Material Culture Workshop

Material culture forms an integral part of human life and the two are strongly influenced by one another. Therefore, an in-depth understanding of material culture helps one gain insight into the social life and relations of the particular time period. Furthermore, clothes are an expression of one’s personality and reflect the cultural category the individual belongs to. A thorough understanding of the subject is essential to help the students create physical garments that perfectly emulate and communicate the social identity.

The first session on ‘Sacred Textiles and Clothing’ focused on various factors that informed the origin and meaning constituting the sacredness of textiles and clothing. While the second session on ‘Material Culture’ expanded on the intangible and the intuited as manifested in the material world, within the world-view shaped by the inherited environment. The sociology of the traditional products emulates the socio-cultural organization and division of society based on function, form, service, aesthetic and ethical values. From two-dimensional images to artifacts, they construct an identity that is associated with a community, region or a larger cultural context.

About Archana Shastri

Archana Shastri is an experienced artist from Rajasthan who is presently engaged as a visiting faculty at many reputed academic institutes of design, fashion, theatre, art and heritage research & management. Over the years she has received several awards & scholarships like Govt. of India Fellowship for outstanding senior artists and in the field of plastic arts, UNDP grant and Charles Wallace scholarship amongst others. Archana’s subject knowledge spans across areas like history of textiles & costume modules, material culture, colonial architecture, visual communication & visual mapping, yarn craft and visual vocabulary of colour to name a few.