The Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, which is the Vatican Library, where centuries of knowledge is preserved, is playing host to En Route, a groundbreaking artistic exchange which weaves the past and present together through textile craftsmanship. This ambitious exhibition, running until December 20, 2025, is the result of a collaboration between Maria Grazia Chiuri, Creative Director of Dior’s women’s collections, and Karishma Swali, Founder of the Chanakya School of Craft. Together, they explore the universality of handcraft and its ability to connect cultures across time and geography.
Through extensive research at the Vatican Library, home to one of the world’s largest collections of manuscripts and artifacts, Ms. Swali unearthed stories of global exchange and artistic influence. Their discoveries led to a series of textile abstractions, five intricate maps and two handcrafted globes.
It pays tribute to six extraordinary women: Elizabeth Bisland Wetmore, Annie Cohen Kopchovsky, Elizabeth Cochrane (known as Nellie Bly), Gertrude Bell, Agnes Smith Lewis, and Margaret Dunlop Gibson, whose journeys defied societal norms. Their travels, chronicled in the Vatican’s archives, inspired the five embroidered maps titled In Viaggio (En Route). Delicate layers of dried linen and hemp yarn recreate their routes, while contemporary needlepoint stitches add depth, evoking the fragility of ancient parchment.
One standout piece, Femininity, the Trap, reinterprets a 1947 article by Simone de Beauvoir, overlaying a corset’s silhouette onto a map. It pays homage to Annie Kopchovsky, the first woman to cycle around the world, who famously shed her corset in favor of trousers, a symbolic act of defiance and autonomy.
The first of the two globes, Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam – Sanskrit for “The world is one family”- is a rotating showcase of 88 traditional textile techniques. From India’s Kantha, Phulkari, Zari, Batik, Punto Antico, and Zardozi embroidery to Japan’s Shibori dyeing and France’s Alençon lace, the globe highlights how distinct cultures have preserved and innovated their craft traditions.
Explaining the artworks, Ms. Swali said, “En Route is a celebration of the universal language of craft—a reflection of courage, creativity, and stories that transcend borders. Each piece embodies the extraordinary skill and dedication of our artisans, whose work brings these narratives to life, forging connections that unite us across time and culture.”
The second, Antrik Vishwa (Inner Universe), reflects the ethos of the Chanakya School of Craft, founded by Ms. Swali in 2016 to empower women artisans. The handcrafted surface features evocative landscapes stitched by female graduates of the school, intimate portrayals of their homes, temples, and natural surroundings. These women, many of whom have never traveled beyond their communities, have poured their personal narratives into their craft, turning textile into a form of storytelling.
En Route also highlights the deep interconnections between textile traditions worldwide. Ikat weaving in India, for instance, shares striking similarities with Japan’s Kasuri technique. Block printing in India finds echoes in France’s Toile de Jouy and Turkish textiles, while Peru’s backstrap weaving reveals geometric affinities with Ladakh’s Thags-cha weaving.
Ms. Swali added, “I am deeply grateful to His Holiness Pope Francis and Don Giacomo for the opportunity to explore the archives of the Vatican Library, and to Maria Grazia Chiuri, my mentor, for her unwavering guidance and inspiration throughout this journey.”
The Chanakya School of Craft collaborated with Italian artist Jovanotti to create three torans, traditional Indian door hangings, for the Vatican Library. The central piece reflects Jovanotti’s travels, while Taal I and Taal II draw from ancient musical notations preserved in the Vatican Library. Adorned with ghungroos, bells, and traditional Indian instrument symbols, the torans highlight the universal connection between music and craft. These, along with the En Route exhibition, will be displayed at the Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana for a year.
Curated by Don Giacomo Cardinali, Simona De Crescenzo, Francesca Giannetto, and Delio V. Proverbio, En Route is accompanied by a catalog featuring essays by Maria Alicata, Paola Ugolini and Chiara Valerio, among others.
This pathbreaking exhibition offers a reminder that true exchange is often found in the tangible, stitched into fabric, mapped onto parchment, and carried through generations.
