The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH) announced that an exhibition of a collection of Indian textiles from the 14th to early 20th centuries will take place from June 10 – September 4, 2023 at the museum.
Titled “Woven Wonders: Indian Textiles from the Parpia Collection”, the exhibition will display over 80 textiles spanning from folk textiles to the most sophisticated court textiles, obtained from the collection of Banoo and Jeevak Parpia.
“Banoo and Jeevak Parpia have over recent years brought their insight and expertise to programs and to our collections of textiles from India. With this exhibition from their exceptional collection, we will be able to further our representation of the rich cultural heritage of Houston’s South Asian community, while exploring the history of one of India’s most treasured art forms,” Gary Tinterow, MFAH director and Margaret Alkek Williams chair noted.
Speaking about the collection, co-curator Amy Poster, consulting curator at the MFAH, said, “Assembled to reflect the myriad range of regional traditions, the Parpia Collection includes many singular pieces that reflect the extraordinary aesthetic and technical diversity of Indian textiles, from folk weavings to the most sophisticated court textiles.”
According to the museum, the collection will give a glimpse of India’s textile traditions and techniques used for painting and dyeing such as ikat, tie-dye, block printing, embroidery, etc. Moreover, the exhibition will explore the maritime trade between India and other countries and how textiles were bartered for spices and customized as per other countries’ preferences.
