Textile Shopping Frenzy at Paramparik Karigar

It was my husband's birthday yesterday - so I decided to treat myself.  Ha ha.

My big shop came about after seeing a notification on beloved Mumbai Boss about 'Paramparik Karigar' - a textiles exhibition at Coomaraswamy Hall that was on this week.  I had been hunting high and low for some nice finishing touches for the sitting room and not wanting to pay the heavy prices at Good Earth, thought this might be a good place to fulfil my interior design ambitions.  The exhibition (well actually, sale) was held in two parts - the first being a sale of rugs, art, boxes and ceramics and the second part was purely textiles. Yes, I actually went back a second time.

Inside the Paramparik Karigar Exhibition

 

Fabulous, gorgeous brightly coloured sari fabric

You can even buy copper cow bells from Kutch.

I was not disappointed.  The exhibition was fabulous!  Rugs from Rajastan, silk paintings from Orissa, Madhubani folk drawings, boxes inlaid with silver, mother of pearl spoons...and then, kantha bedspreads and dupattas from Kutch, block printed fabrics from Jaipur and cutwork curtains and beautifully embroidered saris from all over India.  An absolute textile hoarder's paradise.  If I was handy with a sewing machine I would have bought so much more (Steph, you would have died and gone to heaven!).

Here are the pictures of the booty.  The living area in the apartment is really coming together now (except for that darned coffee table) ...so stay tuned for final pictures when I'm done.

Fabulous handstitched dupattas (stoles) from Kutch in North India.....all that embroidery is done by HAND!

A close up of that running stitch

This won't be to everyone's taste but I love this table!  The legs are made of ox horn
and the table top is inlaid with mother-of-pearl.

A cotton bedspread slung on the back of the sofa.  This was about £15 - 1,300 rupees

Gorgeous wooden bowls edged with mother-of-pearl (200 rs/£2.35 each, horn spoons 50 rs/60p each)

A new runner to divide the living from the dining area.  Nice muted colours.
This dhurrie - traditionally made with vegetable dyes - was 5,500 Rs/£65. Cheaper than Ikea.



I'm actually not so sure about this rug - the design is a bit gaudy.  
But it goes alright with our orange poufs (Pure Living)

Mother-of-pearl handled serving spoons atop a cutwork table cloth.  Table cloth was 1,600 Rs/£20.

Mr Jules is actually in Amsterdam on business at the moment, so the first he will know of these 'birthday presents' will be when he reads this blog! Thank you darling!! xx

Paramparik Karigar is an association of crafts people from all over India with the aim of keeping craft traditions alive.  They hold regular sales in Mumbai several times a year.  This exhibition ends on 15th September but they are due back on 12-16th December, so don't fret if you missed it this time around!  Details can be found here: http://www.paramparikkarigar.com/exhibitions.html

Venue:

Coomaraswamy Hall
Chhatrapatui Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sanghrahalaya,
M.G. Road, Mumbai- 400 001.