New Delhi, March 14 -- For traditional crafts to survive, preserving them may not be enough-they may also need to be reimagined. That's the idea an ongoing exhibition in Delhi explores, using West Bengal's kantha embroidery to revive old textiles.

It starts with a five-foot-long painting, featuring the Tree of Life rendered in Telugu typography on cotton cloth. A signature at the bottom reveals it was handpainted in 2013 by kalamkari artist Jonnalagadda Niranjan. Look closer and you will notice that the painting has been "held together" by kantha. Two steps back, and the stitches melt into the painting.

"When we first got it from the owner, the fabric was in tatters," says Amit Vijaya, co-founder of design label Amrich Designs, who team...