Textiles from Bengal: A Shared Legacy, 9789394501263

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Textiles from Bengal: A Shared Legacy

Sonia Ashmore (Editor) Tirthankar Roy (Editor) Niaz Zaman (Editor) Rosemary Crill (Editor)

Synopsis

The famed Bengal textiles which once ‘clothed the world’ have received little scholarly attention. With the systemic destruction of Bengal’s textile industry, prompted by the Industrial Revolution in Europe, the muslins and Balucharis of Bengal were lost in obscurity. The partition of the Indian subcontinent and the consequent varieties of cultural and social identity in present-day India and Bangladesh have contributed to this neglect. This pioneering publication explores in depth the lost textile traditions of Bengal from the 16th to the 20th century and traces its impact on the historical and cultural aspects of the region.

This book is conceived as a dialogue between historians, anthropologists, art historians, textile practitioners and textile scholars who bring their diverse perspectives and expertise on the fundamental catalysts of change in the textile tradition of Bengal. The book serves as a public history, with engaging chapters presenting a unique perspective on the textiles of wider Bengal supported by superb illustrations of textiles, maps and trade documents from the past, most of which have never been published before. This volume will inspire the reader, reorient scholarly attention and provoke a rethinking of the nature and history of Bengal textiles.

Contents:

Foreword by Rosemary Crill
Introduction to the Project by Darshan Shah
INTRODUCTION
BENGAL AND BEYOND
RAW MATERIALS
THE WORLD OF THE BENGALI TEXTILE WORKER
DESIGN AND PRODUCTION
TRADE
CONSUMPTION
Glossary
Index
Acknowledgements

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About the authors

Sonia Ashmore

Dr Sonia Ashmore is a design historian with a particular interest in cultural exchange. As a fellow in the Victoria and Albert Museum’s (V&A) Research Department she published extensively on the museum’s South Asian textile and other collections, including Muslin (V&A, 2012). Now an independent scholar, she has lectured widely and run courses at the V&A. She is an adviser to the Muslin Trust.

Tirthankar Roy

Tirthankar Roy is Associate Professor at the Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research, Mumbai.

Niaz Zaman

Niaz Zaman is Professor of English, University of Dhaka. She was Consulting Editor, Arts and Humanities, for the National Encyclopedia Project of the Asiatic Society of Bangladesh. Her venture into translation began in 1983, with her translation of Bangla folk tales, subsequently revised and published as Princess Kalabati and Other Tales. She has edited Selected Short Stories from Bangladesh, The Escape and Other Stories, and 1971 and After. Her other publications include A Divided Legacy, a study of novels on the Partition of India, which won literary awards from the National Archives and the Asiatic Society of Bangladesh. Her articles and stories have also been published in books and journals at home and abroad. Her short story "The Dance," which is the title story of her anthology The Dance and Other Stories, won a Asiaweek short story award. She was also editor of the Bangladesh Journal of American Studies.

Rosemary Crill

Rosemary Crill is Deputy Curator of the Indian & South-East Asian Department of the Victoria & Albert Museum, London, where she specialises in Indian textiles and Rajasthani paiting. Her publications include Hats from India, Tie-dyed Textiles of India (co-author), Colours of the Indus: Costume and Textiles of Pakistan (co-author), Indian Ikat Textiles, Marwar Paiting: A History of the Jodhpur Style, and Indian Embroiderey.

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