The heirlooms in your closet

Growing up in a Gujarati household, I have seen the women of my family drape themselves in the choicest of Patola saris brought out for all religious ceremonies, festivals and weddings. I have one, passed down from my grandmother, which until recently lay wrapped away as an under-appreciated gift.

Earlier this year, a research assignment at the Asian Civilisations Museum (ACM) in Singapore gave me the opportunity to fully appreciate that forgotten Patola. There, a team of curators, led by Gauri Krishnan and David Henkel, the museum’s South Asia and South-East Asia experts, respectively, had been studying India’s textile exports, particularly those from Gujarat and the Coromandel Coast, for a large exhibition of Indian trade textiles. The exhibition, titled Patterns of Trade: Indian Textiles For Export, 1400–1900, opened at the ACM—one of Singapore’s four national museums—in November 2011 and will run until June 2012.

A girl from the Toraja tribe from Indonesia standing beside a locally made silk-screen imitation of Indian trade cloth.

The exhibition will showcase over 70 types of textile pieces exported from India to South-East Asia and Europe for over 500-600 years, until the 19th century. The textiles, which were acquired in 2009 from American collector Roger Hollander’s private collection, will be seen publicly for the first time. “Gauri and I saw the collection a year and a half before acquisition and we were both flabbergasted that such a collection was still available,” says Henkel. There are after all, he says, just half a dozen such collections around the world. “In the mid-17th century, an estimated 1.7 million textiles were being produced annually for trade. Today, though, only around 5,000 pieces made before the 19th century survive.”

The collection has a strong focus on the South-East Asian markets. “It has pieces that are representative of every era and from every production centre. It is a very thoughtful collection. Roger (Hollander) picked pieces that were not just attractive—he collected with an academic eye,” Henkel adds.

Apart from the heirloom Patolas, there will be block-printed cotton ceremonial cloths, some over 16ft wide, which were produced in Gujarat for Indonesian markets, where they were known locally as sarasa and ma’a cloths. One exceptional block-printed cotton piece features women holding parrots in one arm, in a style similar to that of Jain manuscript paintings. From the Coromandel Coast come the kain sembangis or skirt cloths produced for the Sumatran and Javanese markets, dodot skirt cloths for the Indonesian markets, and elaborate palampores for the European markets.

While the textiles promise to entice, the curatorial team has unearthed the stories behind their production, trade and use, and these are likely to be the most impressive aspect of the exhibition.

The Patola weavers of the Salvi family in Patan, Gujarat

Last year, the team travelled across India to document the ancient techniques and tools for weaving and pattern-making, which some families continue to use today. “In Gujarat, we met the Patola-wallahs in Patan and those who produce the single-Ikat variety in Rajkot,” says Henkel. “We also travelled down the Coromandel Coast through Masulipatnam, Chennai and Tindivanam to look at the remains of the Coromandel style in the present day painted and printed Kalamkari work.”

The Salvi family of Patan, for instance, claim to be the only surviving “true” Patola weavers who use the elaborate double-Ikat technique. They claim to repeat certain patterns only once in 150 years. And the natural vegetable dyes they use—turmeric, marigold flowers, onion skin, pomegranate bark and indigo—don’t fade. The Salvis take four-six months to make a sari, which are priced between $3,000-8,000 (around Rs. 1.44-3.84 lakh).

The team also studied historic sites such as the Sidi Sayed mosque in Ahmedabad, the Rani ki Vav stepwell in Patan and the Sun Temple in Modhera. “The motifs on these architectural sites often matched those used on textiles,” Henkel explains. Snippets from this documentary footage, as well as dye samples and tools, will be part of the immersive exhibition experience. The textiles have been dated using a dye-analysis technique that aids in carbon dating, revealing that the oldest piece in the collection was created in the mid-13th century.

Ceremonial heirloom hanging or ma’a, Gujarat, collected in Toraja, mid-15th-mid-17th century

Just as interesting as the production, is the story of the textiles’ appropriation into other cultures. Many cultures into which these pieces were imported preserved them as heirlooms of religious importance, believing that they were produced by their ancestors. These pieces have been especially well-preserved on the isolated Indonesian islands of Sulawesi and Sumatra. “I went to document a funeral ceremony of the Toraja community in Sulawesi, Indonesia. Traditionally, Indian trade cloths, known there as ma’a, were used as ornaments and display pieces for the funeral of aristocratic people. However, very few of the original trade cloths remain with the community now, but they continue to make new cloths that resemble the old ones,” Henkel recalls.

The exhibition fits within the larger narrative of India’s centuries-old textile trade. South-East Asia had lots of spices, but only roughly woven bark cloth. India produced the best quality, most dye-fast, brightly coloured and tightly woven smooth cloth. This facilitated a robust cloth for spice trade. The earliest evidence of textile trade from India has been found in El Fostat, Egypt—the 9th-15th century pieces there resemble those found in Indonesia. This important connection shows that Indian cloth was being traded all over the world as early as the ninth century.

Their textures and colours still vivid, the textiles that are being prepared for display at the ACM betray their age and provenance. They illustrate an old Gujarati saying, “Padi Patole bhaat, phate pan fitey nahin (your Patola may tear but it will never fade).”

Patterns of Trade: Indian Textiles For Export, 1400–1900 will run from 15 November 2011 until June 2012 at the Asian Civilisations Museum, Singapore. The writer was a research assistant at the museum from February-June 2011.

Photographs courtesy: Asian Civilisations Museum

http://www.livemint.com/2011/10/04200018/The-heirlooms-in-your-closet.html

Savita Apte on Learning and Mentoring for Arts Organisations

Savita Apte is an Art Historian specialising in Modern and Contemporary South Asian Art. She began her career in Sotheby’s where she was instrumental in founding the Sotheby Prize for Contemporary Indian Art. She is a director of Art Dubai, as well as a regular lecturer at the School of Oriental and Asian Studies (SOAS) and the Sotheby’s Institute.

What are the best personal strategies you have put in place to gain skills in your career?
The best strategy I have used is hands-on-learning, particularly from someone with a lot of experience in the area and that can act as a mentor. Those have been the most fruitful and memorable of my learning experiences.

How have you helped to develop those around you? Do you mentor and what value do you gain from that?
I went into mentoring without knowing it, and have developed deep relationships in the process. I supervise several research students and keep in touch with those I have mentored. They may sometimes correct the fallacies that I may develop over time and bring fresh and innovative ideas on board.

What role have you learnt from the most – the most challenging or the one that you have felt most out of your comfort zone?
Perhaps the most challenging role for me so far has been the one of a PhD student (Savita is a doctoral candidate with SOAS, studying modernism in Indian art). I have been out of the student mode for so many years. Particularly accessing electric journals and e-libraries is not something that is very easy for me. Some of my Master’s students have helped me navigate through these virtual references.

Do you feel the arts industry offers enough in the way of professional development?
The industry can perhaps offer more, it has so far been a contained industry, where galleries are handed down through families. However, these spaces are being reformed and renegotiated. Certainly auction houses, like Sotheby’s, are offering courses in arts management and arts business and there will be more development in the years to come. The industry can and should do more.

How different is the educational process when you are speaking to your students at SOAS or Sotheby’s versus the audience at Art Dubai’s educational program? What kind of programming has generated most interest at Art Dubai?
The student at SOAS is expecting more focused information and is much more receptive and critical of the information. When catering to a general audience, you have to provide all kinds of information and different levels of engagement. One-on-one conversations with the artists have generated the most interest. People were interested in understanding how the creative mind works and how that is translated into a visual medium.

More interviews for arts professionals at: www.artsinterview.com

Magnus Renfrew on Personality and Cultural Differences in an Arts Organisation

The Fair Director since the inception of ART HK, Magnus Renfrew has over a decade’s professional experience in the international art world. Before joining ART HK, Magnus was Head of Exhibitions for Contrasts Gallery in Shanghai. Previously Magnus was a London-based specialist with the auction house Bonhams. During his seven years there he was responsible for sourcing works internationally for Modern and Contemporary sales, as well as having been instrumental in bringing to fruition their first sale of Contemporary Asian Art in London.

How does cultural difference impact how you direct Art HK?
It affects the way you behave with people. My character is suited to work in Asia – I was brought up to respect people and to give people time. You need to physically give people time – have conversations, make them feel that they are important and valued. You need to develop personal relationships and friendships – business is based on how people get along and so it is important to set the ground for trust.
It becomes difficult to implement an international standard for selection (of galleries represented in the fair), because people assume that since they have a personal relationship with you, they have a better chance of getting in. And when they are not selected, they feel personally slighted.
You also have to deal with the intimidation factor – people often do not ask the question because they do not already have the answer. They do not want to ask the price because they do not want to lose face or look like they cannot afford it. We encourage galleries to be as forthcoming and un-intimidating as possible. And the fair also offers different levels of education through programming.

What is the difference in leading people in Asia vs. Europe?
We have a cross-cultural team and a flat management structure. We are not big into hierarchy and everyone’s role is equally important. It is a high pressure job, so you need to have a supportive environment. I am constantly travelling and so my work is often in parallel with the team in Hong Kong.
We also have a diverse advisory team that we use to seek introductions and build networks. It is important to have people who are respected in their own countries. Introductions are very important in Asia, so that you connect with the right people.
In China, it was quite difficult to manage people. Sometimes as a foreigner there can be resentment or questioning of your position. It becomes important to get an understanding of the culture and to gain people’s respect by working hard, rather than just bossing people around.

Is there a personality type in the arts? Is it different in administrative roles as compared to artists? Is personality a consideration when you are recruiting?
There are many stereotypes of the art world. The galleriests I have met have been demanding, intelligent, sensitive and have high expectations of themselves and others. In any organisation you need show horses and work horses. There are the ambassadors who win business and become the face of the organisation, versus those who are structured in their thinking. When recruiting, it is important for us to know how they will get along in the organisation. People here have to work as a team.

What is the personality of Art HK?
Humility – you are only as good as the last fair and the galleries that participate, so you take nothing for granted. Geographic diversity, accessibility and quality are defining characteristics of the fair.
We are an art fair that reflects and celebrates the diversity of the region. In the West, fairs are showing works to match the western aesthetic sensibility and have been slow to adapt to the changing world. Art means different things to different people and the purpose of art is not a universal concept. We want to be inclusive of the arts scene here, but not ghettoise it into ‘Asian art’. Artists do not want to be pigeon-holed as ‘Asian artists’.
Many other fairs in the region are run by local gallery associations or by people who are very powerful within the scene without having international credibility. They are not able to get international galleries that do not want to be seen next to galleries that are not the best in the region. We have broken that spell through the selection process and by getting galleries that are doing interesting things. We are balancing the flavour of the fair with 50% from Asia-Pacific and 50% from the rest of the world.

More interviews for arts professionals at: www.artsinterview.com

Russell Storer on Curatorial Collaborations

Russell Storer, alumni of COFA, UNSW, is Curator, Contemporary Asian Art, at Queensland Art Gallery (QAG). He has been working collaboratively to curate exhibitions such as the QAG’s Asia Pacific Triennial (APT) and the ongoing Singapore Biennale 2011. He was also visiting curator at Documenta 2, Kasel and Curatorial Comrade for the 2006 Biennale of Sydney. Among the exhibitions he curated in his previous role with the Museum of Contemporary Art Sydney, was Situation: Collaborations, collectives and artist networks from Sydney.

What was the experience of working across a geographically dispersed curatorial team for the Singapore Biennale 2011?
Working long-distance is a common situation for biennales today, with curators working from a home base as well as in the host city, often in tandem with others. It offers the possibility for new connections and to draw in different networks of knowledge, experience and information. It does of course also present major challenges in terms of time and communication. Fortunately Matthew (Ngui), Trevor (Smith) and I all knew each other and had worked with each other before, so we had an established understanding of each others’ approaches, and we shared points of reference. We communicated regularly via Skype and email, and every few months would come together in Singapore or Australia for intensive meetings. We also had a wonderful exhibition manager, Michelle Tan, who could co-ordinate with us and centralise information in Singapore, and we also had an online ‘cloud’ where we could share materials and documents.

For the APT too, you work with your curatorial team at the QAG as well as external curators. What were the challenges and benefits of working in this kind of collaborative environment?
The benefit of working collaboratively is that you expand your knowledge base, and shift the dynamic into a more discursive mode, rather than as a singular statement. There are benefits in that approach too, but I love the dialogue that takes place and appreciate the multiple perspectives that collaborative curating offers. In some instances, as in APT, external curators are essential if you are working in areas that are unfamiliar or inaccessible to gallery staff, where you cannot proceed without specialised knowledge and on-the-ground contacts. As with any relationship, there are negotiations and compromises to be made, which, depending on the spirit in which this is done, can be very productive, or can be very difficult, but fortunately I’ve only really had positive experiences so far!

What do you look for in a collaborative curator when embarking on such a project?
I think as with any collaboration, you look for the experience and knowledge that people offer, but what is also important is that they are people you can relate to and there is some kind of shared goal in mind. There may be different views on how to get there, and the goal posts may shift, but there needs to be a desire to develop something together that you can both contribute to and learn from.

The upcoming Sydney Biennale too, will for the first time, have a curatorial team, rather than an individual. Do you see collaboration, between artists, curators and institutions becoming increasingly important? \
That is true, although the 2000 Biennale did use a ‘curatorium’ of advisors/curators from around the world to develop the project. Artists and curators have been collaborating for decades, from early 20th-century avant-garde groups to the activist collectives of the 1970s and 1980s to the participatory projects of the 1990s and 2000s. There has been increased attention to and historicising of collaborative activity over the past decade, as well as expanding possibilities enabled by technology and new forms of organisation and production. With the enormous emphasis on the individual in society, and with the increased instrumentalisation of culture, the critical possibilities that collaborative work offers, in setting up alternative structures and approaches, will definitely continue to be significant into the future.

Any lessons learnt from your past collaborations—would you do anything differently the next time?
I see curatorial work as a constant process of learning, with each project teaching you so many new things. There are always aspects you might like to have done differently in hindsight, but that applies to everything in life I think! It’s important with collaborative projects to always be open and flexible, while having a clear sense of what you are trying to do. You can bring your experience to each new project, but there are always situations you have never encountered before, which makes it exciting and require you to think in new ways. Collaboration – with other curators, with artists, with audiences – is a significant way of developing these new ways of thinking.

More interviews for arts professionals at: www.artsinterview.com