Shamlu Dudeja is all set to celebrate her three-decade-long association with kantha. She picks some career milestones for t2...

• 1986: Three artisans take four plain silk saris from me back to their village in Santiniketan to try embellish them with kantha work. 

• 1987: A visit to the village gives me the vision of empowering the kantha artisans who are producing exquisite needlecraft but living in depleted conditions.

• 1989: Malika (daughter) helps develop kantha further, this time on salwar-kurta sets. With the support of Shirin Paul, Malika holds her first kantha exhibition at The Park. 

• 1990: Kantha travels to London. 

• 1991: I am invited to hold another exhibition at Commonwealth Institute. Kantha throws and stoles are a big hit. 

• 1992: Kantha goes to the US. 

• 1993: Another exhibition is organised at Gandhi Memorial Center (US). Malika’s Kantha Collection & Trading is registered. 

• 1994: As kantha’s popularity grows, we identify women team leaders to train artisans in their areas. 

• 1995: SHE (Self Help Enterprise) is formed to bring the community of scattered kantha artisans together. 

• 1996: Rohit Khosla designs kantha outfits and holds an exhibition at The Oberoi Grand!

• 1997: We take kantha to Tokyo.

• 1998: The upscale Chiswick (London) hosts an exhibition of kantha canopies, bed spreads and table linen. 

• 1999: The Nehru Centre, London, invites us for an exhibition. Kantha also enters the fashion hub of Europe: Paris, courtesy Dominique Boukris.

• 2001: SHE is invited to train prisoners in kantha craft in Chhattisgarh. 

• 2002: Governor Viren J. Shah orders kantha wall hangings for his office and some guest rooms in the Raj Bhavan. 

• 2003: We introduce bling to kantha textiles and showcase saris and wedding lehngas at Bridal Asia in Delhi. 

• 2005: We debut at the annual exhibition of the International Museum of Folk Arts, Santa Fe. This continues till date. 

• 2006: Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi decorates the large ballroom in Raj Bhavan with kantha panels. 

• 2010: We’re invited to the International Quilt Week in Yokohama, Japan, where kantha was the only hand-stitched quilt! 

• 2011: We celebrate the silver anniversary of our kantha revival initiative. 

• 2012: During her Calcutta visit, Hillary Clinton drops by our kantha stall set up at the Taj Bengal for her group. She buys a Tagore panel to gift chief minister Mamata Banerjee. 

• 2016: We gear up to celebrate 30 years of our work. On October 3, we will hold a fashion show of kantha work at ITC Sonar. An exhibition of kantha panels and garments will be on at the hotel on October 4 and 5, 11am-7pm.