Craft, Colour & Culture: Bennett University Marks National Handloom Day
Times of Bennett | Updated: Aug 13, 2025 14:33
On 7 August 2025, the School of Design at Bennett University turned its Experience Centre (B-Block) into a living studio of looms, threads, and stories, celebrating National Handloom Day with a showcase titled “Craft, Colour & Culture.” The fair reaffirmed the school’s commitment to India’s textile heritage by learning from the hands that keep it alive.
A Campus Fair Rooted in Heritage
“We organised the fair to tell stories of India’s past and celebrate local artisans,” said Prof. Anu Jain, HoD, Fashion Design. Linking craft to Bennett’s global outlook, she added, “The intention is to take our culture and roots across the world.” For Jain, crafts build community and agency, especially for women artisans, and re-teach patience in a fast, digital age.
Stories From the Loom
Visitors watched spinning and weaving in real time, then browsed a “Craft Bazaar” ofhandloom products to take a piece of the day home. Every stall carried a lineage:
Slow Fashion, Strong Values
Ms. Seema Singh Chaudhary (Indigo Amour ) presented pieces in Gaddi wool from Chamba , Himachal Pradesh . “It’s toxin-free, naturally organic, part of our own culture,” she said, urging a turn from fast fashion’s waste and exploitation: buy less, own less, and cherish longer. The message resonated with Parth Sojitra and Paddy of ‘Past Present’, whose Khadi denim—shaped by brutalist lines—centres artisan employment, and with fashion designer Manasa Jagiri (RMIT), who drapes zero-waste silhouettes from upcycled sarees.
Hands That Spin Independence
From Pilkhuwa’s weaving community, Ms. Bhagwan Dei demonstrated charkha spinning, offering a rare look at the hum of India’s self-reliant past. Master weaver Khem Raj Sundriyal exhibited tapestries that marry tradition with contemporary narratives; his collaborations with M.F. Husain and Raza drew viewers into stories woven as much with memory as with yarn.
Learning by Doing
The day’s most animated corner was the interactive loom, where Mr. Arvind Kumar, Senior Lab Assistant, guided students and teachers through the motions of warp and weft. Threads tightened, shuttles flew, and concepts became muscle memory—craft as experience, not just observation.
Keeping Craft Contemporary
“Recognising and bringing indigenous artisans here is about appreciating their painstaking efforts and the timeless power that the handloom holds,” reflected Mr. Wajahat Rather, Adjunct Professor and NID Ahmedabad alumnus. He urged students to study techniques at the source to innovate responsibly. Handloom, he reminded, shaped India’s independence and still underwrites everyday livelihoods: the task now is to keep it relevant, functional, and fair.
A day of making and meaning, setting a benchmark for the stories Bennett University’s School of Design will continue to bring to light.
- Ananya Barath,
TSOM Student
A Campus Fair Rooted in Heritage
“We organised the fair to tell stories of India’s past and celebrate local artisans,” said Prof. Anu Jain, HoD, Fashion Design. Linking craft to Bennett’s global outlook, she added, “The intention is to take our culture and roots across the world.” For Jain, crafts build community and agency, especially for women artisans, and re-teach patience in a fast, digital age.
Stories From the Loom
Visitors watched spinning and weaving in real time, then browsed a “Craft Bazaar” of
- Manipur’s Tangkhul Naga craft arrived with Mr. Wungmathing Jajo, who displayed shell-adorned Kongsang necklaces and a Changkhom Shawl woven on a loom—red, black, and white threaded with intricate beadwork.
- Madhubani traditions came alive through Mr. Ajay Jha, whose family practice spans shawls, canvases, and sarees—an art born in Mithila that now crosses caste and continents.
- Crochet with heart brightened the hall via Ms. Madhu Thakur (Mon Ami Foundation), whose lockdown-learned craft now includes rakhis, dolls, and state-inspired figures from
West Bengal to Assam—soft bridges between cultures.
Slow Fashion, Strong Values
Ms. Seema Singh Chaudhary (
Hands That Spin Independence
From Pilkhuwa’s weaving community, Ms. Bhagwan Dei demonstrated charkha spinning, offering a rare look at the hum of India’s self-reliant past. Master weaver Khem Raj Sundriyal exhibited tapestries that marry tradition with contemporary narratives; his collaborations with M.F. Husain and Raza drew viewers into stories woven as much with memory as with yarn.
Learning by Doing
The day’s most animated corner was the interactive loom, where Mr. Arvind Kumar, Senior Lab Assistant, guided students and teachers through the motions of warp and weft. Threads tightened, shuttles flew, and concepts became muscle memory—craft as experience, not just observation.
Keeping Craft Contemporary
“Recognising and bringing indigenous artisans here is about appreciating their painstaking efforts and the timeless power that the handloom holds,” reflected Mr. Wajahat Rather, Adjunct Professor and NID Ahmedabad alumnus. He urged students to study techniques at the source to innovate responsibly. Handloom, he reminded, shaped India’s independence and still underwrites everyday livelihoods: the task now is to keep it relevant, functional, and fair.
A day of making and meaning, setting a benchmark for the stories Bennett University’s School of Design will continue to bring to light.
- Ananya Barath,
TSOM Student
