Throughout September: Textiles from Bengal: A Shared Legacy - Object Tour

Throughout September, a selection of objects from the exhibition will tour the UK.

17 September LSE

18 September Nehru Centre

19 September V&A East, London, as part of London Textile Month

25 September Whitworth, Manchester

30 September National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh.

Earlier this year, the Kolkata Centre for Creativity hosted Textiles from Bengal: A Shared Legacy, a landmark exhibition curated by Mayank Mansingh Kaul and presented by the Weavers Studio Resource Centre. Spanning nine thematic sections, it reclaimed Bengal’s textile history from the margins, tracing its layered traditions from colonial trade to contemporary innovation.

Eighty-one textiles and 25 artefacts — from jamdani and kantha to baluchari silks, colchas, and the celebrated Haji Rumal — revealed a legacy shaped by local mastery and centuries of global exchange. Standouts included translucent muslins illuminated to reveal their gossamer weave, and contemporary jamdani reinterpretations by Bappaditya Biswas and Chinar Farooqui.

Now, a selection of these works will tour the UK in September, with stops including the LSE, the Nehru Centre, V&A East, the Whitworth, and the National Museum of Scotland — continuing the exhibition’s mission to place Bengal at the centre of global textile history.

Read more about Textiles of Bengal: A Shared Legacy, in Issue 126, Deco