Belaa Sanghvi on challenges of handloom
The Hindu
Yet, the textile believes there are innumerable possibilities with innovation and is in the process of creating a new series of Gujarat’s famous Patola sari using the Fibonacci number series
Weaving is such a precise and mathematical process that textile revivalist Belaa Sanghvi is in the process of creating a new series of Gujarat’s famous Patola sari using the Fibonacci number series. “It will be a weft-only Patola and creates asymmetrical designs,” says Belaa on her recent visit to Bengaluru. Various weavers the world over have used the Fibonacci series before for various textiles, but it is probably a first for the Patola.
Belaa collaborated with Bengaluru-based cultural activist Chandra Jain and fashion entrepreneur Yashodhara Shroff for a discussion on The Mystery of the Patola at the BIC. Belaa also later showed her label at the ffolio store just in time for the Deepavali festive season.
The Mumbai-based handloom revivalist and researcher at present works with eight weaver clusters across Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. She came into the limelight for her revival of the Ashawal weave, but is a name synonymous with the Patan Patola saree. She broke into the patriarchal weaving community by offering them weaving challenges for which they had to come back to her for solutions, she says.