A glance at a peacock feather reveals an iridescent blend of blue, green, and a tinge of brown. But did you know that the only pigment in a peacock feather is brown melanin?

“The interaction between the photonic crystals and white light produces an effect of blues and green, while the other colours get absorbed,” says Aayushi Jain, as she points to a textile crafted from peacock feathers, the first panel of Perched Upon a Woven Sky, the inaugural exhibition at the newly opened The Registry: Centre for Design.

“The exhibit draws from the concept and title of the exhibition ‘Perched upon’,” adds Aayushi, who has curated the exhibition presented by The Registry of Sarees (Trust).

Housed in Prithvi, a restored 1932 bungalow in Bengaluru’s Richmond Town, the new Centre commemorates a decade of The Registry of Sarees helmed by Ally Mathan. It is aimed at being a “multidisciplinary design centre that brings together architecture, art, ceramics, music, theatre, history and design, creating a destination for ideas, dialogue and public engagement”. The new space will also house the flagship store of Ally’s textile label, Yali; the bodycare brand, Pekko; and a cafe, Indulge. 

As we walk through the exhibition, Aayushi explains that the team has categorised each group of textiles by the different chromatic conditions of the day. Featuring 45 textiles from The Registry’s archives, she says the team wanted the weaves to be perceived beyond just ‘an object to be worn or owned’. “Instead, we wanted to highlight the comparison between textiles and the landscapes they draw from. We wanted to see them as an environment shaped by light, colour, and the perception of the person standing before it,” she says of the exhibition that ‘stages handwoven cloth within shifting conditions of natural and artificial light across the hours of a day’.

“We chose textiles based not on geographies, but colour, and how light reacts with that colour and the weave’s structure,” she says. And thus, in the room dedicated to dawn, you will find weaves in shades of gold, purple, and pink, while the afternoon section has saris in bright yellows, reds, and black to depict the scorching sun. Come evening, and hues of blue take over the room, including a stunning 90-year-old Jamdani weave with copper zari. Depicting the moon is a Kanjeevaram weave in mulberry silk and silver zari, a sari Mrs. Medapa, wife of the Chief Justice of the erstwhile state of Mysore, commissioned in honour of a celebratory function to commemorate her husband’s appointment at the court of Mysore.

Aayushi says the selection process for the weaves took about seven months. “We wanted to display textiles that we had not displayed before. In addition, we removed fragile weaves, and those in restoration from the list. We also acquired a few solely for the exhibition,” she says.

Playing with light is integral to the show and has been done delicately by Vishvesh Surve, who has designed the exhibition space. “We had to experiment with different lights and tonalities to understand how textiles react to them, and their reflections and shadows,” he shares.

Unlike most exhibitions that begin with the curatorial note and guide visitors on its structure, Aayushi took a deliberate detour for Perched Upon a Woven Sky. “We wanted to challenge the traditional exhibition walkthrough. Our note is not the first thing visitors see; it is at the end of the exhibition. We want visitors to interpret the displays in their own way.”  

At 7, Cornwell Road, Langford Gardens, Bengaluru