Kullvi Naati By @kullvi_whims Handloom weaving with wool in Himachal Pradesh traces its origin to Central Asia from where the craft travelled along the trade route and finally settled down in the various villages of Himachal Pradesh more than 5000 years ago. The geometric, bolder motifs have attained their unique identity as Kullvi designs, which has also acquired the Geographical Indicator (GI) tag. The Pattus, traditional draped woollen dress of the women, usually had a simple base in twill weave with the natural wool colours of white, grey, beige or black and a colourful interacts border of motifs. Since the 60s as mill-spun yarn and acrylic yarn in bright colours entered the market and became easier to procure, shawls and pattus are now a mix of pure wool and acrylic. The final design with the naati dancers, the intricate 'chashm’ motif used to depict mountain lakes and the festive ‘gudi’ along the vertical edges, beautifully brings together a narrative of heritage, landscape and technique. The textile marks a departure in its size, use of natural fibres and natural dyes and unique motif composition. The whole process, right from the inspiration, ideation, drafting the motif, selecting the natural dye palettes and finally overcoming the challenges of translating it onto the loom was a true community effort! Wall Panel/Stole Handspun Himalayan Wool Hand Weaving, Supplementary Weft Designed by Brighu Acharya and Nisha Subramaniam Created by Teji Devi, Indra Sood, Lata Sharma and Durga Naggar, Himachal Pradesh, May 2022 Sutr Santati Then.Now.Next exhibition is open at @nmnewdelhi till 15th October 2022. Curation by @lavinabaldota @santati_then_now_next presented by @baldotafoundation_abf Coordination support for the curation & social media by @isha.savetheweave #sutrsantatithennownext #kullviwhims #pattuweaving #himalayanshawl #handspunwool #handwoven #textilesofindia #weavesofindia #savetheweave #exhibition #curator #lavinabaldota #nationalmuseum #kullviwhimswomens #baldotafoundation