Drawing workshop “Magnifying Ikat” guided by Romina Chuls

About the workshop “Magnifying Ikat”:

In this hands-on workshop, participants will explore Dr. Mohan’s ikat collection through close observation and drawing. Using digital and analog microscopes, we will examine the fine structure of the fibers, the resist-dye patterns, and the subtle shifts in color that define the ikat technique. By slowing down to study the details and translating what we see into drawings, participants will gain a deeper understanding of how ikat patterns are formed and the possibilities the technique holds.

About the exhibition:

The pieces on display are from Dr. Mohan’s 2024-25 field research with ikat artisans, traders, and consumers in India. They encourage us to consider history and culture as well as the various forces, from aesthetics to livelihood, that shape Indian ikat repertoire. 

Ikat refers to resist-patterned, tie-dyed textiles and is a term borrowed from Malay/Indonesian. In India, there are local names for ikat traditions and this exhibit highlights patola, a woven silk textile from Gujarat. Historically traded to other parts of the world, patola has been revitalized for new markets within India. Simultaneously, the meanings and uses of these textiles are being re-imagined.

Romina Chuls:

Romina Chuls (1991, Lima) is a researcher and multidisciplinary artist. Her work focuses on postcolonial gender issues in Peru and Latin America. She holds an M.A. in Arts Politics from NYU Tisch School of the Arts (2022). She earned a Bachelor's degree in Fine Arts, majoring in painting, from the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú in 2016. In 2021, she was granted the AAUW International Fellowship to support her studies at NYU and her research on anti-colonial pregnancy interruption practices. She is currently participating in the A.I.R. Gallery fellowship program, which culminates in a solo show in 2026.

Her solo shows include Parir los Pétalos (2023), an exhibition that articulates an understanding of abortion as part of a collective and more-than-human fertility cycle, at Real Art Ways, Hartford; Clandestinas (2020), a project that portrays the emotional stage of being pregnant with an unwanted being in a context where abortion is criminalized, at Galería Forum, Lima; and Tierra Incógnita (2017) at Fundación Euroidiomas, Lima. Her work has been shown in spaces such as Kunstraum (NYC, USA), at Palácio e Centro e Centro Cultural Vila Flor (Guimaraes, Portugal), at Museo de Sitio Julio C. Tello (Paracas, Peru) and Matamoros (Oaxaca, México). 

Dr. Urmila Mohan:

Dr. Urmila Mohan is a leading public-facing anthropologist, editor, and publisher whose work examines how sociocultural values are circulated through cloth, bodily practices, and belief systems. She holds a Ph.D. in Anthropology from University College London, and has a background in art and design. Her ethnographic research is based in India, Indonesia, and the U.S. and her most recent work on Gujarati patola was funded by a Fulbright-Nehru Academic and Research Excellence Fellowship. She is part of global working groups and supports innovation through her platform, The Jugaad Project (www.thejugaadproject.pub).

Dr. Mohan’s research has been supported by the Fulbright Program; Asian Cultural Council, New York; Nehru Trust for the Indian Collections, Victoria & Albert Museum, London; and The Rotary Foundation International. Her research includes an ethnography of Hindu devotees who make garments for their deities (Clothing as Devotion in Contemporary Hinduism), a curatorial study of Balinese ritual textiles at the American Museum of Natural History (Fabricating Power with Balinese Textiles), and an exploration of how designers sewed masks to protect fellow citizens (Masking in Pandemic U.S.). She theorizes the materiality of practices in her edited volume, The Efficacy of Intimacy and Belief in Worldmaking Practices.

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