A richly embroidered tunic with intricate depictions of figures, birds, plants, and bridges in vibrant colors on a red background.
Unknown Maker, Indian, Jabla / Jhabla (tunic). Bequest of Miss Lucy T. Aldrich

The Flower, The Labor, and The Sea

September 27, 2025 - June 28, 2026
A richly embroidered tunic with intricate depictions of figures, birds, plants, and bridges in vibrant colors on a red background.
Unknown Maker, Indian, Jabla / Jhabla (tunic). Bequest of Miss Lucy T. Aldrich

Introduction

Through historical and contemporary textiles and images, this installation investigates the complex history of Parsi gara embroideries, which richly combine Indian, Persian, Chinese, and European influences. Worn by the Parsi community living in India, garments featuring this embroidery style were originally entangled with the wickedly orchestrated Chinese opium market. The Flower, the Labor, and the Sea features RISD’s extensive collection of Parsi garas, jhablas, and borders. These are displayed alongside a newly commissioned large-scale textile made in collaboration with contemporary gara designer Ashdeen Lilaowala, together illuminating this cultural tradition growing out of the mercantile trade between China, India, Britain, and America in the 1800s.

Guest curated by Bhasha Chakrabarti with Kate Irvin, curator of costume and textiles.

Kate Irvin

RISD Museum is supported by a grant from the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts, through an appropriation by the Rhode Island General Assembly and a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, and with the generous partnership of the Rhode Island School of Design, its Board of Trustees, and Museum Governors.