Kashmir textile exhibition: Where tradition meets the contemporary
The inaugural event held at Sadu House was attended by resident ambassadors and diplomats
in Kuwait, Kuwaiti dignitaries and media representatives. In his opening remarks, Indian Ambassador
Dr Adarsh Swaika commended Kashmir Loom and Sadu House for joining hands to hold the exhibition
that introduces the exquisite weaving tradition from Kashmir to the Kuwaiti society. Read More >
Kashmir Loom Co-founder Asaf Ali explaining the craft to Shaikha Paula Al Sabah
A Woven Life
As co-founder of the Kashmir Loom Company, Housego has championed
a generation of Indian craftsmen. During her nearly three decades in India, she has ventured
across the country to sit with weavers and embroiderers to forge new ways of combining
their traditional craftsmanship with contemporary designs. She co-founded two successful
companies that secured markets for their unique products while putting Indian textiles
firmly on the world’s luxury map. Read More >
Image: Qamoos Bukhari for Kashmir Loom
The Fabric of Your Life
The Metallic Kani Goes to the MET
The two words ‘metallic’ and ‘kani’ when placed together open an immediate dialogue
between the traditional and contemporary. Especially the Kashmiri kani which in its traditional form
did not include the use of metallic threads or zari blended yarn. Now, made by the Delhi-based
Kashmir Loom, these kanis created on wooden sticks or bobbins were handwoven with zari yarn
instead of just multi-coloured threads. This contemporary version finds pride of place at the
Heirloom Project Bazaar at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Textile historian, designer and co-founder of Kashmir Loom, Housego has helped inspire
a generation of skilled craftsmen and set up one of the finest ateliers dealing in Cashmere.
In this issue, she shares a photo album of Kashmir Loom and its impeccable, lustrous pashmina.
English textile authority Jenny Housego, whose grandmother, Violet Sargent Ormond, was the artist’s sister.
A former curator at London’s Victoria and Albert Museum, Housego moved to New Delhi in 1989,
devoting herself to the creation of luxurious handmade textiles.
she takes a trip down memory lane, reminiscing the adventurous journey she undertook
from war-hit England to the valleys of Kashmir. This, however, was not the life
she had planned while growing up during the Cold War. “I had imagined myself
sitting astride the Berlin Wall sending entirely wrong information to both the British and German army,
while working as a spy!” she laughs.
How to save it: the Kashmiri shawl
Painters and poets have long been entranced by its finely woven folds, but the future of the Kashmiri shawl is far from certain.
Victoria Frolova reports
Cashmere by John Singer Sargent, 1908 – one of the many artworks inspired by the Kashmiri shawl | Image: Archivart/Alamy Stock Photo
How to Visit Kashmir by HANYA YANAGIHARA
No need to go to India for the finest pashminas
It’s the soft, soft wool that makes these pashminas special
Where to shop in Srinagar: From pherans to fruit, Jasreen Mayal Khanna explores the offerings in Kashmir’s capital and comes away richer.