An ongoing exhibition at Mumbai's Bhau Daji Lad Museum celebrates women through embroidery.
As we wait, with much anticipation for the ongoing restoration of Mumbai’s historic Dr Bhau Daji Lad Museum (BDLM), to conclude, there is still plenty of reason to visit BDLM. While the museum has been closed for two long years, a Special Project space at the museum continues to provide the ardent art enthusiast the opportunity to view and appreciate art.
I was delighted to attend the preview of artist Alamu Kumaresan’s exhibition at BDLM over the weekend. In association with Anupa Mehta Contemporary Art, ‘All Those who Touched my Life’ is a celebration of community, bringing together traditional embroidery techniques and contemporary art in a seamless manner.
Kumaresan began the exhibition walkthrough by sharing anecdotes on the women who have influenced her art practice and life. This was interesting to hear as there certainly seems to be a global rise in shows celebrating women. Be it female artists representing India at global art fairs, exhibitions giving the due to icons such as Naomi Campbell at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London or even the fascinating manner by which Taylor Swift is boosting the economy of country’s with her music concerts.
‘All Those who Touched my Life’ is testimony to Kumaresan’s deep regard andrespect for the women in her life. Having completed her Masters from Government College of Fine Arts, Kumaresan began working in a school as an art facilitator. While teaching her students, she began to recall her childhood memories.
As a young child, she would observe her mother and grandmother curiously, using thread and needle. In their robust company she went on to learn how to practice various types of embroidery, experiment with intricate stitches and a variety of materials. These deeply embedded memories of stitching with the women of her house, inspired her to bring the craft into her artistic oeuvre, celebrating her family heritage from Karaikudi, Chettinad, in Tamil Nadu.
Nine paintings adorn the walls of BDLM’s special project space up until September 2. Each piece of art gives us an insight into the artist, as she gives meaning to the mundane. Be it the work where she makes the women she admires the central characters or even art where she has embroidered and woven her natural surroundings.
One of the works that particularly stole my attention is a painting where she has embroidered and woven a pattern on repeat. This pattern can be attributed to the veins of our body, the branches of a tree or even the tributaries of a river. Highlighting the interconnectedness of all living things, she provokes the viewer to raise questions on borders and boundaries, divides and disparities. The complexities of these, almost aligning with the stitches of her paintings.
Artists globally are experimenting with bringing their local arts into a contemporary setting. Perhaps this is a natural evolution for the craft, design as well as the role of women as celebrated artists. The paradigm has shifted from a time where women practiced local embroidery from the confinements of their homes and were never acknowledged for their skills. Laborious, time-consuming techniques, which were used to create clothes for family members or utilitarian items for family homes.
Each nook and region of the world has an art form, practiced by the women of the house and used at a certain time in history to decorate the house, making it a home. Beaded and hand-embroidered wall hangings, woven tapestries, the list is endless. There now lies an opportunity to reclaim this cultural practice and heritage as a dignified profession. There are a number of such artists in India now, incorporating traditional craft practices into their contemporary art pieces.
For me what stands out with Kumaresan’s solo exhibition, is the pedestal she puts each woman who has inspired her on. The interconnected nature from her inheriting the practice of embroidery from her grandmother and mother to the main characters of her art, her friends and family, who are woven to life, as the muse of her art.
Women often neglect themselves, giving more importance to the people around them. Alamu Kumaresan’s art is a gentle reminder to celebrate the women stalwarts in your life.