News

Heritage Lottery Fund Award for Oriental Museum

(17 September 2003)

The Oriental Museum has been awarded £29,400 by the Heritage Lottery Fund, to bring a major touring exhibition of Indian textiles to the North East for the first time.

The Kanchan Malde Collection, Mirror, Bead and Thread will be exhibited at the Museum next January. Young girls' costumes, wedding gifts, camel herders' equipment, animal saddle trappings and interior furnishing will be on show.

Mrs Kanchan Malde said: "The collection is a result of my alarm at the vanishing traditions of folk embroidery in the region of Gujarat. My mother was an accomplished embroiderer and instilled in me a passion for handicrafts and traditional art forms."

To accompany the exhibition, there will be a series of workshops for schools and other community groups.

In addition, the Museum will be looking for people of South Asian origin to identify and interpret the Museum's own Indian textiles and painting collections. They will help lead workshops, create an on-line exhibition and textiles teaching resource and enhance existing gallery displays. Anyone interested in participating should contact the Curator on 0191 334 5694.