Undulating paper patterns in red and white sit enticingly across the ceiling in Indian artist Ankon Mitra’s artwork at Perth’s Freemantle Arts Centre. They urge your eyes to travel with them, and marvel in their mystery.
The artist is one of a handful of Indian artists exhibiting at the ongoing Indian Ocean Craft Triennial 2024 (IOTA2024).
The three-month-long exhibition (from August to October) has seen participating artists coming from around the Indian Ocean rim, including from India.
Artists like Bappaditya Biswas and Brinda Dudhat of Morii Design, besides Mitra, are presenting at the exhibition, which has its theme ‘Codes in Parallel’. Their contributions reflected a deep engagement with traditional techniques, but also an innovative application of these forms to address contemporary issues.
This year’s theme seeks to break down cultural and geographical barriers by showcasing craft as a universal language that connects artisans, viewers, and communities.
For instance, Delhi-based Mitra’s breathtaking architectural work using the famous ‘folding’ technique he pioneered, explores the intersection of craft and technology, using ancient origami techniques in a modern architectural context. In fact, he likes to call his work ‘Oritecture’ (origami + architecture.)
An architect by training, Mitra is today a landscape designer, sculptor and installation artist. He describes his work as ‘dialogues in folding’, and ‘as a universe forming and dissolving from acts of folding’.
Particularly relevant in his piece for IOTA24 is his attempt at celebrating ancient links between India and Australia, when the two were joined geologically in a super-continent called Gondwana-Land. The redness comes from the colour of the earth in India’s Gond region and in Australian features such as Uluru in Australia.
Textile artist and NIFT graduate Bappaditya Biswas’ piece weaves magic into fabric, merging tradition with modernity. His ‘Weftscapes’ transforms traditional weaving into an abstract, oversized spectacle, bridging past and present.
Biswas’ ‘bai lou’ which he co-founded with Rumi Biswas in 2002, produces loom-finished textiles, and has earned the UNESCO Seal of Excellence.
Brinda Dudhat’s seven-panel textile installation, showcased on handwoven organic cotton, powerfully captures the fragility of natural landscapes under climate change. Collaborating with women artisans from Gujarat and Bihar, her work breathes life into crafts like Rabari and Jat embroidery from Kutch, Sujni embroidery from Bihar, Bela block printing, and traditional weaving. This “contemporary heritage” merges Bela’s endangered block prints, Sujni’s textured landscapes, and Rabari mirror work, inviting viewers into an introspective dialogue about humanity’s impact on nature.
As a visionary textile artist with deep roots in India’s craft traditions, Dudhat co-founded Morii Design with her husband Sonu Yadav in 2019, creating a bridge between age-old techniques and modern artistry.
Meanwhile, Indian artist Asim Waqif presented a keynote at the Futuring Craft Conference, as part of IOTA24. Standing as a testament to the adaptability and resilience of indigenous crafts in a rapidly industrialising world, Waqif’s work was wonderfully appropriate to highlight at this event.
In his address, detailed his remarkable project, Loy (A Durga Puja pandal). Loy is realised through a collaborative effort involving bamboo and cane craftspeople. It consists of labyrinth-like tunnels and detailed surfaces. The project integrates interactive electronic and acoustic systems, breathing life into a traditional craft practice while demonstrating the modern-day potential of natural materials like bamboo and cane.
First presented at the Arjunpur Amra Sabai Club in Kolkata, India, in 2019, multiple versions of it have been presented worldwide since then to much acclaim.
Waqif’s keynote laid the groundwork for IOTA24’s broader theme, ‘Codes in Parallel’ – a concept that explores how craft inherently communicates on multiple levels.
Apart from Asim Waqif, another notable highlight from the conference was the involvement of Indian diaspora leaders, such as Roopa Mehta from Sasha Collective and Uthra Rajgopal, a UK-based Indian curator. Mehta’s work focuses on sustainable development through craft in rural India, while Rajgopal presented a paper on the historical significance of Madras Check, reflecting on its rich cultural lineage and continued relevance in global fashion.
The festival also featured a satellite programme in which Ishan Khosla and The Typecraft Initiative participated with their exhibition, ‘Stitch as Code’, alongside Porgai Artisans in ‘Stitching Stories’, and Kirit Dave in ‘Body Narratives’. These exhibits encapsulated the essence of craft as a storytelling tool — where stitches and threads act as metaphors for cultural identity, resilience, and continuity.
By converging artists, historians, and curators from across the Indian Ocean region, IOTA24 provided a platform for meaningful exchange. The Indian contingent, through their art and presentations, showcased the resilience, adaptability, and cultural richness of craft traditions, affirming that while techniques may evolve, the essence of craft as a unifying force remains timeless.
To find out more about Indian artists at IOTA24, head here.
