7 months ago
Ekta Kaul's Textile Art Explores Identity and Belonging
Ekta Kaul is an artist who uses needle and thread to create beautiful pictures on cloth.
She stitches maps of cities like London and Mumbai, showing her memories and feelings about these places.
Her art helps her explore her identity and where she belongs.
She believes that textile art, like painting or sculpture, should be valued as much as other art forms.
Her work is displayed in museums, and she teaches others how to create art with stitches.
Her recent book about traditional Indian embroidery was recognized with an award.
Ekta Kaul uses embroidery to explore themes of identity, memory, and belonging.
Her cartographic embroideries map cities like London and Mumbai, blending personal memories with geography.
Kaul's book 'Kantha: Sustainable Textiles and Mindful Making' was shortlisted for the RL Shep Memorial Book Award in 2024.
She advocates for textile art to be recognized as equal to other art forms, citing historical hierarchies.
Her works are displayed in prominent collections, including the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.
- Who
- Ekta Kaul, a London-based textile artist
- What
- Creates embroidered art exploring identity, memory, and belonging
- Where
- London, UK, with influences from Delhi and Kolkata
- When
- Active since around 2007-08, with recent book shortlisted in 2024
- Why
- To connect with her identity, heritage, and experiences of belonging
Key facts
- Artist
- Ekta Kaul
- Location
- London
- Art Form
- Textile Art, Embroidery
- Inspiration
- Identity, Memory, Heritage
- Notable Work
- London Story Map, Mumbai: A Sense of Place
- Awards
- RL Shep Memorial Book Award Shortlist (2024)
- Collections
- Victoria and Albert Museum, UK
- Workshops
- Cockpit Arts, Bloomsbury, Local Schools
Quotes
Ekta Kaul
London-based textile artist and author of 'Kantha: Sustainable Textiles and Mindful Making'
“Down the ages, arts that are practised by women have been put into this container called craft. During the time of the Renaissance, all the arts were considered on par, whether it was tapestries, murals or woodwork. Then the Industrial Revolution happened and capitalist men privileged the machine-made and faster-made products and the handmade became a ‘cottage’ industry. In my view, textile should definitely be considered art, and we should be challenging these hierarchies.”
indianexpress.com
“How do you experience the city through your five senses? What are the visuals, the sounds, the fragrances and my own memories of it?”
indianexpress.com
