HYDERABAD
Tales Below the Heels, a three-day national seminar and exhibition exploring India’s footwear heritage, was inaugurated by Governor Jishnu Dev Varma at the Footwear Design and Development Institute (FDDI) in Hyderabad on Friday.
He said that traditional scholarship often concentrates on sculptures, monuments and iconography, while overlooking the footwear worn by historical figures. “We study the posture, ornaments, and the symbolism of our sculptures, but we rarely pause to notice what lies below the heels,” he said. “This exhibition fills that gap and brings to light a dimension of our cultural heritage that has been hidden in plain sight,” he said in his inaugural address.
Highlighting its wider potential, the Governor suggested that Tales Below the Heels be developed into a travelling exhibition, allowing more people across the country to engage with the stories and history embedded in footwear as everyday yet culturally significant objects.
The seminar and exhibition have been jointly organised by the Footwear Design and Development Institute and Pleach India Foundation.
Published – November 28, 2025 11:42 pm IST
