“Surface,” an exhibition held at the heart of Jodhpur’s old walled city, where the sandstone murmurs of an earlier age, invites visitors to celebrate the world of Indian embroideries and surface embellishments.
Jodhpur art events
Exhibited at three heritage venues — Achal Niwas, Anoop Singh ki Haveli, and Lakshmi Niwas — curator Mayank Mansingh Kaul, through his collaboration with the Sutrakala Foundation and JDH Urban Regeneration Project has knitted the story of Indian contemporary art exhibitions with traditional craft, one that challenges conventional notions of textile and its journey through life. “At Sutrakala, we believe in the transformative power of design, where surface embellishment and embroidery transcend tradition to become extraordinary mediums of art. I wanted to create something meaningful that could showcase the boundless possibilities of embroidery as art,” said Shon Randhawa, founder of Sutrakala Foundation.
Textural Art Installations
Entering Achal Niwas, the playful architecture of the venue immediately has a conversation with the inscrutable levity of Sumakshi Singh’s Surface as Structure: Monument as Mirage (2024). Singh’s delicate thread-like columns seem to float in the stone foyer. This tension between weight and weightlessness, structure and fluidity, resonates through the first venue.
Swati Kalsi’s Night Breeze (2015-16) and Etch (2015-16) provided a modern reading of Sujuni embroidery, hinting at the human body in its absence. Her collaborations with contemporary artists extend this dialogue, applying Chamba Rumal embroidery, an example of Cultural identity in art.
Parul Thacker’s The Book of the Time-Travelers of the Worlds: A Fathomless Zero (2024), a circular installation of embroidered sound waves, undergirds the spatial potency of textile art. This resonance is reflected in Asif Shaikh’s Sacred Geometry (2020), which holds a visual conversation with the venue’s intricate jaali windows, demonstrating that textiles can serve as both art and architecture.
Conversely Chinar Farooqi’s अलंकार (Alankar) (2024), which was commissioned specifically for the exhibition, creates umbrella-like arches of embroidered fabric, transforming the gallery space into Architectural art projects. This seamless correlation of structure and ornament accentuates the fluid possibilities of textiles in contemporary art.
A Celebration of Community and Heritage
The story then changes at Anoop Singh ki Haveli, where the narrative focuses on the community-oriented aspect of embroidery and weaving. Here, artisan-based non-profit, Shrujan’s works are a testament to the traditional role of embroidery, especially bagh phulkari, as part of a communal activity where women would gather to share woven stories. Beautifully unravelling this spirit of storytelling are the works of the Porgai Artisans Association and Designers Anshu Arora, and Dr. Lalitha Regi, whose whimsical worlds come to life on fabric canvases. The haveli embodies a celebration of culture, demonstrating the revival and intergenerational transfer of skills through traditional crafts.
Exploring New Horizons in Textile Art
“Against the magnificent setting of the historical architecture and stark landscape of Jodhpur, the exhibits presented in SURFACE celebrate the enduring charm of embroideries and surface embellishment at their best – as textures, drawings, paintings, installations and sculptures. At a time when such forms of Indian contemporary textiles have achieved a high level of innovation and hand craftsmanship, the exhibition suggests that we pause and consider their merit beyond fashion, apparel, home furnishings and objects for interiors,” said Mr Mayank Mansingh Kaul, curator for the exhibition.
The experience culminates at Lakshmi Niwas where Shine Shivan’s “Kshestra Dhara” (2013-2025), a monumental installation employing taxidermy techniques and found materials, takes the notion of surface adornment to an extreme. This grotesque yet riveting work is the fruit of a dozen years of artistic exploration, provoking themes such as alienation and the histories infused into found items.
Standing at the bottom of a narrow staircase, Swati Kalsi’s “Shell” (2014), a radiant red Sujuni weaving, draws the eye, symbolising a sense of feminine power. This intensity contrasts with July Ancel’s playful and surreal “Lucknow VI” (2024), produced in partnership with artisans from the Kalhath Institute. Ancel creates bizarre, harrowing imagery through the union of painting and chikankari, breaking the convention of traditional embroidery.
The artist Manisha Parekh’s triptych “The Red” (2023-24), a red ribbon woven through perforated wooden boards, dismantles the notion of cloth as the dominant material used to decorate surfaces. Jean Francois-Lesage’s Traveling Roots (2024) is a bright red dome based on the site of the Lal Dera completes the exhibition’s trajectory of conversation, following Singh’s monument from the show’s earlier venue; it reminds us of the ability of textiles to be architecture.
SURFACE- The Exhibition
SURFACE looks at India’s vast textile heritage, a tribute to its multiplicity of crafts, and a reflection on the nature of what it means to work with thread. It is a tribute to the eternal power of embroidery and surface embellishment not just as surface decoration, but as a medium of artistic expression, cultural preservation, and social commentary. It encourages us to see past the surface, to unearth the stories embedded in each thread, and to recognize the deep meaning textiles hold in our lives.
Image Courtesy- Sutrakala Foundation
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