To Vijai Singh Katiyar, the sari is more than just an enduring symbol of India's tradition and heritage. It is, he says, a cultural wealth, a design resource that we need to harness as we move ahead into the future. “Our Gayatri Mantra,” he says.“The sari is an iconic product — people around the world look at the sari, and they think of India,” says Katiyar, a senior faculty member at the National Institute of Design in Ahmedabad, and the founder of the International Centre for Indian Crafts.
We need to think about how to take the sari into the 22nd Century, not just for commercial benefit, but to spread India's influence, its ‘soft power' internationally.”That is the essence of Katiyar's recently launched coffee table book, Indian Saris: Traditions – Perspective – Design, a large, glossy celebration of the handloom sari, complete with 892 beautiful photographs.
The gloss, he says, is to attract youngsters, who are losing touch with this exquisite and quintessentially Indian product. “I've worked with weaver communities for 20 years, and they've always faced a lot of problems. Now, their product is too, because of waning interest among the younger generation,” he says. “I felt I must communicate with these young people, so I've tried to talk in their visual language of fashion and style.”
Full report here The Hindu
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