Post-Grad Mixer: Offbeat Sari, at The Design Museum

The sari is a language expressed through fabric, which has been intertwined with evolving cultural influences over time. To explore this complex world of a saree, we took a trip to the ‘Offbeat Sari’ exhibition at the Design Museum with the Post-Grad Community Ambassador, Tejaswini Sood. The exhibition took us on a beautiful journey around the creative, often unexpected ways in which the sari is a site for design innovation and an empowering vessel for self-expression in India today.

Inside the space, along with a beautifully curated selection of notable interpretations of a sari, there were films, interactive pieces to understand the materiality, and guides on the innumerable ways of draping a sari. The exhibition was a brilliant display of colours, forms, flow and movements. We felt compelled to pull out our materials and sketch the beautiful nuances of the art in front of us. As we sketched, we realised every detail, pleat, curve and ruffle in the sarees. The intricacy of their materials and the brilliance of their colours left us awestruck.

The exhibition ignited a lot of conversation among us students - especially the ones who call India home - about our own experiences and perceptions of a sari. We talked about how ideally an unstitched piece of fabric can be a symbol of our culture and feel so deeply embedded in our way of being.

The event gave us a lot of food for thought and a beautiful way of connecting with fellow sari-lovers.