Pitching kantha as stitch art gainful for women

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In a unique presentation of kantha embroidery as stitch art, Shamlu Dudeja, chairperson of West Bengal’s Self Help Enterprise (SHE), will present an exhibition starting March 20 at Art Gallery, India International Centre, Annexe, New Delhi, displaying this unique talent of village womenfolk.

With this exhibition, Ms Duheja wants to promote kantha as a decorative stitch and give the rural women an opportunity to earn money. The objective is to get more and more people interested in kantha creations, so that the number of women engaged in this work increases steadily.
“The motive behind this exhibition is to promote kantha and to popularise the fact that kantha is not just a poor man’s quilting stitch any longer. It is a decorative stitch used for embellishing haute couture creations and items for home decor. We also see this as an opportunity for rural women to earn some money and get respect from the male members of their family,” says Ms Dudeja.
Starting from an episode from Ramayana or a scene from Rabindranath Tagore’s Kabuliwallah, this six-day exhibition will showcase through kantha stitching the imaginations and scenes that the rural women see and experience in everyday life.
“Rural women have put their imaginations and scenes in everyday life in the artwork. We have taken this point as the main focus,” says Ms Dudeja.
Though SHE has held the exhibition earlier in Kolkata, Dhaka, and in Europe, it is being held in Delhi the first time. Ms Dudeja is hopeful that it will get a similar kind of response in the capital, too.
“There has been an overwhelming response to stitch art in all cities where the exhibition was organised. People cannot believe that there are millions of tiny hyphen-like stitches that can be used to create ‘live’ themes. The themes shown have included Rabindranath Tagore and his writings, Maa Durga in various forms, Krishna Leela and Nauka Vihar, various episodes from Ramayana and village scenes,” says Ms Dudeja.
Ms Dudeja feels that if kantha can be popularised, a large number of uneducated, unskilled women will get employment, which will lead to a better tomorrow for India.
Ms Gursharan Kaur, the Prime Minister’s wife, will inaugurate the exhibition on Tuesday at 6 pm, where Isher Ahluwalia and Sharmila Tagore will be the special guests.
The five-day exhibition from March 20 will be open from 11 am to 7 pm.