Nelly Homi Sethna was an Indian weaver, textile designer, researcher, writer and a crafts activist.
13 Facts About Nelly Sethna
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Nelly Sethna worked on the crossroads of Scandinavian modernism and Indian crafts tradition, which shaped her guiding philosophy.
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Nelly Sethna had joined the commercial arts department at Sir JJ School of Art in Bombay.
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Nelly Sethna first met Marianne Strengell, Artist-in-Residence and Head of Weaving at Cranbrook Academy of Art, at a hotel in Mumbai.
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Under the apprenticeship of Strengell, Nelly Sethna learned to create 'self-made' products which were based on the principles of the Nordic sloyd system.
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Nelly Sethna's training involved experimentation with several techniques and put an emphasis on problem solving.
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Nelly Sethna continued to correspond with Strengell in the subsequent years, during which she expressed her gratitude about the opportunity to study at the academy.
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In 1966, Nelly Sethna was invited to Ahmedabad by Gira Sarabhai, the co-founder of the National Institute of Design.
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Sometime around in 1970, Nelly Sethna had visited Masulipatnam to view the Kalamkari textiles being produced there.
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Nelly Sethna found that the present works lacked the exquisite quality of the pieces produced in the ancient tradition.
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Nelly Sethna played an instrumental role in the revival of this craft by creating new design layouts that appealed to the contemporary audience.
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Nelly Sethna unearthed beautiful hand-carved traditional kalamkari blocks that had fallen into disuse.
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In 1985, Nelly Sethna was awarded Padma Shri by the Indian government for her contributions to trade and industry.