Barnali, the confluence of colours in a spectrum, becomes a metaphor for the vibrancy of shades and hues across diverse cultures. In this exhibition, the Indian and Hungarian craft practices and artistic creativity in terms of textile tradition and colour interplay would be the primary thrusts. The National Crafts Museum & Hastkala Academy, New Delhi in collaboration with the Liszt Institute Hungarian Cultural Centre Delhi jointly present “Barnali: Indo-Hungarian Colour Surface” by showing Indian collection from Rajasthan, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra along with the Hungarian collection from the Blue Dying workshop of Gyὅr. The Hungarian collection is supported by the Magyar Művészeti Akadémia (Hungarian Academy of Arts). The exhibition will be jointly inaugurated by Mrs. Erika Nemeth, Spouse of the Ambassador of Hungary and Ms. Amrit Raj, Development Commissioner (Handicrafts), Ministry of Textiles on Friday, November 28, 2025, at 4 pm at the National Crafts Museum, Delhi.
In this exhibition, the history of the Pápa Blue-Printing Museum is presented through special panels taking the on looker through the process of blue dye techniques while incorporating the stories of the five Hungarian blue-printer’s families, their contemporary works along with the image of Master craftsman of blocks makers and printers. Complimenting these, some selected Indian specimens and images of well-known Master Craftsman from different parts of India are placed side by side for easy understanding of international cultural integration. The exhibition, which purposefully explores Hungarian blue dying that, traces its origins back to India. And hence it will be complemented by a parallel presentation designed and developed by our curators while focusing on Indian indigo dying technique in textile tradition. This integrated display will provide an opportunity to highlight the ways in which the original technique developed in India and beautifully transformed in Hungary. The exhibition will be on view till 15th December 2025.
