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  • Is This The Most Unique Indigo Museum Globally ?

    Is This The Most Unique Indigo Museum Globally ?

     Indigo is among the oldest dyes to be used for textile dyeing and printing. Many Asian countries, such as India, China, and Japan, have used indigo as a dye for centuries. The application of Indigo has been mainly targeted towards textiles and apparel and related products in all these centuries. It has never been tried to give a very broad , cross industry perspective to this wonderful , most  unique dye in this world. However, the Indigo Museum conceptualized by CMD of Arvind Group Mr Sanjay Lalbhai changes all that. His vision of extending the vocabulary of indigo to diverse materials including but not limited to cement, brick, steel to wood, sandstone, black ash, VHS tapes and much more has been successfully executed by creative head Vipul Mahadevia in a very short period of about an year . Eminent artists and artisans from across the world have collaborated with Mr. Lalbhai and his team to co-create stunning installations and contemporary art works . Also check out his interview with us here.

    Indigo Museum – Artistic Alchemy

    This exhibition, currently installed at the spacious and old world Kasturbhai Lalbhai museum, encompasses stellar examples of the magic that can emerge out of a creative confluence of minds. On view are weaves, furniture, paintings, sculptures and installations, all of which use Indigo to fascinating effect. The sheer range of mediums – wood, steel, aluminum, marble, stone, ceramics, rubber, canvas, and paper – that further the transformative qualities of Indigo is fascinating.
    Internationally recognized contemporary Indian artists such as Nalini Malani, Alwar Balasubramaniam, Manish Nai, Umang Hutheesing, Meesha Holey, Vyom Mehta, Gregor Hilderbrandt , multidisciplinary artist and designer Aboubakar Fofana from Mali, are among several artists who have been commissioned to explore Indigo as a medium. Beautiful craft by artisans from Gujarat, the minimalist explorations of young artists who work with paper, and stunning fabrics by skilled dyers, are all displayed side by side in the many rooms of the family’s erstwhile home, which is now a museum.
    Commenting on the selection of artists and artisans, Mr. Lalbhai says,

    “Our intention is to highlight the immense potential of Indigo and display a range of possibilities for an Indigo lifestyle. This precursor exhibition offers an immersive experience. I feel privileged to have co-created these works along with the creators themselves. Some of the artists have never worked with Indigo before, and, I believe, this will create an ecosystem that promotes creativity, art and put India on the global map.”

    Creative head Vipul Mahadevia says,

    We brought together a vast array of artists from diverse fields to enable them experiment and give their own interpretation to natural indigo. It has been a wonderful experience to how see how each artist translated their understanding of the dye into a unique art piece in a very short period of time.

    We list here some of the artists who created art pieces for the Indigo Museum. Some of the artists are covered in this article and others will be in the following articles. 

    ABOUBAKAR FOFANA

    BIOGRAPHY

    Born in 1967, Aboubakar Fofana was born in West Africa but spent many years living and working in France. His atelier is in Bamako, Mali, where he and his small team of trained artisans produce unique modern textiles using 100% natural processes and ancient indigenous techniques. As a child in West Africa, Aboubakar Fofana was told about green leaves that made blue colours. Years later, already a successful calligrapher, artist and graphic designer living in France, he remembered this story, and started on a long journey to understand indigo and his African heritage. The technique of fermented indigo dyeing using whole indigo leaves had already disappeared from West Africa and was replaced by synthetic dyes by the time Fofana first heard about it. He pieced together the technique by reading and asking, and by trial and error. It took many years to understand the process and even more time to master this difficult but unmatchable method of dyeing, and he is still learning. His work reflects the living materials he uses, harnessing their cycles of birth, life and decay, and the seasonal rhythms of nature.  He uses fine natural fabrics to take up these colours, with a preference for the luxurious organic Malian cotton, hand spun and hand-woven, that many of his pieces are made from. Fofana is dedicated to preserving this tradition of fermented indigo dyeing, along with other West African textile techniques and indigenous materials.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYrIVWeHTwM

    Arvind Ltd To Present Alchemy, A Special Exhibition, Ahead Of The Launch Of Its Arvind-Indigo Museum | Denimsandjeans

     
    BHAGYASHREE SUTHAR

    BIOGRAPHY

    Born in 1991, Bhagyashree Suthar was brought up in Jodhpur, Rajasthan in a family of furniture makers. She moved to Vadodara, Gujarat to attain her bachelor’s and master’s degree in Fine Art from the reputed Maharaja Sayajirao University. She won a gold for master’s in visual arts in 2016. Her first solo exhibition was ‘Fractal Future’ at Akara Art Gallery. She has showcased her work at India Art Fair 2017 & 2018 and will showcasing in 2019 as well with a solo focus booth. She currently lives and works in Vadodara and is represented by Akara Art, Mumbai.

    ABOUT THE WORK

    Informed by the Roman and Gothic construction, my practice is heavily influenced by architecture and geometric patterns in nature which pose as a reflection of myself. Through my works, I lay out a Utopian fantastical world. I take reference from British Iraqi architect, Zaha Hadid’s fluid designs as well as fractal geometry based on symmetrical patterns found in nature and Fibonacci geometry (a ratio that is aesthetically pleasing, found in the spiral patterns of plants). My practice so far, has revolved around using beeswax as a medium to create sculptures and wax painting. Along with this, I create pen & ink drawings on Rajasthani Paper. I attempt to portray futuristic architecture by incising the surface with a variety of tools and making designs by adding or removing certain forms of wax.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwaBCwe8VeI

    Arvind Ltd To Present Alchemy, A Special Exhibition, Ahead Of The Launch Of Its Arvind-Indigo Museum | Denimsandjeans

    MANISHA PAREKH

    BIOGRAPHY

    Born in 1964, in Gujarat, India, she holds a M.A. in painting from both the Royal College of Art in London (1991-93) and the M.S. University in Baroda (1983-1990). She was one of the founding members of Khoj International Artists Workshop. Parekh is one of the few artists working in India today who continues to explore an exclusively abstract language. It could be said that her works are indebted to the ethereal abstractions of Gaitonde and the geometric craftsman ship of Nasreen Mohammedi (who was one of her teachers in Baroda), as well as the more gestural ink drawings of Jeram Patel. She has developed an artistic practice which also pays reference to the craft and textiles traditions of her native land. The artist straddles painting, collage and drawing to create works that incorporate both the geometric and the organic. Her most recognized works are created by layering shapes cut from handmade papers into dense fields of pattern and energy, sometimes perforating the surface and adding other materials.

    ABOUT THE WORK

    Portrait of ‘the blue’ – My first experience of working with Indigo dye was in Japan in 2013. I was in a residency at ACAC in Aomori. The area around grew Indigo and the ancient town of Hirosaki had an old indigo dying unit from Edo period. I did visit this old workshop to see the process of preparing natural Indigo and the different techniques of tie & dye. In the pursuit of using local material in my practice, I made a work with Kanji script and Indigo dye on 5 large sheets of paper. It was fascinating to get to know the manner in which the dye would respond to paper. It took some amount of playing around to familiarize with the way the dye would get fixed and add density to the hue as I soak the paper more and more. It was also magical to see the hue of this blue once it dried. The title of that work was ‘Gratitute’.It felt really rewarding to make this work with this amazing pigment. Ever since I have been looking for another opportunity to work with Indigo. I dipped a fat round brush in the jar of SIL. Out came the brush loaded with thick dark pigment coated with dense blue-black velvety deposit. When I brought that brush in contact with a thick cotton rag paper, it allowed me to move and slide the brush making amazing bold marks. Another jar of BIP contained a sticky and slimy dark blue. It responded well when I sprayed water after painting with it. The jar with LIP gave me a tone of lighter blue and was easy to let it flow with water. NIP gave a textured surface and CIP was grainy and dark.The work started with big heavy notes and soon started getting small movements and variations. The surface was built with shades of the pigment with surprises as it bleeds with the water. It is active with the web of patterns in places and also silent in parts. Each of the 5 pieces speaks about ‘this amazing blue’.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8PQ_iZtv-A

    Arvind Ltd To Present Alchemy, A Special Exhibition, Ahead Of The Launch Of Its Arvind-Indigo Museum | Denimsandjeans

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    NALINI MALANI

    BIOGRAPHY

    Nalini Malani was born in 1946 in Karachi, Pakistan (Undivided India), as the only child of lawyer Jairam Malani and gymnastics teacher Satni Advani. A few months later the Partition of India occurred, which saw her family find refuge in Calcutta before moving to Bombay. A forced exile that would mark her family and later her practice as an artist. Over her lifetime Malani has received various awards, including an Honorary Doctorate in Fine Arts from the San Francisco Art Institute (2010), the Fukuoka Arts and Culture Prize (2013), the St Moritz Art Masters Lifetime Achievement Award (2014), and the Asian Art Game Changers Award (2016). Malani still speaks about Bombay and not Mumbai, for various cultural reasons. This is why the old name is still being used in her publications.

    ABOUT THE WORK

    “The triptych, The Teller of Tales ……the fragility of life. For this I placed the female protagonist, the storyteller, in the lower part of the right panel, from where words spark from her hands all over the painting in different shapes and forms. This is a narrative that works on three levels – from the 19th century Bengal peasant liberation movement, to the quote from the German female philosopher and political theorist Hanna Arendt who speaks of the continuation of life. And finally, to the philosophical note of the Polish female poet Wislawa Szymborska, where in our improvised faulty ways we are still able to live on.

    On a historical level ,The Indigo Rebellion (Neel Bidroho) starting out in the Nadia districts in Bengal in 1859; the workers attacked the Indigo factories with whatever weapons they had, joined by their women who fought with pots and pans. From there it spread in 1860 to other districts where the farmers revolted successfully, overthrowing the brutal suppression of the European Indigo planters, supported by the British Government for almost a century.

    On a sociological level , Hannah Arendt’s quote:

    “To be alive means to live in a world that preceded one’s own arrival and will survive one’s own departure.”

    On a philosophical / existential level , Wislawa Szymborska quotes from her poem Nothing Twice:

    “…we arrive here improvised and leave without the chance to practice.”“Why do we treat the fleeting day?with so much needless fear and sorrow? It’s in its nature not to stay:Today is always gone tomorrow.”and leave without the chance to practice.”

    Arvind Ltd To Present Alchemy, A Special Exhibition, Ahead Of The Launch Of Its Arvind-Indigo Museum | Denimsandjeans

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    NIBHA SIKANDER

    BIOGRAPHY

    Born 1983 in Mumbai, India, Nibha Sikander studied painting at the Maharaja Sayajirao University in Baroda and has been exhibiting actively since her graduation in 2008. While at university she received the Nasreen Mohamedi Scholarship in 2004-2005.  She now lives between Bombay and Murud (Janjira), Maharashtra.

    ABOUT THE WORK

    My work titled “Nature construct -deconstruct”, is set of 36 works. It is part of my ongoing series of work, which reflects the current environment that I am surrounded by. It talks about my relationship with nature in respect to birds, moths and insects, which I have been studying in detail for the last few years.Paper as a medium has many qualities -but what I love the most about it is that it can be stiff when required and flexible when needed. This particular project fascinated me because I got to use indigo dyed paper which challenged me to find depth within this singular palette. One colour which gives you so many shades as opposed to using different colours.

    Arvind Ltd To Present Alchemy, A Special Exhibition, Ahead Of The Launch Of Its Arvind-Indigo Museum | Denimsandjeans

    Arvind Ltd To Present Alchemy, A Special Exhibition, Ahead Of The Launch Of Its Arvind-Indigo Museum | Denimsandjeans

    KAVIN MEHTA

    BIOGRAPHY

    Born in 1994, in Ahmedabad, India, Kavin studied Industrial Design at University of Hertfordshire, Class of 2015. He is an Industrial Designer who practices in various fields of Design, Art and Material exploration. He works with a variety of Natural materials, interdisciplinary techniques and unique methodology at his studio and workshop based in Ahmedabad, Gujarat.

    ABOUT THE WORK

    The concept behind his works revolves around the nature of indigo and the possibilities it possesses in amalgamation with other natural materials like stones.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z960AkDl8EE

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    We shall be covering other artists in the following series of articles. Keep watching !

  • Indigo Museum | Sanjay Lalbhai – CMD Arvind – Speaks About His Pet Project

    Indigo Museum | Sanjay Lalbhai – CMD Arvind – Speaks About His Pet Project

    Arvind had recently come up with a most unique INDIGO MUSEUM that aims to extend the vocabulary of Indigo into spaces and possibilities never explored earlier.This museum seeks to revive and nurture traditional art forms and bring a contemporary interpretation of these with indigo, thereby benefiting the artisans and an entire ecosystem. With know-how to impart indigo on a variety of surfaces like metal, stone, wood and many more, Arvind Indigo Museum seeks to push the boundaries of innovation with Indigo into newer areas and disciplines but also deliver social impact, in line with the core philosophy Arvind stands for. The coverage of materials with Indigo is so profound that we will need to publish a few articles to do justice to the work done in this museum by craftsmen all over the world and we will be doing this over next few days.

    Indigo museum has been the pet project of Sh Sanjay Lalbhai – CMD Arvind . He has been personally driving this project with a passion that is rare to seek. We spoke to him to find out more about his vision and achievements in this direction and would like to bring the same  to our readers.

    How did the concept of applying Indigo in so many diverse applications come to your mind?

    It is just because of our history as we were responsible for bringing denim to this country. I have been associated since a long-time way back in 1988. It almost reinvented ARVIND and my carrier also took an upturn because of denims; I have been associated with this product and denim is what it is because of this wonderful dyed indigo. We had opened the Kasturibhai Lalbhai Museum and my grand father had also opened the Lalbhai Dalpatbhai museum,so we have a tradition of sharing whatever is valuable as collection to public.

    The idea came to me that, if I can create a platform using indigo and that too national indigo, then it would be a unique thing that allows artisans and artists to express their creativity through various mediums . And now that when thought came , one of the limiting factors was that the indigo has being imparted mainly on fabrics. So I further thought that if we can extend it to many other substrates then the ability of artists to express themselves through more mediums would become possible and that would be unique in a way and will attract more people to come and visit this museum because it is something unique.

    It’s an innovation which has not been done before and it is also exciting for artists and artisans because it is co-creation, when you start you don’t know what you will get and what will be the outcome because no one has done it before So there is that excitement of trying to do something which is never been done before and express your creativity through a new medium. So, in that way it has been a very interesting experiment and we have showcased that in a years’ time we have been able to use so many different materials.

    So, we’ll keep on extending this,from lifestyle to various mediums and we would really like to engage with artisans as there are so many brilliant crafts which exist in this country and there are so many brilliant artisans also.The objective is also to give them livelihood so that their next generation will also come into this and extend this tradition.

    However, I feel that, we have to make the Indian crafts more contemporary which can cater to the global audience and Indigo enables that. We see this as on going exercise to create the whole ecosystem where underlying theme is INDIGO. So that’s the vision and whoever has worked on it has loved the medium.

    We have also been surprised at how such beautiful things can come out of it. Its a very rewarding exercise and just a beginning-lots of things have to be done in the future.

    Considering all the technical difficulties, especially applying indigo to metal, glass, acrylic, stone and so many other mediums, it’s a huge achievement in a short period of one year. How do you see it?

    Yes, it is!

    Now the glass ceramic, I will show you, these are all absolutely new technologies we are using. We have failed many times. However, we keep on trying new recipes and new ways of imparting it,new way to impregnate various surfaces with indigo .

    But when you attempt it you also don’t know how we are going to succeed. But you have to keep on trying hard to understand why it’s not working and then you have to try hard to see that how do we make it possible. So, yeah  it’s a journey.

    In this whole journey of applying indigo on diverse applications, how did you see the nature of natural indigo evolve and change?

    Yes, it does change,because with oxygen it will fade and oxidize. So,it is a natural living dye that it is constantly changing unlike any other dye. One thing is that it is natural,when it comes from an agriculture crop, so you ferment the leaves, you take out the natural indigo.

    Green becomes blue and we are now trying that how do we extend the vocabulary even of the blue by mixing other natural dyes and creating a whole new palette but the underlying base would be only indigo. So, the possibilities are endless, it reacts differently with different mediums when it gets exposed to sun, when it gets exposed to air, it reacts differently. So yes ,it is all the time changing evolving ,living dye which is very exciting and it gives different hues which no other blue can give neither can any other color give.

    Would be you be adding any more mediums?

    Yes,and this will be an endless exercise and we are not restricting it, because you must have seen that we have 5 foreign artists who have worked on different mediums and created masterpieces. So,we will get artists and artisans from all over the world, and this museum will become a unique thing that these people will be contributing to with an underlying theme of indigo.

    All these experiments which have been happening here, do you think this will also create a lot of opportunities in industrial applications?

    Yes, because we will be able to extend this to every lifestyle.What we have done with clothes can be done with accessories,home textile, sanitary wear or the buildings etc, and to make it look good it has to be affordable and if it is too pricey and elite,then it will remain restricted.

    Further, it can be also used for luxury brands which will really get used to it. But we also want that it remains affordable and can be used by everybody. For example- a pair of jeans-it’s very affordable,very user-friendly product,it is very light and very low on weight.

    Similarly,we would like to bring that practical aspect where,whenever we impart indigo and when we extend the product’s life cycle or use indigo in different lifestyles,it has to be usable, affordable, unique and pleasing.

    What is the sustainable angle in this project?

    It’s very sustainable because there is no other dye which is so therapeutic. This is anti-bacteria ; you can consume it.It is US FDA approved. Mr. Abu Bakar who has done those installation-he’s been practicing all his life ; he’s worked on within indigo. So, he told me that in Mali (he’s from Mali-in Africa) that when a newborn baby arrives in this world,he/she is wrapped in such indigo cloths  because it is anti-bacteria and when a person dies then also he/she is also wrapped in an indigo cloth because it is considered a spiritual thing.So, it is such a brilliant thing : here is a dye which is good, otherwise all chemicals are harmful.It is a natural dye and it is completely sustainable which is good to consume in any way. It’s really unique.

    It is absolutely sustainable like khadi we have made (which is hand spun and hand dyed and is natural indigo,no fossil fuel is used,hand-woven. It is the oldest denim designed in memory of Gandhiji).So, we have produced this khadi denim which is now globally available- Levi’s has sold it globally and it is absolutely sustainable. It does not use any kind of fossil fuel in manufacturing, everything is natural.

    One of the things about natural indigo which restricts its increased usage is the cost .Do you think that over a period of time we can have improvements in this area to make it more cost effective?

    We are working on it. We are going to the farmers – understand where the costs are and how can we improve the crop yield. How can we improve the concentration of indigo. Because when we use natural indigo,it has 40% concentration.So, the cost almost doubles. But we have not really worked on it. Now that we have started working , we will go to the farmers and really get some different varieties grown.

    We are trying and ensure that we get highest yield. And then we can figure out whether we can bridge this cost between synthetic and natural. Even if we are not able to bridge it- we really want to make it more rewarding for the farmers. And we really want to produce authentic natural indigo which ARVIND can sign so there is no mixing of any kind of synthetic Indigo in that. So at least we can ,with assurance, sell indigo which is hundred percent natural because we will want to be personally selling it after procuring from the farm where the entire supply chain is controlled by us to ensure purity .Otherwise something cheap can easily get mixed up with something which is expensive.

    And then the synthetic Indigo is not good for the body and it is not like natural indigo. It is harmful. So of course, when Indigo is used in many other different mediums. I’m sure that such projects will create a bigger demand for indigo.As a result of which, it will be a reward for farmers. It is a socially responsible project.

    The application of natural indigo has been in certain way as used in denim .Will that be enhanced due to your experiments?

    We were the first company to use natural indigo and market khadi denim. We will be the first people to use it on room furnishings ,drapes and carpets etc . We have already extended it into these broader categories.

    In terms of application – lets say can technical application be improved so that it can be applied faster.

    We have mainly used various techniques for our project. Our emphasis has been non-profit and creating the unique museum. But now we find that it is a very appealing product and it can be commercialized. So we will explore that possibility .Unless something can be commercially produced- nothing will become affordable. It will remain boutique. If it is really boutique it will remain a craft. So in some ways we will succeed and in some ways we may not but home furnishing definitely will see success. And we have tried it now on everything steel, wool, synthetic, linen, all blends. So everything is possible.

    I think you’re coming up with the bigger museum out here as per the model out there.So that is going to be big one with over 25,000 sq feet of space ?

    Yes. We will set up a large museum as we are saying that this should be an on going project which would not have an end because this is constantly working with some of the best creative minds all over the world and has infinite possibilities.

    Would you like to take this museum globally?

    Yes,We would like to show it in various countries so that more people will come to know more about it. We also like to raise resources for this museum. So we require patronage, we also require people who really believe in it and want to contribute to it because its a public museum.

    So anyone who’s committed to this ecosystem we can give them certain naming rights and other things. They can also contribute.

    Any message for indigo lovers all around the world?

    I think it is one passion which one should pursue because it’s one fabric which is globally accepted.It cuts across all castes, creeds, and genders. And it is a very universally accepted product. So liking something like this is very natural and which is good for every one and it is affordable. It gives us so much joy. Everything is good about this.

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