Pampa, an exhibition of textiles of Karnataka was presented at Hampi by the Abheraj Baldota Foundation in collaboration with the Department of Tourism, Government of Karnataka and ASI, India. It is being held at the Mantapa Photo Gallery, Hampi Bazaar, from 28th February to 10th March. A first-time study of the textiles of Karnataka, 108 textiles in a range of handwoven materials in cotton, silk, wool, banana fibre and water hyacinth were displayed.
A group of textile makers, academics and researchers held a panel discussion on textiles of Karnataka, moderated by well known textile curator Mayank Mansingh Kaul.
A small and beautiful collection of antique textiles from Coorg on loan from private collections were put on display.
Kaveri Ponnapa filled in the gap on the lesser-known textile traditions of Coorg, and spoke on the historical background of local textiles, including the famous ‘kuri pani’ the style of embroidery that was traditionally used to decorate kupyas, chales and women’s vastras, illustrated in The Vanishing Kodavas.
Her talk also covered the unique custom of sourcing brocade and silk textiles from Benaras. When we spoke to her, she pointed out that the tradition goes far back, and mentioned that Chief Biddanda Bopu’s brocade k
