Indian Museum makes a style statement at Google exhibition

KOLKATA: The 19th century Baluchari and Jamdani sarees from Indian Museum's heritage loom collection have been selected for a special exhibition -We Wear Style -curated by Google Arts and Culture. The event, as touted by the host, is the largest virtual project on style showcasing 3,000 years of world fashion.

At least 70 different varieties of 19th century sarees have found their pride of place in the exhibition as styles that have weathered the inroads of modernity and still considered 'classics' in the world of Indian fashion. Indian Museum is one of the 180 museums worldwide from whose collections, items have been selected for the exhibition. The other contributing museum from India is Chhat rapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya in Mumbai.

Some traditional handloom weaves from

Nagaland

, also preserved in the museum have been selected for the exhibition. The exhibition also inclu des cloth worn by high status Naga warriors after head hunting. The painted white band in the middle of the cloth signifies the number of heads he has taken. These are woven by the men of

Rengma

tribe, says the online exhibition literature.

This state-ofthe-art technology, allows visitors to explore everything from Silk Road, through the courtly fashions of

Versailles

, to British punk and the stories behind today's fashionin street view mode.

“Everyone is invited to browse through the exhibition and learn the story behind what they wear. You may be surprised to find out that your jeans or the black dress in your wardrobe have a centuries-old story,“ said director of Google Arts and Culture,

Amit Sood

.

“This is an innovative technology to showcase our textile collections. This virtual exhibition offers a great opportunity to share, preserve and promote our heritage with the world. It will also draw in more real-time visitors to the museum,“ said museum director Jayanta Sengupta.