Textile can often have a curious relationship with the word monumental. We tend to save it for bronze and stone, materials that come pre-loaded with heft. Cloth has to earn scale the slow way, one stitch or knot at a time, and that arithmetic is exactly what Belong puts on display. Chanakya School's exhibition, running at Experimenter Colaba, Mumbai until 17 October, is the atelier's first solo show at this particular gallery space and its second with Experimenter overall, marking forty years of collective practice under Karishma Swali's direction.
Chanakya School, Belong, Experimenter - Colaba, Mumbai, 2026. stallation views. Images courtesy Experimenter. Photos by Shivani Goel.
Experimenter itself has a fitting backdrop for the work. Founded in Kolkata in 2009 by Prateek and Priyanka Raja, the gallery opened its Colaba outpost in 2022 inside a restored 1890s building in South Mumbai, a space whose own history of material renewal sits comfortably alongside an exhibition built from accumulation and reuse.
Chanakya School, Within I, 2026. Organic cotton, linen and silk threads with glass beads on cotton textile.
Chanakya School, Within III (detail), 2026. Organic cotton, linen and silk threads with glass beads on cotton textile.
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Find out more about the Chanakya School in Selvedge Issue 129, Repeat
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Image Credits:
Lead: Chanakya School, Saptamatrika IX: Mahesvari, 2026. Handwoven jute sculpture.
All further images as credited in captions.