This exhibition ‘Shakti’ celebrates female power through textile art

Join the 'Shakti' exhibition at Alliance Française Madras on March 7, celebrating female power through textile art and workshops.

Shakti, the feminine, lends itself to several interpretations across the subcontinent. French artist Marielle Maury, a fashion designer whose practice is rooted in sustainability and artisanal production, says that she did not know what it meant when she first encountered it, but had a hunch.

“Shakti is a humble, unexplainable, yet powerful intelligence. Even if I don’t believe in any religion, I was convinced that it had to do with feminism. All the strength and the inner power of Shakti that was depicted, reminded me of the universal power of women,” she says. 

Marielle is part of a cohort of five artists from Germany, France, and India who took part in a residency starting September in Chennai that introduced the said artists to regional textiles and other traditions. A collaboration between Goethe-Institut Chennai and Alliance Française Madras, this residency will now culminate in an exhibition titled Shakti: Threads of Female Power, at Alliance Française of Madras on March 7. The exhibition will interpret textile through installations and art work across the campus. The participating artists include Anna Cambier from France, Bettina Mileta from Germany, Marielle Maury, and Munira Nizam Diwan and Sanskruti Shukla from India.  

Textile art | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Patricia Théry-Hart, director, Alliance Française of Madras, and Katharina Gorgen, director, Goethe-Institut Chennai, say that the idea came from their own love and interest towards Indian textile. That it nearly coincides with Women’s Day, is entirely intentional, they say. When they both took charge of their offices during their posting in India, they were captivated by the colours. 

Katharina says that Indian sarees often took her breath away. “Even if I cannot wear them in my next posting, it does not stop me from buying a saree. The whole country has such a rich textile tradition,” she says. Yet, that is not all, she adds.