Bengaluru has become the first Indian city to get into the global network of silk cities, celebrated French textile artist Isabelle Moulin said in Kolkata, expressing hope that in the next few years West Bengal’s Murshidabad district — known to produce fine silk in the over the past 300 years — may join the global silk city network.
“Two days ago, I launched the membership of Bengaluru — the first Indian city in the global Silk City network. Now, we have nine countries and 13 cities. If everything goes fine, then with time, I hope ‘Murshidabad Silk’ too can make it to the network. The network helps artisans and craftsmen to exchange knowledge, build trade relations and understand various craftsmanship techniques,” Ms. Moulin said during an interactive session with select media persons at Kolkata’s Oxford Bookstore.
The French textile artist ,who is on a ‘Silk trip’ to India, said there are historical reasons why Bengaluru has been included in the Silky City Network. “The International Sericultural Commission was held at Lyon in the 1950s and came to Bengaluru [in 2013]. Also Bengaluru is the Silicon Valley of India and Lyon has a big cluster of innovation and IT,” Ms. Moulin said. For the past three years, she has been working with stakeholders in Bengaluru to get into the global network of silk cities.
