BENGALURU: Two women from Bengaluru are travelling across the country to bring back tales of unsung artisans.
With their documentaries, Nidhi Kamath and Keya Vaswani hope to put Indian art and craft on the global map. The 26-year-olds have been at it for three years, and have already won a national award for ‘Weaves of Maheshwar’, a film on the weaving tradition indigenous to Madhya Pradesh.
They say their initiative, Storyloom Films, is all about telling beautiful stories and crafting films with love. Nidhi puts it this way: “Our objective is to weave poignant and heartwarming stories on the warp of time.”
Their efforts to preserve Indian crafts and handlooms come from a strong belief that losing craft amounts to losing culture.
With a background in design from the Indian Institute of Crafts and Design, Jaipur, it was by accident that the two took to film making.
“We are graduates of craft and design. We did not initially have any plans of film making. One day I was watching a BBC documentary titled ‘A Story of India’. That particular episode was on Benares. I was fascinated by the stories around this city. I decided to travel to Benares,” says Nidhi.
While these thoughts were taking shape, Keya entered the room. Nidhi asked her if she wanted to join her on the trip. Keya agreed.
In Benares, they met a text researcher who gave them a peek into contemporary textile design. They started exploring the possibility of making films on Indian handlooms.
Nidhi is inspired by her grandmother, who used to tell her stories. Keya on the other hand grew up in a family where everyone shared an interest in arts and crafts. Her brother is a filmmaker and her father is a hobbyist photographer. Her mother has a flair for interior decor.