Martand Singh (textile conservator)

Martand Singh
Born10 February 1947
Died25 April 2017(2017-04-25) (aged 70)
NationalityIndian
EducationThe Doon School
St. Stephen's College, Delhi
Known forTextile conservation, Conservation of Indian arts and crafts
RelativesSita Devi, Maharani of Kapurthala (mother)
Jagatjit Singh (grandfather)
AwardsPadma Bhushan

Martand "Mapu" Singh (10 February 1947 – 25 April 2017) was an Indian textile conservator, curator, and cultural historian who championed the revival of traditional Indian textiles, weaving and dyeing traditions. He served as the director of Calico Museum of Textiles in Ahmedabad and was one of the founder members, and former head, of Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH).[1][2] He was a trustee of the Mehrangarh Museum in Jodhpur.[3]

Singh has been described as India's "best-known textile revivalist".[4] In a 1997 interview in The New York Times, Singh said about the Indian crafts community: "People assume that we will always have these craftspeople, but at the current rate of change, these skills may soon be a thing of the past."[5]

  1. ^ Aatish Taseer (16 February 2018). "Martand Singh revisited". Livemint.com. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
  2. ^ Trebay, Guy (21 November 2004). "Fine Crafts in India Go the Way of Fairy Soap". The New York Times – via NYTimes.com.
  3. ^ Sharma, Komal (12 May 2017). "Martand Singh: The man who gave us Vishwakarma". Livemint.
  4. ^ "Weaving a Legacy". 21 February 2018.
  5. ^ Trebay, Guy (27 April 1997). "Losing the Thread". The New York Times – via NYTimes.com.