This afternoon I went to Gallery Ragini in Lado Sarai to see the work of Sinhalese architect Tilak Samarawickrema. ‘Not just a doodle’, curated by Ina Puri, had on display drawings, animations and textile wall hangings by the octogenarian. It was the textiles that dominated the gallery space and occupied my attention too.
I was fascinated by the complexity of patterns achieved by an extra weft effect. Even though embroidery and crochet dominate my own art practice, I trained as a weaver and it’s still something that fascinates me. The technique is a traditional Sinhalese weaving style called the Dumbara that utilises the floating extra weft to create geometric patterns.
Samarawickrema spent over a decade in Milan l, Italy, and one can see the lines of vintage Georgetti chairs, the interior designs of Jose Colombo and knits by Missoni all come together in Samarawickrema’s textiles, taking the Dumbara weave to another level. Some works are dated 1990’s and some more recent were made in 2012.
Front view 
Back view
I had seen some of his textile pieces displayed at The Abraham and Thakore showroom in Defence Colony, earlier this year as part of The India Art Fair 2025. These were different but within the same parameters of the show at Gallery Ragini. At A&T, the effect was striking for it went well with their minimalist style of furnishings and was tastefully displayed.
At the exhibition in Lado Sarai I got to see the weaving up-close and marvelled at the complexity, the skill and patience of the maker. And wish he/she/they had been named and that we could have seen some images of them at work. In India, we are familiar with extra weft effects as used in Jamdani and Banaras Brocades, but I had never seen it on this scale and the intricate mix of multi hued wefts in one woof.
Front
Back I’ve shown the back of some of the woven pieces because that really brings out the intricacy of the weave, despite the heavy wefts.
Do go take a look. It’s on for a month. I would strong recommend it for all textile buffs, especially students.
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