Meera Mehta
Born
Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
NationalityIndian
Alma materNational Institute of Design
Known forTextile design, weaving, Paithani sari revival

Meera Mehta is a weaver and textile designer, based in Mumbai, India. The textiles she has created have been displayed in museums and galleries around the world. Mehta is best known for her revival of the Paithani sari.

Career

In particular, she has been responsible for the revival of the 'Paithani' sari, a legendary sari, which has been woven in Maharashtra, India for the past 2,000 years in a town located close to the Ajanta caves, to its original grandeur.[1][2][3] The Paithani sari is known for its intricate weave of pure silk and gold.[1] Many of the designs have been influenced by Buddhist paintings which can be seen in the woven Paithani motifs.[2] Radha Parthasarathy, the vice president of the Crafts Council of India (CCI), says that Mehta's designs are both "stylised and sophisticated."[3] Her Paithani saris can take between 2 months to a year to complete, based on the complexity and size of the design.[4]

British Airways Boeing 747 with Paithani tail art by Mehta

In the late 1990s, British Airways decided that it would adorn several of its aircraft with one of Mehta's saris.[5] BA put the design, with Mehta's signature, on the tailfins of its planes.[6][7][8] Mehta commented, "This is even better than having someone wear it."[5]

Many of her brocades and saris have been displayed in museums in the United States, Switzerland and London. Mehta is an invited speaker at museum societies, cultural organizations[9] and as a judge at fashion and design schools including the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, her alma mater[3] and NIFT, Mumbai. She also speaks about the history of the sari at NIFT and other colleges.[10] In 2002, she designed a collection of gold jewelry for InterGold which was launched with the World Gold Council.[11]

References

  1. ^ a b "Trunk full of treasures". The Hindu. 23 September 2009. Retrieved 27 August 2018.
  2. ^ a b Dhamija, Jasleen. "Paithani". Encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 27 August 2018.
  3. ^ a b c Anantharam, Chitradeepa (15 December 2017). "A Weave in Time". The Hindu. Retrieved 27 August 2018.
  4. ^ Nunes, Averil (1 November 2013). "Handloom Heirlooms". DNA. Retrieved 27 August 2018.
  5. ^ a b "Meera Mehta's sari design used on British Airways aircraft". India Today. 27 October 1997. Retrieved 27 August 2018.
  6. ^ Business World. Ananda Bazar Patrika Limited. October 1997. p. 427.
  7. ^ "British Airways B747-236B 'Paithani' (G-BDXO) 'India Colors / Limited 408'". Brinkley Wings Collection Photo. Archived from the original on 20 May 2006. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
  8. ^ Sorabji M. Rutnagur (1998). The Indian Textile Journal. Business Press.
  9. ^ "Silken Legacy: Traditional Paithani in a Contemporary Context | A slide presentation by Meera Mehta" (PDF). Society for Art and Cultural Heritage of India. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 July 2011.
  10. ^ "Saving Six Yards of Magic". Women's Feature Service. 16 August 2002. Archived from the original on 28 August 2018. Retrieved 27 August 2018 – via HighBeam Research.
  11. ^ "Keep up with international trends to gold jewellery". MiD-Day. 11 October 2002. Archived from the original on 17 June 2011. Retrieved 12 June 2009.
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