Textiles are a living, evolving dialogue : Darshan Shah

As Calcutta Times turns 25, we spotlight voices shaping the city’s cultural fabric. Darshan Shah, textile revivalist and founder of Weavers Studio, reimagines Bengal’s craft heritage by blending traditional techniques with global influences. Her work draws attention to Bengal textile while creating grassroots opportunities. Through a commitment to sustainability and handcraft, Shah continues to push boundaries. In this conversation, she talks about her journey, inspirations, and vision.How do you define textiles, and how has the field evolved?Kolkata has many remarkable textile voices – Ruby Palchoudhuri, Ritu Kumar, Nandita Raja, Sabyasachi, and Anamika Khanna to name a few. Together, we form a community working towards one goal: bringing attention back to Bengal and its textiles. Bengal’s textiles once dressed the world, with Murshidabad alone contributing nearly 3% of global GDP through its trade. Stories of fabrics that ‘emptied the coffers of Rome’ and the legendary muslin, continue to inspire us. Reviving this legacy also means creating grassroots employment, and even playing a small part in that effort is my way of expressing gratitude to this city and to the world of textiles.Do revival efforts help younger generations understand textiles better?I wouldn’t say I revived traditions – they were always alive but needed attention. Researching Baluchari, we collaborated with Tantuja, the Weavers’ Service Centre, and Bishnupur artisans, documenting histories and studying collections. This led to exhibitions at the Birla Academy of Art and Culture and the National Museum, New Delhi, prompting the West Bengal government to open a Baluchari store on Park Street. The projects shifted perceptions, enhanced skills, and added value, with similar success for our project Textiles from Bengal: A shared legacy. How have your experiences shaped your design and style?I entered textiles by chance, which fuelled my innovation. Learning from master artisans shaped both my design sensibility and collaborative approach. I’ve developed a language that blends traditions – shibori, leheriya, and even recreating shibori effects on a jacquard loom, while encouraging experimentation. Coming from a management and law background with no formal training,I focus on sustainable, fully handcrafted textiles, while embracing a global, cross-cultural creative vision.Do you create all the designs and colour combinations yourself?Our work isn’t possible without a team. I lead as an entrepreneur, but the team continuously collaborates, travels, and attends exhibitions. We encourage ideas, supported by a strong knowledge base. The Weavers Studio Resource Centre holds over 1,600 textiles and 3,500 books.What is it like leading a team with so many women members?I don’t view the team in terms of men or women. Anyone interested in textiles and willing to learn can join, and many we’ve trained had no prior experience. Early on, women from less privileged backgrounds came for work and training, inspiring our focus on skill development and pathways to jobs, entrepreneurship, and self-help groups – essentially “teaching them how to fish.” Over time, we’ve grown into a community of learning, sharing, and care. Expectations are high, excellence is non-negotiable, and despite challenges, we always find reasons to celebrate. Rooted in Kolkata, shaped by its spiritKolkata has shaped Shah’s life and work in profound ways. “I was born, raised, and educated in Kolkata. This is my birthplace, the city where I have learnt everything, from its people, the teams I have worked with, my teachers, my gurus, my parents, and my surroundings. Kolkata is truly where I understand the meaning of the phrase City of Joy,” she says.100 years of batik, reimaginedThe upcoming initiative Sarong to Sari marks 100 years of Rabindranath Tagore’s journey from Java to Santiniketan, which, as Shah says, “introduced batik to the region.” Over the century, batik has evolved in design, technique, colour, and spirit, shaped by generations of designers, teachers, and practitioners, and now further expanded through social media. Textiles, she notes, “are no longer confined to museums or stores; they exist in a shared, public space,” fostering collaborations across disciplines and reaffirming Tagore’s vision of dialogue through art, today emerging as a dynamic, collaborative medium.I encourage my team to keep learning. They attend shows, exhibitions, biennales, learn about art & textiles, as you never know where new ideas can come from : Darshan ShahWe don’t see fabric as material, but as a catalyst. A forward-thinking approach transforms each technique with vision, creating textiles that energise us: Darshan ShahTextiles are a common language across disciplines. The intention is to value-add by technique, how a basic piece can be made architectural, more wearable. We have made things that we might not be able to produce again within our personal diaspora, however each one is unique : Darshan ShahI don’t believe in restricting creativity within borders; Our work is inherently cross-cultural: Darshan Shah Pics: Manoj Kumar Kar