What do you do when you have dozens of pairs of outgrown jeans? Well, most of them would end up in garbage bins, while some would be treated as hand-me-downs.
But, there are individuals, very few of them, for instance Savia and her mother Berta Elisa Viegas, who have breathed new life into old jeans.
Carmona’s Talking Quilt – a collaborative work between Savia and her mother, Berta (1933-2015) – are intricately designed and embroidered artworks which have been collected over the years.
“My mother Berta, a skilled and consummate embroidery artisan, crystallised motifs from her time and embroidered them onto the hardy fabric in 2007,” says Savia, an artist, novelist, museum curator and the founder of Saxtti Kids school.
There are individuals, very few of them, for instance Savia and her mother, Berta Elisa Viegas, who have breathed new life into old jeans.
THE JOURNEY OF CARMONA’S TALKING QUILT
The journey to the unique exhibition came to life when Savia found a bag of quilts.
“I found this quilt when I was sorting her belongings. It fell to the floor and I opened this huge, heavy bag filled with embroidery motifs, but mouldy by neglect," says Savia, who is displaying them at an exhibition titled ‘Carmona’s Talking Quilt’ from April 6 onwards at the Museum of Goa, Pilerne.
"When I checked the work, the more I looked, these images spoke to me of the stories I knew from childhood,” says Savia.
COLLECTING JEANS
“Most of these upcycled jeans were from the ages of 10 to 18, and they were given to us by young people from our immediate family and friends circle," she says.
"These jeans have been the canvas on which they had painted their first dreams and a private life – from the first wet dream, the first kiss, the first dawn of longing, desire and love,” expresses Savia, who says that jeans had a very vital circulation economy in the 1960s, 70s and 80s in India.
“Every teenager had a dream of wearing a pair of jeans for the first hand-hold, the first kiss and the first of everything of their bachelor life. Hence, the jean pant became a style statement,” says Savia.
A STORY TO TELL
The exhibition involves the display of the mounted quilt and 10 panels of hand-embroidered narratives, which tell a story.
“Many of these stories have feminist and environmental slants of a great relevance in contemporary time, which made the working on the quilt worthwhile,” says Savia.
Savia's mother had cut the jeans into a uniform size around motifs that narrated stories; and these embroideries were crocheted together with a joining border in 2023.
It took her three months to conceptualise and embroider the stories.
“But, in doing so, many finer points became clearer. The embroidery tradition, which my mother followed, required that most of the motifs be prettified and shown,” says Savia, where she explains the stories of the Rose, Lovely Unloved, Three Eddis, Biloo and me and Romeo and Juliet.
So, check out 'Carmona’s Talking Quilt' exhibition and learn the stories that jeans can tell.