From Mahatma Gandhi’s ‘loincloth’ to the keffiyeh, clothes can often reflect far more than comfortable fashion. Khadi became a political statement in the Independence Movement, and the Kolhapuri chappal recently stirred a storm, evolving into a symbol of its own. For Kallol Datta, it might not seem surprising. The Kolkata-based textile designer and visual artist’s debut solo in Mumbai, Volume IV | Truths, Half-Truths, Half-Lies, Lies, unravels the stories of private and public dissent woven into textile.

The exhibition is a continuation of his long-running research. Datta explains in an email interaction, “It began as research into clothing practices native to regions across South West Asia and North Africa, South Asia, the Korean Peninsula and Japan — when forms were distilled to a template, the connections were undeniable. The Korean jeogori [upper garment of the traditional Korean attire of hanbok] to the Indian subcontinent’s angharakha, to the Persian chapkan.”

Poster 13, 2025 and Poster 18, 2025