Episode 15: Hema Shroff Patel - social entrepreneur / textile designer / founder of AMBA
Calling all art and textile lovers! My latest guest is the elegant and inspiring Hema Shroff Patel, who grew up in the American midwest, and (in her own words) was taken “kicking and screaming” to Bombay as a high schooler, a city which she came to love and finally call home. This was one of my favorite conversations - we talk about Hema’s love of the central Indian town of Maheshwar, weaving, Art Deco, Agnes Martin, and even the Indus Valley Civilization. It’s a long one, but stay tuned until the second half to hear some amazing recommendations on Bombay’s art and shopping scene, Hema’s picks from the Kochi Muziris Biennale, and of course, her favorite books!
Listen to the full episode below or on iTunes here.
Photo credit: Sana Javeri Kadri
“Dancing Girl” Indus Valley Collection by Amba; Photo of Ekta Rajani by Hashim Badani
SHOWNOTES FOR EPISODE 15:
Amba on Instagram and Facebook where you can connect with Hema
Don’t miss a beautiful look inside Hema’s Art Deco home in Bombay’s Malabar Hill in House & Garden magazine UK - spotted Seema Krish textiles on Hema’s chairs (Seema was my gracious guest on Ep. 9) and some lovely photos of Hema with Sally Holkar and the Amba team in Maheshwar.
Learn more about all the incredible art, textiles, and places we discussed below:
Ahilya Fort in Maheshwar, home of the Holkar family, part of which they now run as a hotel
The Agnes Martin exhibition at the Guggenheim New York that inspired Hema’s previous collection
Fiona Caulfield’s brilliant Love Travel Guides
Artist William Kentridge at Kochi and at Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner museum
Artist and writer Shubigi Rao
Hema’s friend and artist Lisa Barsumian
The exhibition at the Prince of Wales / CSMVS Mumbai India and the World: a History in 9 stories a collaboration with the British Museum and the National Museum, Delhi. Exhibition catalogue is here.
Stylist Ekta Rajani who styled and modeled Amba’s Indus Valley Collection
Bombay picks:
Books!
Books by the illustrator Maira Kalman
The Secret Lives of Color by Kassia St. Clair
The Golden Thread: How Fabric Changed History by Kassia St. Clair
Early Indians : The Story of Our Ancestors and Where We Came From by Tony Joseph
Louise Nicholson’s India Companion
Follow us on Instagram for more on Hema and the places, events and work we discussed in this episode!
Special thanks to Mohit Shandilya & Rajat Upadhyay @ Flying Carpet Productions for audio post-production engineering!
At the loom in Maheshwar. From L to R: Wasim, his father Bashir, weaver Bhayyu, Hema and Darshana.
