The Cloth that Changed the World: India’s Painted and Printed Cottons

  • Closed
#ROMchintz
September 12, 2020 to January 2, 2022
  • Level 4, Patricia Harris Gallery of Textiles and Costume
FREE for Members

About

Made with novel cotton, vivid colours and exuberant design, the painted and printed cottons of India changed human history; they revolutionized art, fashion and science wherever they went around the globe. Featuring pieces from the Museum’s world-renowned collection, and several important international loans, this ROM-original exhibition explores how over thousands of years India’s artisans have created, perfected and innovated these printed and painted multicoloured cotton fabrics to fashion the body, honour divinities, and beautify palaces and homes.

Exploring the fascinating stories behind the making and trade of these glorious pieces past and present, The Cloth that Changed the World considers India’s textile innovations and their influences on fashion, trade and industry around the world in places as far as Cairo, Japan, Sumatra, London, and Ottawa. They were the luxury fabric of their day, coveted by all, and one of the great inventions that drew foreigners to India’s shores hungry for more. Discover how through trade-routes, encounters, and exchange, these cloths connected cultures, inspired imitation and, quite literally, changed the world. Experience how India’s designers and makers today are innovating for new times and audiences.

Highlights

text

Publication

Book coverCloth that Changed the World: The Art and Fashion of Indian Chintz
Editor: Sarah Fee
Royal Ontario Museum and Yale University Press
$50.00.
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Explore More

Chintz fabrics on a clothesline.

Sarah Fee & Abduljabbar M. Khatri, July 13, 2021

Dirty hands stamping fabric with a yellow pattern.

Sarah Fee, March 13, 2020

Seven chintz dresses on display in the museum's curatorial workspace.

Sarah Fee, March 13, 2020

Woman’s jacket, ordant-dyed and resist-dyed cotton, 18th century.

Sarah Fee & Anjli Patel, July 15, 2020

Rashmi Varma.

Deepali Dewan & Rashmi Varma, September 9, 2020

Above-the-fold screenshot of the article in the newspaper.

Published in the Globe and Mail, September 17, 2020

ROM curators and technicians working on content for the Cloth the Changed the World exhibition.

Sarah Fee, October 21, 2020

Berta Pavlov.

Berta Pavlov, 2021 Veronika Gervers Lecture, March 31, 2021

Chintz fabric with floral pattern.

Sarah Fee & Renuka Reddy, January 27, 2021

Red chintz jacket.

Join Deepali Dewan, Mark Balmforth, and Bessie Cecil as they explore the intertwined histories of textile dye and production in South Asia

Priest king Mohenjo Daro.

Botanist Deborah Metsger and archaeologist J. Mark Kenoyer explore the rich and diverse history of textiles in the early settlements of the Indian subcontinent

This exhibition is generously supported by the Royal Exhibitions Circle.

Authored by: Kait Sykes

Authored by: Kait Sykes