8 Sept 2021
ZENPod Season 4,episode 6(part 2) with Smt. Belaa Sanghvi
Season-4, episode 6(part 2) of “ZENPod”, featuring Smt. Belaa Sanghvi, an Indian Handloom evangelist and revivalist. Belaa’s mission is to ensure Handloom, Handcrafted and Khadi are given industry status.Belaa Sanghvi’s extensive career graph spans over 40 years working in revival of handloom, handcrafted and Khadi techniques in India and abroad.
“I don’t think I am qualified or intelligent enough to define spirituality, I just follow. I have reached home, but I am still looking for myself. I seek to understand and then follow so that I appreciate better.” says Smt. Belaa Sanghvi, in her conversation with Venkatesh Mahadevan. 23 countries,56 Traditional weaves mastered & revived,40 years experience in Handloom revival,43 Handicraft techniques revived
Over the years, her collections have been displayed across 23 countries via exhibitions, stores and various international museums including The Los Angeles County Museum of Modern Art and Kunst Museum, Basal.
Belaa’s passion is to bring handloom on the forefront and empower weavers and craftsmen to improve their per piece earning & their lifestyle.Belaa is truly an artist rooted in Vedic traditions and Sanatan traditions approached from today’s angle. She love to revive traditional antiquated embroidery techniques, which are expressed via her textile murals that support 450 craftsmen who are grouped together on project need base.
Her design studio Purnakala by Belaa Sanghvi (complete art) has a vision to revive antiquated handloom sarees. The word takes many forms in Sanskrit – knowledge, powers, arts, or levels of consciousness.As a life-long chronicler of textiles, textile art and handicrafts in India with over four decade’s experience, her journey began at her father’s factory that manufactures looms. From a young age, she was introduced to weaving and operating different looms. She also provides design inputs in the weaves of different fabrics. With her interaction with the artisans, Belaa realized her two-fold goal – to revive the traditional textiles, and to bring in economic sustainability in the lives of the traditional artisans. Over the years, her work with the artisans has allowed her to generate employment and to give them the freedom to enjoy the craft. Belaa has also imparted several trainings on modern innovations that improve the quality of their workmanship. She has worked on several design projects that aim at business development or business reengineering.
Presently, Belaa is working on a book to document all her years of research in various textile techniques in India. She is available for keynote presentations, teaching assignments, lectures, desiging and execution projects, consultation on business re-engineering, product design, and workshops.“ZENPod” is a Podcast series that features trailblazers from different walks of life, with a purpose to build an empowered eco-system where learnings and experiences from these enlightened professionals, will be available within “arms reach of desire” for those who aspire to scale higher and wish to contribute, in their life’s pursuit.
