Indian chintz has a global appeal and reputation. The printed, painted, stained or glazed calico textile featuring intricate patterns, predominantly floral ones, originated in 16th-century Hyderabad and went on to travel the world. At a certain time, it was so popular in Europe that several countries, including Britain and France, banned its import, fearing for their own textile markets. The art of chintz, however, fell into obscurity in India and around the world with the advent of mechanical reproduction and mass supply.
A textile artist from Bengal has picked up the broken thread and is weaving his own stories in chintz. Bappaditya Biswas’ exhibition titled ‘The Chintz Story’ at Delhi’s Gallery Threshold is a collection of 20 paintings done on hand-spun and handwoven cotton cloth. “After Independence, we lost the original tradition of handmade chintz. What we get in the market today in the name of chintz is digitally reproduced designs. I wanted to find out if it could be done with hands again,” he adds.
The large canvases are filled with vivid depictions of flora and fauna. Flowers, leaves, vines, birds and animals intertwine to form bedecked and layered paintings. At the hands of Biswas, the conventional floral and bird motifs have only gained in intricacy. The exhibition highlight is, however, the Dashavatara series of paintings, which depict the ten incarnations of Vishnu.
“I was very inspired by the Bhakti movement in Bengal and the devotion of the 15th-century saint Sri Chaitanya to Lord Krishna. Depictions of the god have always held great artistic significance for me. I got to the idea of the Dashavatara series through Krishna,” he says. A unifying aspect of the series is its use of the colour blue, which was entirely extracted from indigo. “Krishna is the blue god. His colour has great historical significance as well, with regards to the state of Bengal and its history of indigo cultivation.”
The Experimentations The colours in the wide-ranging palette used for the paintings were entirely made by the artist, who experimented with various dye-making processes for the project. Indigo was used for blue, madder roots for reds, fermented iron water for black and greys, marigolds for yellows and hibiscus for beige. “I went to Canada a few years ago to attend a textile conference. There, I had the chance to participate in a workshop on painting with natural dyes by French botanist Michael Garcia. It increased my interest in exploring chintz,” says the artist. “I also met with Charlotte Kwon of the renowned handloom brand Maiwa; she guided me in the natural dying process.” Biswas started work on the paintings during the pandemic and took over a year to finish them.
It was also the time during which the artist had started cultivating Indigo of his own. “The history of indigo cultivation in Bengal is one of pain and suffering. Farmers abandoned the plant due to colonial exploitation. Nobody talks about it anymore. I wanted to revive indigo cultivation and started planting it after almost 165 years of its banishment from Bengal’s soil.” Biswas collaborates with farmers in the Nadia district of West Bengal in growing the plant.
The Blue God The exhibition is curated by Ina Puri. “Chintz is one of the major markers of the rich textile-trading history of our country. What strikes one about Biswas’ work is how he reinterprets the conventional motifs and techniques of the art form,” she says. Puri is particularly fond of the painting of Krishna in the Dashavatara series; it depicts Krishna almost hovering over a herd of cows, with a bundle of lotuses in his hand. “Krishna has inspired a lot of paintings. Nathdwara paintings and several works by the late artist Manjit Bawa have the figure of the god at its centre. But Biswas’ painting is different. It is layered and symbolic,” she adds.
Biswas, along with his partner Rumi, founded Byloom, a textile store in Bengal that makes and sells handloom clothing. He also runs the brand Bailou, which celebrates India’s handloom and handicraft traditions. The chintz paintings constitute a part of the greater work of sartorial revival the weaver-artist is engaged in.
‘The Chintz Story’ is on view at Gallery Threshold, C-221, Sarvodaya Enclave, till December 1
Catch Bappaditya Biswas’ revival of the textile-painting tradition of chintz at a gallery in Delhi. Biswas, a textile artist from Bengal and co-founder of the well-known brand Bailou, is bringing back indigo to India’s soil with happier results.
