In recent years, the sphere of Indian contemporary art has witnessed a resurgence of textile art, embraced by contemporary artists as a rich and layered medium for personal and cultural expression. While many artists, especially in the multidisciplinary field, have worked with textile as a medium, some modernists have broken barriers, blurring the lines between art and craft. One of the pioneers in this domain is Mrinalini Mukherjee. Working with natural fibres like jute and hemp, Mukherjee created sculptural forms that were both organic and monumental. Hailing from a family of artists, her exposure to the art environment of Shantiniketan and interactions with local craftspeople deeply influenced her practice. Her totemic sculptures that defined her oeuvre, knotted and woven by hand, reflect a powerful blend of nature and material experimentation, bringing textiles into the realm of modernist sculptural practices.
Artists like Nelly Sethna and Monika Correa further advanced the use of textiles in Indian modernism. Sethna played a crucial role in reviving indigenous weaving practices; her vibrant rugs and wall hangings employed the texture and structure of weaving to evoke both architectural and natural forms along with tantric symbolism. Correa, on the other hand, constantly experimented with traditional weaving practices, often reinterpreting weaving techniques with a modernist sensibility. Shobha Broota, another significant figure, explores textile through a minimalist and meditative lens. With a background in Indian classical music, her artworks reflect rhythm, repetition, and subtle tonal shifts. Broota’s abstractionist approach, woven carefully in her works reveal a quiet introspection that evokes serenity through a sensitive use of textiles.
In the contemporary space, artists such as Smriti Dixit and Radhika Surana are using textiles to explore deeply personal and socio-political themes. Dixit, known for her installations made from everyday materials like saris, ropes, and discarded fabrics, delves into ideas of domesticity, labour, and gender. Her works explore the layered experiences of womanhood and memory. Surana, an emerging voice in the field, brings forth a nuanced perspective by integrating threadwork and fabric with the use of indigo exploring themes of relationships, interdependence and renewal, common to both humans and nature.
As textile art gains renewed relevance, it signals a shift—a recognition of the medium’s ability to bridge the traditional and the contemporary while exploring myriad themes of personal, political and socio-cultural nature. Fabric becomes more than just material, it becomes a language.