An exhibition on the making of chikan and zardozi held in Lucknow

A photography exhibition titled '

The Lost Thread

' was held recently at an art gallery in Aliganj. Based on the work of

chikan

and

zardozi

, the photographs were beautifully captured by artist

AviRal Sen Saxena

. The exhibition showcased a total of 38 photographs which was divided into several sections - starting from the initial phase of the cloth till wrapped around a mannequin in a showroom.

Pankaj Gupta (BCCL/ Aditya Yadav)
When asked about the exhibition and work of the artist, chief guest Padma Shree

Runa Banerjee

said, “AviRal has chosen a really sensitive topic and has tried to touch upon the lives of the artisans. I actually feel a connection with these photographs.”

Diwakar Bhattacharya (BCCL/ Aditya Yadav)
The photographs displayed at the exhibition were in chronological order, starting from the dying and colouring of the cloth followed by the workers washing them on the banks of the river and then doing kadhai on it at their homes and then finally the material ending up in a showroom for sale.
— Saad Abbasi

(L) AviRal Sen Saxena (R) Reena Agarwal (BCCL/ Aditya Yadav)

(L) Runa Banerjee (R) Samarth Narain and Yatindra Mishra (BCCL/ Aditya Yadav)

(L) Simran Sahni (R) Vanita Yadav (BCCL/ Aditya Yadav)