LONDON.- Conceptualised by the Rome-based art curator and journalist Daniela Bezzi in association with EJB Communications, London, this exhibition will document over 20 years of creative collaboration with Indian craftspeople by the noted contemporary Italian artist, architect and art professor Nicola Strippoli, better known by his Sanskrit name: Tarshito.

Tarshito’s first creative journey to the subcontinent in 1986 resulted in the stunning production of “Carpets of Meditation” in 1987. Then, through a series of working relationships with the most highly skilled craftmasters in India, he held an exhibition at the Crafts Museum of New Delhi entitled “The Gold and the Clay”. In this way, Tarshito established himself as one of the most convincing interpreters of art as a “confluence of traditions”.

From carpet-weaving to embroidery, from terracotta modelling to miniature painting, from the most remote tribal traditions to expressions of devotion, Tarshito’s art defines itself in terms of shared inspiration and close personal interaction. Throughout it reveals a commitment to discovery and research.

This exhibition aims to document how much Tarshito’s creative path owes to India and to the pristine simplicity and richness of its myriad crafts. Besides the stunning embroidered series of wall hangings on the theme of “The Warrior of Love” (in association with Laila Tyabji, Mangu Ben, and Gauri and Parvati Bai of Dastkar), the show will feature works by:

· Kamlesh and Umesh Ratna (in the Warli tribal painting tradition)

· Puspa Rao (Patachitra and palm leaf painting)

· Abdulgafoor and Samar Khatri Daud (masters of the almost extinct Rogan art tradition)

· Baua Devi (Madhubani tradition from Bihar)

· Raju and Mukesh Swami with Ashok and Deepak Sharma (the miniature painting tradition of Rajasthan)

· Kasam Adam Sangar and Aachar Maya Marvada (the exuberant embroidery of Kutch, in Gujarath)

· Elisabeth Bara Imam and Chamnu Ganju (wall size Sohrai painting from the tribal areas of Jharkhand)