Talking about it she says, "I wanted to make it feminine and softer, because tarpaulin sounds very industrial and manly. That being said, the flowers I have chosen are rose, lotus and lilies. "The project is not about coming and giving something from a point of privilege.Spearheaded by Aubrey Roemer, a professional artist and MFA candidate at Pratt Institute in New York, Tarpaulin Tapestries is an art project in collaboration with I was a Sari, a city-based organisation that upcycles old saris to provide livelihood to women."While Aubrey spent one and a half years conceptualising, researching, and streamlining her project, the workshops that she is conducting with the women artisans in Thane and Jogeshwari are proving out to be rewarding for her.

It is about people coming together to make stuff, share skills, and upcycling materials, and making art in a functional way," she concludes.The exhibition of the installions will be held at Piramal Musuem of Art from Decemer 18 to 31. It is also to give vegetation to areas that do not have splendid gardens.. However, changing that scenery, an ongoing art project called Tarpaulin Tapestries is adding vibrancy to these drab stretches of polyester. In particularly at one workshop, we had women of all faiths and ages, together, and everyone was working creatively and in peace.

"I teach them printing and painting, and they teach me embroidery and stitching, and China printing sofa fabrics Suppliers we work together. It felt very Utopian, in an otherwise dark global time for most of us," she shares. Talking about why she chose to pair tarpaulins with saris for this project, she says, "I usually use the fabrics of whatever specific community that I am working with.

Here, I am working with women using old saris and tarpaulin because I don’t think too many things speak about India better than tarpaulins and saris, especially in Mumbai. It is incredibly beautiful. "I just had this vision of a sea of tarps covered in embroidered saris like a sea filled with corals," she laughs.Aubrey is known internationally for her art collaborations with communities, using upcycled materials, particularly fabrics that would get thrown out otherwise. She further adds that these women are quick learners, efficient collaborators and hard workers.Despite finding fabric as a metaphor for human existence, Aubrey does not want her art to be politicised or fall in the purview of her trying to uplift the community.

Moreover in these art pieces, the Brooklyn based artist has incorporated the imagery of flora and fauna." She further adds that tarpaulin was her preferred choice of medium because not only do they represent something very close to the lower socio-economical demographics, but also in her art studios the blue tarpaulins play a significant role. Working with the women artisans from I was a Sari, Aubrey has produced tarpaulins layered with flower motifs made out of printing, cutting and sewing of old saris. Further, the multi-coloured slums of Asalpha and the patterned ceilings of kaali-peeli inspired her. It is about community collaboration across the cultures.The blue tarpaulins covering the rooftops of Mumbai’s ever-growing slums have become embedded in the landscape of the Maximum City, so much so that these tarpaulin rooftops are akin to the dirty-blue sea of Mumbai