The Curatorial departments of Fashion Arts & Textiles and South Asian Art, Islamic Art & Antiquities often collaborate, most recently on the acquisition of Lavanya Mani’s Tree of Life. This large, brightly colored textile combines the historic medium of kalamkari with contemporary commentary. Using wax and multiple baths of hand formulated natural dyes, kalamkari textiles primarily flourished on India’s southeastern Coromandel coast and were heavily traded during the seventeenth to nineteenth centuries between India, Southeast Asia, and Europe.

The artist uses kalamkari technique to depict a flourishing “tree of life,” most often understood as representing life and abundance. Here, however, the tree is surrounded by imagery of guns, fighter jets, and grenades. Working in techniques such as kalamkari, embroidery, and appliqué, Mani (based in Hyderabad, India) creates dialogues between past and present. In her practice she addresses colonialism, environmentalism, and cultural interaction, engaging with complex historical nuances of South Asian textile arts.

On view through December 2026 in the Anu and Shekhar Mitra Gallery for Asian Art (G143).