Meera Mehta is a

weaver Weaver or Weavers may refer to: Activities * A person who engages in weaving fabric Animals * Various birds of the family Ploceidae * Crevice weaver spider family * Orb-weaver spider family * Weever (or weever-fish) Arts and entertainmen ...

and textile designer, based in

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

, India. The textiles she has created have been displayed in museums and galleries around the world. Mehta is best known for her revival of the Paithani sari.

Career

In particular, she has been responsible for the revival of the ' Paithani'

sari A sari (also called sharee, saree or sadi)The name of the garment in various regional languages include: * * * * * * * * * * * * * * is a drape (cloth) and a women's garment in the Indian subcontinent. It consists of an un-sti ...

, a legendary sari, which has been woven in

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

, India for the past 2,000 years in a town located close to the Ajanta caves, to its original grandeur. The Paithani sari is known for its intricate weave of pure silk and gold. Many of the designs have been influenced by

Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

paintings which can be seen in the woven Paithani motifs. Radha Parthasarathy, the vice president of the Crafts Council of India (CCI), says that Mehta's designs are both "stylised and sophisticated." Her Paithani saris can take between 2 months to a year to complete, based on the complexity and size of the design. In the late 1990s,

British Airways British Airways plc (BA) is the flag carrier of the United Kingdom. It is headquartered in London, England, near its main Airline hub, hub at Heathrow Airport. The airline is the second largest UK-based carrier, based on fleet size and pass ...

decided that it would adorn several of its aircraft with one of Mehta's saris. BA put the design, with Mehta's signature, on the tailfins of its planes. Mehta commented, "This is even better than having someone wear it." Many of her brocades and saris have been displayed in museums in the United States, Switzerland and London. Mehta is an invited speaker at museum societies, cultural organizations and as a judge at fashion and design schools including the

National Institute of Design The National Institutes of Design (NID) are a group of autonomous public design institutes in India, with the first institute established in 1961 in Ahmedabad. The other NIDs are located in the cities of Kurukshetra, Amaravati, Jorhat and Bho ...

, Ahmedabad, her

alma mater Alma mater (; : almae matres) is an allegorical Latin phrase meaning "nourishing mother". It personifies a school that a person has attended or graduated from. The term is related to ''alumnus'', literally meaning 'nursling', which describes a sc ...

and NIFT, Mumbai. She also speaks about the history of the sari at NIFT and other colleges. In 2002, she designed a collection of gold jewelry for InterGold which was launched with the World Gold Council.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mehta, Meera Living people 1950 births Indian textile designers Indian designers Artists from Mumbai Women artists from Maharashtra Indian women artists