Sambhavi Khaitan showcases ''Cloth-Past Continuous''

Mumbai, Jan 18 (UNI) Shambhavi Khaitan, who specialises in ancient Japanese art weaving form called 'saki-ori' or remaking from rags, held a preview of her exhibition, 'Cloth -Past Continuous', At the Coomaraswamy Hall of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya here yesterday.

Speaking here, Ms Khaitan said ''The idea probably arose as an economic neccessity for weavers who were poor. This also gained ground in the rampant destruction of the Second World War.

However, the sheer aesthics of Japanese sensibility would not allow them to wear anything that looked unfinished, hence 'saki-ori' was eventually used to creative beautiful woven garments for kimonos and shawls. Saki-ori, in its basic format, is weaving with strips of cloth or rags.'' People present on the occasion were art lovers and curators like Jehangir and Shirin Sabavala and Krsna Mehta, along with a host of discerning audience, and Susan Bean, curator of Peabody Essex Museum and one of the leading authorities in the world on textiles.

''Patience is the keyword,'' said Shambhavi, who has 5 years experience in the field of weaving. Adding further that, the whole process ''has been a journey of discovery, a travel inwards to a quiet and essential self.'' The exhibition of 'Cloth-Past Continuous' displayed lots of saris and stoles, because for Shambhavi a sari is the most elegant of the complete, woven and unstiched textiles.

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