Indigo-based artworks to be exhibited as curtain raiser to Arvind-Indigo Museum

As a curtain raiser to the forthcoming launch of the Arvind-Indigo Museum, 'Alchemy' will feature weaves, furniture, paintings, sculptures and installations from artists, and artists who explored the powerful effect of Indigo -- a historically important dye.

The museum, by denim producer Arvind Ltd, is being readied and is scheduled to launch in the near future. It will be set in a building within the company's Naroda facility, where the first metre of locally produced denim saw the light of day in the late 1980s, the organisers said in a statement on Wednesday.

'Alchemy' will be presented at the Kasturbhai Lalbhai Museum from Friday.

The sheer range of media -- wood, steel, ceramics, rubber, canvas, and paper -- that further the transformative qualities of Indigo is fascinating, the statement said.

Globally-reputed contemporary Indian artists such as Nalini Malani, Alwar Balasubramaniam, Manish Nai, and multidisciplinary artist and designer Aboubakar Fofana from Mali, are among several artists who have been commissioned to explore Indigo as a medium.

Crafts by Gujarat artisans, the minimalist explorations of young artists who work with paper, and stunning fabrics by skilled dyers, are also displayed in the many rooms of the museum.

"This precursor exhibition offers an immersive experience. I feel privileged to have co-created these works along with the creators themselves. Some of the artists have never worked with Indigo before, and, I believe, this will create an ecosystem that promotes creativity, art and put India on the global map," Chairman and MD Sanjay Lalbhai said in the statement.

The museum aims to extend the vocabulary of Indigo and seek to revive and nurture traditional art forms and bring a contemporary interpretation of these with indigo, the statement added.

'Alchemy' will be open for viewing till March 31.

--IANS

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