Friday 19 September, 2 - 4 pm: Object Viewing and Screening, Rare Bengal Textiles in the Collection of V&A with Avalon Fotheringham

V&A East Storehouse, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, East Storehouse, V&A, Parkes St, London E20 3AX

Textiles from Bengal – A Shared Legacy is a landmark project and publication that illuminates Bengal’s extraordinary textile traditions from the 14th to the 20th century. Initiated by Weavers Studio Resource Centre (WSRC) and four years in the making, the project draws from public and private collections across India. It culminated in a two-day symposium, a museum-grade exhibition in Kolkata; and a richly illustrated book published by Mapin in 2025. Edited by Sonia Ashmore, Tirthankar Roy, and Niaz Zaman, the volume spans 31 chapters and curated catalogue entries by leading historians, curators, and scholars, tracing Bengal’s legacy beyond muslins, Jamdanis and Balucharis to majestic Satgaon Quilts, Block Prints, Decorative Santipuris and Tangails, cross-border weaver migrations and colonial disruption.

The book seeks to reignite curiosity and awareness, and to restore Bengal’s textile heritage to global scholarly and design conversations. It will be touring the UK and Scotland with academic and cultural engagements across institutions like the London School of Economics, The Nehru Centre, V&A East, Whitworth Gallery, and the National Museum of Scotland.

At the heart of this initiative is Weavers Studio Resource Centre—a not-for-profit trust founded in 2007 in Kolkata by Darshan Shah. The Centre is a knowledge bank, archive, and research hub documenting over 1,500 rare textiles and 2,500 volumes. WSRC’s mission bridges preservation with innovation, creating a living continuum between past traditions and contemporary textile practice.

Darshan Shah is the Project Director and Founder of Weavers Studio Resource Centre. Over three decades, she has built Weavers Studio into a dynamic textile ecosystem—spanning retail, exports, a handloom-focused factory, and an extensive archive of heritage textiles. Through collaborations, she has fostered a thriving community, ensuring traditional craftsmanship endures. Born into a progressive Kutchi family in Kolkata, Shah was shaped by a legacy of education and feminism. After studying commerce, law, and management, she worked at Hindustan Lever but left to raise her daughter. A stint at Apple Computers left her unfulfilled, prompting a bold journey of self-discovery. In Japan, she reconnected with indigo, a childhood memory tied to her family’s tea and dyeing estates. Immersing herself in traditional techniques, she found her true calling in textiles. Returning to India in the 1990s, she curated exhibitions showcasing handcrafted fabrics, sparking renewed interest in hand block prints.

Programme:

Intimate Object Viewing of Rare Bengal Textiles in the Collection of V&A with Avalon Fotheringham

Avalon Fotheringham is curator for the South Asian textiles and dress collection at the Victoria and Albert Museum. She studied fibre and material practices at Concordia University, Montréal, and the History of Design at the Royal College of Art, London. Before taking up the post of curator she worked as Research Assistant for the 2015 exhibition The Fabric of India at the V&A. She is the author of The Indian Textile Sourcebook (V&A/T&H).

Screening of the Documentary - Epaar Opaar: Shared Legacies

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