70.31.171.67 at 18:47, 14 April 2021

2021-04-14T18:47:54Z

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{{short description|Indian textile designer}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=August 2018}}
{{Infobox artist
| name = Meera Mehta
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| birth_place = [[Mumbai]], [[Maharashtra]], India
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| nationality = Indian
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| alma_mater = [[National Institute of Design]]
| known_for = Textile design, weaving, [[Paithani]] sari revival
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'''Meera Mehta''' is a [[Weaver (occupation)|weaver]] and textile designer, based in [[Mumbai]], India. Textiles she has created have been displayed in museums and galleries around the world. Mehta is best known for her revival of the [[Paithani|Paithani sari]].

== Career ==
In particular, she has been responsible for the revival of the '[[Paithani]]' [[sari]], a legendary sari, which has been woven in [[Maharashtra]], India for the past 2,000 years in a town located close to the [[Ajanta Caves|Ajanta]] caves, to its original grandeur.<ref name="TheHindu">{{cite web|url=https://www.thehindu.com/arts/crafts/Trunk-full-of-treasures/article16883048.ece|title=Trunk full of treasures|date=23 September 2009|website=The Hindu|access-date=27 August 2018}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{cite web|url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/international/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/paithani|title=Paithani|last=Dhamija|first=Jasleen|website=Encyclopedia.com|access-date=27 August 2018}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{cite web|url=https://www.pressreader.com/india/the-hindu/20171215/282638917934614|title=A Weave in Time|last=Anantharam|first=Chitradeepa|date=15 December 2017|website=The Hindu|access-date=27 August 2018}}</ref> The Paithani sari is known for its intricate weave of pure silk and gold.<ref name="TheHindu" /> Many of the designs have been influenced by [[Buddhist]] paintings which can be seen in the woven Paithani motifs.<ref name=":0" /> Radha Parthasarathy, the vice president of the [[Crafts Council of India]] (CCI), says that Mehta's designs are both "stylised and sophisticated."<ref name=":1" /> Her Paithani saris can take between 2 months to a year to complete, based on the complexity and size of the design.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.dnaindia.com/lifestyle/report-handloom-heirlooms-1912411|title=Handloom Heirlooms|last=Nunes|first=Averil|date=2013-11-01|work=DNA|access-date=2018-08-27|language=en-US}}</ref>

[[File:Boeing 747-236B, British Airways AN0077193.jpg|thumb|right|British Airways Boeing 747 with ''Paithani'' tail art by Mehta]]
In the late 1990s, [[British Airways]] decided that it would adorn several of its aircraft with one of Mehta's saris.<ref name=":2">{{cite web|url=https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/eyecatchers/story/19971027-meera-mehtas-sari-design-used-on-british-airways-aircraft-830778-1997-10-27|title=Meera Mehta's sari design used on British Airways aircraft|date=27 October 1997|website=India Today|access-date=27 August 2018}}</ref> BA put the design, with Mehta's signature, on the tailfins of its planes.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k6FaAAAAYAAJ|title=Business World|date=October 1997|publisher=Ananda Bazar Patrika Limited|pages=427}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.brinkley.cc/PhotoData/BB/BBGBDXO/BBGBDXO.htm|title=British Airways B747-236B 'Paithani' (G-BDXO) 'India Colors / Limited 408'|website=Brinkley Wings Collection Photo|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060520233916/http://www.brinkley.cc/PhotoData/BB/BBGBDXO/BBGBDXO.htm|archive-date=2006-05-20|url-status=dead|access-date=28 August 2018}}</ref><ref name="Rutnagur1998">{{cite book|author=Sorabji M. Rutnagur|title=The Indian Textile Journal|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pi5NAAAAYAAJ|year=1998|publisher=Business Press.}}</ref> Mehta commented, "This is even better than having someone wear it."<ref name=":2" />

Many of her brocades and saris have been displayed in museums in the United States, Switzerland and London. Mehta is an invited speaker at museum societies and cultural organizations<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sachi.org/pdf/081507_SilkenLegacyTalk.pdf |title=Silken Legacy: Traditional Paithani in a Contemporary Context {{!}} A slide presentation by Meera Mehta |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110727230447/http://www.sachi.org/pdf/081507_SilkenLegacyTalk.pdf |archive-date=2011-07-27 |website=Society for Art and Cultural Heritage of India }}</ref> and as a judge at fashion and design schools including the [[National Institute of Design]], Ahmedabad, her [[alma mater]]<ref name=":1" /> and NIFT, Mumbai. She also speaks about the history of the sari at NIFT and other colleges.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P3-770442301.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180828035627/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P3-770442301.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=28 August 2018|title=Saving Six Yards of Magic|date=16 August 2002|work=Women's Feature Service|access-date=27 August 2018|url-access=subscription|via=HighBeam Research}}</ref> In 2002, she designed a collection of gold jewelry for InterGold which was launched with the World Gold Council.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.mid-day.com/metro/2002/oct/33657.htm |title=Keep up with international trends to gold jewellery |access-date=12 June 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110617114104/http://www.mid-day.com/metro/2002/oct/33657.htm |archive-date=17 June 2011 |url-status=dead |date=2002-10-11 |work=MiD-Day |df=dmy-all }}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Textile designers}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mehta, Meera}}
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:1950 births]]
[[Category:Indian textile designers]]
[[Category:Indian women designers]]
[[Category:Artists from Mumbai]]
[[Category:Women artists from Maharashtra]]

Meera Mehta - Revision history

70.31.171.67 at 18:47, 14 April 2021