Tale of two cities: From Scottish highlands to Chitral mountains
Adil Iqbal showcases hand-embroidered tweed zip clutches, totes, cushions and other items.
The tapestries depict the uniqueness of life in the Outer Hebrides and Chitral Valley. PHOTO: MUHAMMAD JAVAID/EXPRESS
ISLAMABAD:
An exhibition displaying tapestries from Pakistan, inspired by the Hebrides, opened at the Nomad Art Gallery on Friday.
A Scottish based textile designer, Adil Iqbal, will showcase with an exclusive line of hand-embroidered tweed zip clutches, totes, cushions and many other items.
The exhibition features collaboration between weavers in the Outer Hebrides and embroiderers in Chitral, interpreting stories of their communities through illustrated narratives. These inspiring textiles explore cultural similarities between the two regions.
The idea is to preserve some ancient traditions that might otherwise slowly disappear. This exchange mingles their traditions in a unique and unexpected way.
The tapestries depict the uniqueness of life in the Outer Hebrides and Chitral Valley. Adil aims to preserve the ancient skills of the artisans so that the ancient traditions are not lost.
Bright colors are used in the weavings. Some of the hangings feature calligraphy in Urdu while others featured English poems. The tapestries were further used to give out social messages including that dowry by weaving titled “Chitrali Dowry,” made by SherieGul, on one of them.
The collection covered diverse themes like wedding traditional, folklore and child folk, cultural traditions and music, conventional food and kitchen items and traditional songs and poems. One of the pieces was “Weaving Songs” by Taiba, which featured lines from the Scottish ‘Weaving Songs”.
“Taiba received reading and writing lessons during the workshop sand feels connected to the weavers from Lewis after seeing photographs of the tweed. She aspires to meet them one day”, said Adil.
Another piece, Flag of Scotland, by Zubieda Ali, a mother of three and a housewife who is a part time embroider at the Dolomuch Center was made up using brilliant colors and features a representation of Scotland in flags and myths.
Adil mentioned that his aim when creating this collection was to connect textile workers in remote areas of Pakistan with those in the Outer Hebrides, creating a bridge between communities and promoting a cultural awareness between the two countries.
Speaking to The Express Tribune, he said “I have always been torn between two places and I decided to blend stories from Scotland with those of Chitral,” he said.
“I have personally been in touch with Adil for the last couple of years and for me it is very important to highlight our local culture, which in this case is Chitral’s culture. What I find absolutely unique and inspiring is not just the fact that the collection merges two very different cultures but I find the storytelling very personal,” said Nageen Hayat, the director of Nomad Art Gallery. The exhibition will till June 6.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 16th, 2015.
An exhibition displaying tapestries from Pakistan, inspired by the Hebrides, opened at the Nomad Art Gallery on Friday.
A Scottish based textile designer, Adil Iqbal, will showcase with an exclusive line of hand-embroidered tweed zip clutches, totes, cushions and many other items.
The exhibition features collaboration between weavers in the Outer Hebrides and embroiderers in Chitral, interpreting stories of their communities through illustrated narratives. These inspiring textiles explore cultural similarities between the two regions.
The idea is to preserve some ancient traditions that might otherwise slowly disappear. This exchange mingles their traditions in a unique and unexpected way.
The tapestries depict the uniqueness of life in the Outer Hebrides and Chitral Valley. Adil aims to preserve the ancient skills of the artisans so that the ancient traditions are not lost.
Bright colors are used in the weavings. Some of the hangings feature calligraphy in Urdu while others featured English poems. The tapestries were further used to give out social messages including that dowry by weaving titled “Chitrali Dowry,” made by SherieGul, on one of them.
The collection covered diverse themes like wedding traditional, folklore and child folk, cultural traditions and music, conventional food and kitchen items and traditional songs and poems. One of the pieces was “Weaving Songs” by Taiba, which featured lines from the Scottish ‘Weaving Songs”.
“Taiba received reading and writing lessons during the workshop sand feels connected to the weavers from Lewis after seeing photographs of the tweed. She aspires to meet them one day”, said Adil.
Another piece, Flag of Scotland, by Zubieda Ali, a mother of three and a housewife who is a part time embroider at the Dolomuch Center was made up using brilliant colors and features a representation of Scotland in flags and myths.
Adil mentioned that his aim when creating this collection was to connect textile workers in remote areas of Pakistan with those in the Outer Hebrides, creating a bridge between communities and promoting a cultural awareness between the two countries.
Speaking to The Express Tribune, he said “I have always been torn between two places and I decided to blend stories from Scotland with those of Chitral,” he said.
“I have personally been in touch with Adil for the last couple of years and for me it is very important to highlight our local culture, which in this case is Chitral’s culture. What I find absolutely unique and inspiring is not just the fact that the collection merges two very different cultures but I find the storytelling very personal,” said Nageen Hayat, the director of Nomad Art Gallery. The exhibition will till June 6.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 16th, 2015.