Radhikaraje Gaekwad, and Sharan Apparao

SS24, Body Language Collection, Courtesy of Abraham & Thakore.

07Indian Fashion — Discussing a New Paradigm

16th August, 2025 | 5:00 pm IST

By Mayank Mansingh Kaul with David Abraham, Jigmat Couture, Kallol Datta, and Manish Arora

The global fashion industry is premised on seasonal changes in trends. Indian writers and designers have consistently raised concerns about its tendency to homogenise aesthetics and style, and to force a certain uniformity in retail formats. In this panel, we ask if a uniquely Indian attitude towards clothing is essential in sustaining the country’s varied textile traditions.

By Mayank Mansingh Kaul with David Abraham, Jigmat Couture, Kallol Datta, and Manish Arora

Monika Correa, Snowscape, 1986, Warp: unbleached cotton, weft: unbleached wool, dyed black wool, 118.5 x 221 cm, Courtesy of the artist and Jhaveri Contemporary, Mumbai.

08On Weaving — Conversation with Monika Correa

23rd August, 2025 | 5:00 pm IST

By Mayank Mansingh Kaul with Monika Correa and Pradeep Dalal

Renowned artist Monika Correa is known for her distinctive style of handweaving tapestries, with her work forming a part of major collections in India and abroad. Her creative journey reflects wider cultural developments in independent India and the significant rise of natural fibres and fabric as a medium of contemporary art. In this session, Correa joins artist and writer Pradeep Dalal to discuss her practice, early influences, and current interests; and to reflect on evolving systems of patronage and showcase.

By Mayank Mansingh Kaul with Monika Correa and Pradeep Dalal

Ismail Mohammad Khatri, Ajrakh process sample, 2006, Strips of cotton cloth block-printed in progressive stages of completion, 96.5 x 19.3 cm, Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

09On Ajrakh — Conversation with Dr Ismail Khatri

30th August, 2025 | 5:00 pm IST

By Mayank Mansingh Kaul with Dr Ismail Khatri and Ami Shroff

Textile traditions have constantly innovated with design and its applications, for millennia. The practice of Dr Ismail Khatri — a leading exponent of Ajrakh — represents such dynamic aspects of handmade and hand-patterned Indian fabrics. In this session, he discusses his approach to art, entrepreneurship, mentorship, and education, while reflecting on the broader changes that have occurred in the Kutch region of Gujarat. He will be in conversation with Ami Shroff, a close collaborator at the Living and Learning Design Centre in Ajrakhpur, a pioneering organisation co-founded by Khatri.

By Mayank Mansingh Kaul with Dr Ismail Khatri and Ami Shroff

Textile Masters to the World, 2023–the present, Asian Civilisations Museum, Singapore. Courtesy of Peter Lee.

10Indian Textiles in the World

6th September, 2025 | 5:00 pm IST

By Mayank Mansingh Kaul with Peter Lee, Shwetasree Majumder, and Uthra Rajgopal

Some of the most exceptional examples of historical Indian textiles sit in museums and collections across the world — from the West to other parts of Asia. For over a century, these institutions have enabled scholarship and consistently sustained global interest in them. Such efforts are now joined by a new generation of researchers, collectors and creatives. In this concluding session, we examine key questions of identity, authorship and curation, which guide — among other urgent concerns — debates around fair trade, labour rights, sustainability, and Geographical Indicators.

By Mayank Mansingh Kaul with Peter Lee, Shwetasree Majumder, and Uthra Rajgopal

Speaker Details to be Announced

Meet the Guest Speakers

Contact Information

If you have any inquiries or need assistance, please contact Amitha Murugesh, Project Lead (Learning) at MAP Academy, by writing to hellomapacademy@map-india.org

Free access to all lectures

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