One might think that there are not many similarities between the subtle French, and vibrant Indian culture. A closer look can prove otherwise. Just as Indians take pride in their handicrafts and preserve the art of embroidery, so do the French.
Master embroiderer and founder of Vastrakala, Jean-François Lesage has teamed up with the Alliance Française of Madras to showcase the craftsmanship of Lesage interiors through a retrospective. The exhibition, Threads of Time, is an artful presentation of handcrafted embroidery by the craftsmen and women of Chennai-based Vastrakala.
As two craftsmen sit on the floor and hand weave a new piece named Wings of a Dragonfly, the Consul-General of France in Puducherry and Chennai, Lise Talbot Barré declares the exhibition, open. “The mission of Alliance Française is to bridge cultures, and art is an amazing way to do so,” she says.
Vastrakala began creating embroidery for interior design and later expanded to include fashion embroidery by partnering with Lesage Paris, a renowned haute couture atelier. “Our principal partner, Lesage, comes from a celebrated house of embroidery in France; on one of his earliest travels to India, he chanced upon a tiny workshop in Benares. Seeing that embroidery was practised like this in his family ateliers in Paris, the first seeds of the idea germinated in his mind” says Malavika Shivakumar, founder partner-director at Vastrakala. Currently, Vastrakala employs over 300 local craftsmen and women.
Threads of Time takes one on a journey through various styles of embroidery, starting from the classic to the more modern techniques. The largest piece at the exhibit, named Light and Gold, is a gold zari hand embroidered forest of bamboo which gives the illusion of different shades of metallic gold as they shine under the light.
Photographs of French designer Pierre Yovanovitch’s OOPS chairs made in 2018 are also on display. The chairs wear faces —one masculine and one feminine, and are named after French cinema icons, Catherine Deneuve and Gérard Depardieu.
“My company (Vastrakala) is over 30 years old, our company (Lesage Paris) is over 100 years old. Embroidery in India and France has been existing for over a thousand years. The idea was to show important moments of our journey to India, and our time in India to the younger generation,” says Lesage, adding that the bridge between India and France built on the craft of embroidery is one of the most important soft powers.
Speaking about the process of creating bespoke interior decor pieces, Lesage says, “I’m a craftsman. People like to call me an artist or a designer, but I am a craftsman. When we do the embroidery for the Rashtrapati Bhavan state dining room, the Versailles Palace, my team and I enter the shoes of the client.”
The hook, needle, and thread piece named Chandigarh, made in 2022, is a textured and woven object that conveys the strong evolution of embroidery over the last 75 years with the use of various techniques.
Photographs from another collaborative project with decorator duo Biehler-Graveleine titled Madame Cristal are also on display. The project is an imagination of the Tarot of Marseille, which is a traditional deck comprising 78 cards and follows the standard Italian-suited tarot pattern. The deck was widely popular in France during the 17th and 18th centuries. The great fortune-teller Madame Cristal’s salon, enveloped in a gigantic embroidery affixed to a blue folding screen and fainting couch, is a cosy space for secrets to flow freely and safely.
Threads of Time is on display at the Alliance Française of Madras until April 15 from 10am to 6pm.
