fibres and fabrics of west bengal and ladakh
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Answer:
Monisha Ahmed is co-founder and Executive Director of the Ladakh Arts and Media Organisation, Leh, her work largely focuses on art practices and material culture in Ladakh. Her doctoral degree from Oxford University developed into the book 'Living Fabric – Weaving among the Nomads of Ladakh Himalaya' (2002), which received the Textile Society of America’s R L Shep award in 2003 for best book in the field of ethnic textile studies. She has co-edited 'Ladakh – Culture at the Crossroads' (Marg Publications, 2005), collaborated on 'Pashmina – The Kashmir Shawl and Beyond' (Marg Publications 2009 and 2017), and published several articles on the textile arts of the Himalayan World, including four in The Encyclopaedia of World Dress and Fashion (Berg Publishers, 2010). She has published on textiles in other areas of India, including a chapter on textiles for 'The Arts and Interiors of Rashtrapati Bhavan – Lutyens and Beyond' (2016) and a catalogue 'Woven Treasures – Textiles from the Jasleen Dhamija Collection' (2016). More recently she was advisor for the Bhau Daji Lad Museum’s online exhibit 'We Wear Culture' for the Google Cultural Institute. She was Associate Editor of Marg Publications from 2010-16.
Answer:
Monisha Ahmed is co-founder and Executive Director of the Ladakh Arts and Media Organisation, Leh, her work largely focuses on art practices and material culture in Ladakh. Her doctoral degree from Oxford University developed into the book 'Living Fabric – Weaving among the Nomads of Ladakh Himalaya' (2002), which received the Textile Society of America’s R L Shep award in 2003 for best book in the field of ethnic textile studies. She has co-edited 'Ladakh – Culture at the Crossroads' (Marg Publications, 2005), collaborated on 'Pashmina – The Kashmir Shawl and Beyond' (Marg Publications 2009 and 2017), and published several articles on the textile arts of the Himalayan World, including four in The Encyclopaedia of World Dress and Fashion (Berg Publishers, 2010). She has published on textiles in other areas of India, including a chapter on textiles for 'The Arts and Interiors of Rashtrapati Bhavan – Lutyens and Beyond' (2016) and a catalogue 'Woven Treasures – Textiles from the Jasleen Dhamija Collection' (2016). More recently she was advisor for the Bhau Daji Lad Museum’s online exhibit 'We Wear Culture' for the Google Cultural Institute. She was Associate Editor of Marg Publications from 2010-16.
We are warp and weft,’ Abi Yangzom told me one sunny morning as she sat working on her backstrap loom, legs stretched out in front of her, body taut in spite of her age. Rhythmically working on the pattern on the loom, she went on, ‘the warp is the mother and the weft she inserts to make her cloth, is like the child conceived within her womb. As the cloth is made, so the child inside her grows. The finished fabric represents the birth of a child.’ (Figure 1)