Exhibition & Workshops, Talks, Walks, Music & Food
28th Aug - 26th Sept
Programme

Introduction

I first met the family of Kalamkari artists when researching a textile tour in southern India. The town of Sri Kalahasti, north of Chennai in the state of Andra Pradesh, is famed for its temple and its hand painted Kalamkari cloth. The family showed me the complex process of making Kalamkari – it was fascinating.

Seven months later I returned with 8 members of the Stroudwater Textile Trust and we had the warmest of welcomes and a wonderful demonstration of cloth painting techniques. We were overwhelmed by the riot of colour and impressed by how much work was needed to produce the simplest of images.

Machine woven, dense cotton local cloth is soaked in the river to remove starch and dirt. The cloth is steeped in buffalo milk mixed with a tree seed which dyes it a warm yellow. Marking out and producing a basic image is done with charcoal followed by detailed filling in of borders, shapes and story with a black dye made from rusty iron, soaked for days with water and palm sugar. Rich patterns emerge, drawings of village life, gods and goddesses, demons and animals, birds, flowers and trees of life. Colour is painted on, boiled in and bleached in the sun and river. Up to 19 processes can be used to finish a complex piece sometimes taking 9 months.

As a group we wanted to share this experience and this year we have the first Kalamkari exhibition in the UK - Sri Kalahasti coming to Stroud. An opportunity to see a taste of the artists workshop; to hear the wonderful stories of the images on the cloth; a cultural exchange; a time of talks and walks and 14 days of schools workshops and special group visits. For Stroud it is a time to share our landscape, our rich artistic culture and our delight in meeting others.

Thanks to the Museum in the Park for a fruitful partnership and to the funders.

Camilla Hale
Programme Manager

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The Artists from India

From Sri Kalahasti, Andra Pradesh, India we welcome a family of Kalamkari artists – two sisters, Munirathnamma and Vijayalakshmi and their brother Viswanath.

The neighbourhood where they live has many Kalamkari workshops but this year the family were presented with an all India award for their exceptional artistry depicting the great epics of India in a dazzling display of colour, text and image; nine months in the making.

This skill was taught to them by their father, a renowned Kalamkari artist in his own right and part of a revival of traditional arts that took place all over India in the 1950’s. Their father developed the family’s strong dedication to the work. The children learnt not only all the painting, dyeing, and preparation techniques but also all the stories of the gods and goddesses, the great epics the Ramayana and the Mahabharata and the short animal fables that so influenced Aesop.

This skill was taught to them by their father, a renowned Kalamkari artist in his own right and part of a revival of traditional arts that took place all over India in the 1950’s. Their father developed the family’s strong dedication to the work. The children learnt not only all the painting, dyeing, and preparation techniques but also all the stories of the gods and goddesses, the great epics the Ramayana and the Mahabharata and the short animal fables that so influenced Aesop.

This year, nine years after their father sadly passed away, the quality of his teaching lives on in a flourishing workshop employing 40 people and trading across India.

The Artists from Stroud

Jamila Gavin was born in Mussoorie, India, in the foothills of the Himalayas and has lived in the Stroud valleys for over 30 years. By the age of eleven she had lived in an Indian palace in the Punjab, a flat in a bombed out street in Shepherd’s Bush, a bungalow in Poona, and a terraced house in Ealing. Jamila has worked extensively in schools using creative writing to explore the multiple cultures of Britain. The Indian epic tale The Ramayana has become an inspiration and a speciality. Many of those Ramayana stories are illustrated in the Kalamkari cloth alongside other tales of gods and beasts, the magical and the sublime. Jamila will be sharing those stories with children and adults.

K Sridhar brings the musical traditions of north and south India to this Kalamkari programme. He started learning the sarod - a 25 stringed plucked instrument of incredible depth and clarity – when he was five and has performed all over the world. His concert will be pure, classical ragas inspired by the Kalamkari cloth and he will be accompanied by tabla player, Sanjay Jhala.

Ruth Davey is an artist whose work is a broad interpretation of textiles through photography. Ruth is the commissioned photographer for the exhibition and will be documenting the programme as well as developing her own creative interests. She wants to show the association between textiles, the natural world and the connections between our lives in Stroud and those of the Kalamkari artists.

Week One
Saturday 28th Aug - Sunday 5th Sept

Museum & Exhibition open 10am-5pm
Sunday & Bank Holiday Monday:
Museum & Exhibition open 11am-5pm

Bank Holiday Weekend
Saturday 28th, Sunday 29th, Monday 30th August

The Museum in the Park
11.00am – 4.00pm . Gallery 2 . 50p per person
Family Workshop

All ages welcome to drop in at any time to explore this wonderful new exhibition, try your hand at some Indian block printing and meet textile artists from another country and see them work. No booking necessary. Delicious south Indian food and local ice cream served just outside the Museum gates will make this a special visit.

Friday 3rd September

The Museum in the Park
10.00am – 4.00pm . £35.00 . 15 people max.
Booking Required
Artists Workshop

Working closely with the three artists from Sri Kalahasti, local artists will have the opportunity to be introduced to the textiles in the exhibition, watch demonstrations of the drawing and dyeing techniques; experiment with their own designs and outline them with the traditional Kalam – bamboo pen using fermented black dye. Stories will be told around the cloth over lunch illustrating the great tales of India by local author Jamila Gavin.

Saturday 4th September
Stroud Valleys Artspace
John Street, Stroud GL5 2HA
11.00am – 4.00pm
Studio Seven Open Studio

Studio Seven will open their studio to the public at Stroud Valleys Artspace hosting the three guest Indian artists. They will also share and demonstrate a range of their skills and techniques including stitch, costume, screen-printing and shibori. All are welcome to visit, observe and purchase beautiful textiles.

Week Two
Monday 6th - Sunday 12th September
Monday: Museum & Exhibition closed
Exhibition open Tuesday - Saturday: 10am-5pm. Sunday: 11am-5pm
Tuesday - Friday: Schools Workshops 10am - 2.30pm


Thursday 9th September
The Museum in the Park
7.30pm . Gallery 2 . £5.00 . Booking Required
Talk: The Rise and Fall of King Cotton
Anthony Burton, trustee of Stroudwater Textile Trust and renowned industrial historian will base his talk on his BBC2 series around the Indian cotton industry - The Rise and Fall of King Cotton. The talk will include film from the series. This will be a close look at all the aspects of growing, ginning, spinning, weaving and the close historical connections between the British and Indian cotton industries.

Friday 10th September
The Museum in the Park
7.30pm . Gallery 2 . £5.00 . Booking Required
Talk: From Kalamkari to Chintz: a Textile Journey
Rosemary Crill is Senior Curator for South Asia at the Victoria and Albert Museum and has written a fascinating book on the rise of chintz from the original Kalamkari cloth from southern India. She will take us back centuries to sumptuous hand painted textiles – a joy to see and an important part of our later chintz printed textiles that we all know so well.

Saturday 11th September
The Museum in the Park
10.00am-1.00pm . £2 per person . Booking Required
Walk: From One Clothiers House to Another

Local historian Ian Mackintosh takes you for a historical walk from one clothier’s house to another - Stratford Park to Hawkwood. The walk will uncover the essential influence of water for both the Stroud textile industry and for the Kalamkari cloth. Meet outside the Museum in the Park at 10 am and return there by 1pm. Generally a flat walk, wear good walking boots, bring lunch to eat at the Museum.
No pushchairs. Only dogs on lead.
Part of the Stroud Walking Festival.


Week Three 
Monday 13th - Sunday 19th September
Monday: Museum & Exhibition closed
Exhibition open: Tuesday - Friday: 10am-5pm
Saturday: 12 noon-5pm. Sunday: 11am-5pm
Tuesday - Friday: Schools Workshops 10am - 2.30pm


Monday 13th September   
The Museum in the Park - V&A Museum, London    Excursion: Chintz at the V&A
The three Indian artists and a small group of Stroudwater Textile Trust members are visiting the study room at the V & A to meet Rosemary Crill, Senior Curator for South Asia and expert on Chintz. There they will explore the V&A’s fine collection of 17th and 18th century Kalamkari textiles. 
Fully booked at the time of going to press.

Thursday 16th September
The Museum in the Park
7.30pm . Gallery 2 . £5.00 . Booking Required
Talk:Natural Dyes & the Ikat Weaving of Andra Pradesh
Gwen Fereday is a weaver and dyer and is an expert in natural dyes – her book ‘Natural Dyes’ published by the British Museum Press, is full of recipes, facts about plants and page upon page of exquisite samples of the beauty of colour from vegetable dyes. This is cooking, plant lore and all shades of the rainbow wrapped into a practical handbook on colour. In the course of her researches Gwen has travelled to India on a number of occasions and will include in her talk the fantastic weaving of central Andra Pradesh bringing to life their marvelous, richly coloured double ikat woven ‘handkerchiefs’. An evening of glorious colour and immersion in yet another detailed and masterly textile art of southern India.

Sunday 19th September
The British School
Five Valleys Foyer, Gloucester Street, Stroud GL5 1QG
2.30 – 5.30pm . Concert only £12 . Booking Required
Concert: .Sridhar (sarod) & Sanjay Jhala (tabla)
Sridhar’s concerts are rare treats in his home town of Stroud.
Back from extensive touring in the USA he brings us pure, classical north Indian music inspired by the Hindu images of the Art of Kalamkari exhibition. With tabla player Sanjay Jhala this will be a magical afternoon of Indian ragas, exquisite cloth and questions answered about the music, the instruments and the links between sound, yoga, belief and practice.

Sunday 19th September
The Star Anise Cafe
Five Valleys Foyer, Gloucester Street, Stroud GL5 1QG
5.30pm . Concert & meal together £20 
Booking Required
40 combined tickets only
South Indian Meal
To follow an afternoon of spiritual musical food a sumptuous Indian feast using the best of local ingredients will be served at Star Anise Café across the courtyard. Hosted with the musicians will be the Indian artists from the Art of Kalamkari Exhibition. Through the evening there will be stories told by people linked to South India and a tale of animal cunning from the sub continent!
A meal not to be missed.




Week Four
Monday 20th - Sunday 26th September
Monday: Museum & Exhibition closed
Exhibition open Tuesday - Saturday: 10am-5pm. Sunday: 11am-5pm
Tuesday - Friday: Schools Workshops 10am - 2.30pm

Thursday 23rd September
The Museum in the Park
7.30pm . Gallery 2 .  £5.00 . Booking Required    Talk: Buffalo Milk & Cow Dung
Dyeing Cloth and its Mysteries
Richard Ashworth is an expert on dyes and works for the Society of Dyers and Colourists. Just why is buffalo milk and cow dung used in traditional dyeing processes such as Kalamkari and how exactly does the chemical reaction work to fix colour into cloth? We take for granted that cloth comes in colours – when did that start and what are the magical ingredients for Kalamkari colour and how do they work? All will be revealed in this talk of the alchemy of colour from strange ingredients.

Friday 24th September
The Museum in the Park
7.30 . Gallery 2 . £5 . Booking Required
Talk: A Magical Night of Indian Storytelling
Jamila Gavin is a renowned local author whose novels and stories have taken her many times to the India where she was born and to the great tales of India – living stories used every day – the Mahabharata and the Ramayana.
The Art of Kalamkari exhibition is a world of images from the life of the local village, to mischievous and intriguing animal tales to the great gods and goddesses of Hinduism. Using the Kalamkari cloth for inspiration Jamila will hold us in thrall for a night of enchantment.
This evening story telling has been arranged so that adults can also have stories told to them as well!

Sunday 26th September
The Museum in the Park      
12.00 – 2.00pm . 50p per person
Drop in Family Fun: International Day of Languages       
Drop in family event for International Day of Languages on this final day of the exhibition!  A melee of tongues and special things to learn about language. Have fun, try out some tongue twisters in Telegu or Tamil, Gujerati or Arabic.


With thanks to
The Arts Council of England for the Grant for the Arts award underpinning this whole exhibition and cultural exchange.
The Summerfield Trust for supporting the schools workshops. The Dyers Company for their contribution to the schools’ programme.
The Ernest Cook Trust for their support of the teachers’ pack.The Trustees of Stroudwater Textile Trust for their tireless support.
The artists and speakers for their thoughts and contributions. All the stewards and volunteers who make this so successful a programme.
Anne Mackintosh for organising all the stewards.
The V&A for their study session and Alan & Jane Ford for arranging the V&A trip.
The A Team for the concert set up.
Star Anise Cafe staff and caterers.
Sonia and Michael Collins of Chrome Yellow for inspiration on books.
Ram Arvind for months of Telegu translation.
Visiting Arts for their advice on the visa applications.
The Stroud Walking and Food Festival.
Paul Welch graphic designer.
Corinne Hockley and Jay Haigh  for the exhibition design.
and above all to
The Museum in the Park for their delighted enthusiasm
for this project and for arranging the schools’ workshop teams.


Bookings for all events:
Stroud Tourist Information Centre
The Subscription Rooms, George Street, Stroud GL5 1AE
Telephone: 01453 760960
Monday to Saturday 10am – 5pm

www.visitthecotswolds.org.uk
www.stroud-textile.org.uk
www.musueminthepark.org.uk


The Museum in the Park
Stratford Road, Stroud GL5 4AF
Telephone: 01453 766394
Free parking at the Stroud Leisure Centre.
Disability parking next to Museum via the back of Leisure Centre.

The British School & The Star Anise Cafe
Five Valleys Foyer,
Gloucester Street, Stroud GL5 1QG

Studio Seven
Stroud Valleys Artspace
John Street, Stroud GL5 2HA

All venues are fully accessible


For more information on access or any element of the programme contact
The Museum in the Park on 01453 763394
or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
or call Camilla Hale on 07936 505251.

For schools bookings contact
Abigail Large or Ann Taylor
The Museum in the Park on 01453 763394