Making Kalamkari Textiles: Artisans and Agency in Coromandel, India
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MAKING KALAMKARI TEXTILES: ARTISANS AND AGENCY IN COROMANDEL, INDIA by SENGUPTA RAJARSHI A DISSERTATION SUBM ITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF P HILOS OPHY in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE AND POSTDOCTORAL STUDIES (Art Hi stor y and Theory) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Vancouver) December 2019 © S ENGUP TA RAJARSHI, 2019 The following individuals certify that they have read, and recommend to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies for acceptance, the dissertation entitled: Making Kalamkari Textiles: Artisans and Agency in Coromandel, India submitted by Sengupta Rajarshi in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy In Art History and Theory Examining Committee: Prof. Katherine Hacker Supervisor Prof. T’ai Smith Supervisory Committee Member Prof. Saygin Salgirli Supervisory Committee Member Prof. Maureen Ryan University Examiner Prof. Anne Murphy University Examiner ii Abstract This study sheds light on the undertheorized histories of artisan communities on the Coromandel region of southeastern India who were responsible for producing masterfully crafted dyed, painted and printed cottons during the early modern era. The textiles from these workshops are known as kalamkari (literally ‘pen work’) and were integral components of the early modern trade networks connecting India with other parts of Asia and Europe. Subsequently, these fabrics were collected and documented by the leading museums and institutions in India and the world. Kalamkaris have been regularly included in major exhibitions globally since 1970. However, a critical assessment of the agency of these textile makers was largely absent in the studies. What are the possible ways to reconstruct the agency of these textile makers whose practice thrived leaving hardly any trace but the textiles? Recent scholarship has provided methodological tools to identify the multiplicity of historical accounts and the ephemeral histories of the Deccan. My thesis expands the parameters of these approaches by foregrounding the multifaceted practice of the contemporary kalamkari makers. My sustained engagement with block makers of Pedana, dyers in Polavaram and Hyderabad, and other artisans of the Coromandel has informed my understanding of agency. I have repeatedly referred to a set of early modern and contemporary kalamkari fabrics from Indian museum collections to further my argument. Building on a rich corpus of interdisciplinary scholarship, fieldwork, and object analysis, I theorize “agency” as a fluid rather than fixed notion that embodies a series of complex interactions between the textile makers and their surroundings. Through repeating the intangible bodily practice of their masters and ancestors, the textile makers produce, sustain, and transform craft making. I emphasize that kalamkari making is the practice of continuously reconfiguring artisanal subject position by signaling the entanglement of agency and bodily actions—the repository of historically informed knowledge of the craftspeople. This exploration contributes to the ongoing scholarly discussions on the early modern cosmopolitanism, sensorial aspects of material culture, and embodied histories of the marginalized craftspeople. iii Lay Summary The early modern dyed, painted, and printed textiles (also called kalamkari) from the Coromandel region of southeastern India remain one of the most widely studied South Asian textiles across the world. Collaboratively produced by the communities of dyers, block makers, painters, and printers, the kalamkari textiles have strengthened our understanding of early modern oceanic trade, cultural exchange, and cosmopolitanism. However, the contribution of the artisans remained underrepresented in the scholarship due to the lack of evidential records on their livelihood. This thesis focuses on retrieving the suppressed accounts of the artisanal past and recognize their integrity. I approach this problem by prioritizing alternative modes of memorizing the past—through oral narratives and bodily actions of textile making, also explored in the recent scholarship. My study recognizes the cruciality of bringing the active presence of contemporary artisans into this investigation to reconstruct the agency of the historical kalamkari makers. iv Preface This dissertation is the original and independent work by the author, Rajarshi Sengupta. The fieldwork reported in this thesis was covered by UBC Ethics Certificate (subject: H15-00908). Three peer-reviewed essays were published based on the material presented in this thesis: “Many Gatherings: Cosmopolitan World of a Golconda Coverlet,” Journal18, vol. East-Southeast (2017) drew on the analysis of the Golconda Coverlet furnished in Chapter 3; examination of the craft tools from Chapter 1 and Chapter 3 contributed to “An Artisanal History of Kalam?” Journal of Textile Design Research and Practice 7, no. 1 (2019): 25-37; “Performing Histories: Enduring Dyes and Waterways in Artisanal Lives,” Journal of Textile Design Research and Practice (2019), DOI: 10.1080/20511787.2019.1648992, is a concise version of my argument in Chapter 2. v Table of Contents Abstract.....................................................................................................................................iii Lay Summary ...........................................................................................................................iv Preface ......................................................................................................................................v Table of Contents .....................................................................................................................vi List of Figures ........................................................................................................................viii Acknowledgements..................................................................................................................xv Dedication ..............................................................................................................................xvi Introduction ………..…………………………………………………………………….........1 The Sites, Trade, and Historical Textiles …...………………………………………...9 Contemporary Practitioners…..……………………………………………………...18 Scholarship on Indian Crafts and Coromandel Textiles in the Twentieth Century and Beyond.……………………………………………………….............................23 Chapter Division.………………………………………………………………….....30 Chapter 1. Mark of the Makers: Agency, Identity, and Bodily Practice …………..………..33 Defining Agency of the Dyed Textile Makers……..……………………..……...…..34 On Regional, Collective, and Individual Identity……...……..………………...……44 Agency and Bodily Practice………..……………………………………………..…55 Conclusions...………………………………………………………………………...61 Chapter 2. “People Here Think Differently Because of the Water”: Place and Localized Knowledge………………….………………..……................................................................62 Chaya Roots and the Brilliant Red of Coromandel.…………………...………...…..66 In-between Land and the Sea: The Coastal Zone and Communities………...…...….72 Of Water, Salt, Dyes, and Waterways ……………………..…….………………….76 Conclusions ……………………...………………………………………………......90 Chapter 3. Repetitive Actions and Mimetic Practices: Approaching Early Modern Imagery through Contemporary Block Making………………………..…………………………...…92 Mimetic Transmissions and Artisanal Decisions…………...……...……………….101 From Transmissions to the Synthesis of Knowledge…………………...…………..111 From References to Repositories: the Sampada………………..……………….….118 Conclusions ………………………………..….…………………………………....122 vi Chapter 4: Imprints of Time: On Layered Temporalities of Kalamkari Making ………….124 Temporality and Textile Making………………….....……………………………..131 Multiple Ways to Perceive: Transformations and Continuity in Textile Making.…143 Conclusions..…..……………………….…………………………………………..152 Conclusion: Research-Practice Interface as Methodology…………………….……...…....154 Figures………………………………………….………………………………………..…160 Bibliography ……………………………………………………………………….………226 vii List of Figures All photographs are by the author unless otherwise noted. Figure 0.1: Qanat or Tent with Five Panels, Deccan, mid-17th century, dyed and painted cotton, 451x223 cm, National Museum, New Delhi, A/c: 48.7/29. Image courtesy: National Museum, New Delhi…………………………………………………………………….….160 Figure 0.2: Map showing southern India, the rivers, and the centers of dyed, painted, and printed textiles. Rajarshi Sengupta, 2019………………………………………………..…161 Figure 0.3: View of the fishing port, Machilipatnam, 2012…………………………..……162 Figure 0.4: Fabrics being processed for printing, Pedana, 2015……………………………162 Figure 0.5: View of Polavaram, 2015……………………………………………………....163 Figure 0.6: View of a Dutch cemetery, 16th century, Pulicut………………………....……163 Figure 0.7: View of Srikalahasteesvara Temple and river Svarnamukhi, Srikalahasti….…164 Figure 0.8: Veerabhadraswamy Temple Complex, Lepakshi…………………………..….164 Figure 0.9: Ceiling mural at the Veerabhadraswamy Temple showing a group of Vijayanagara courtiers, 16th century, Lepakshi………………………………………..…...165 Figure 0.10: Yali by the staircase of the Krishna Temple, 16th century, Hampi…………....165 Figure 0.11: Kondra Gangadhar at work, Pedana, 2015………………………………..…..166 0.12: Kondra Narsaiah at work, Pedana, 2015………………………………………..……166 Figure 0.13: Mukkantieswarudu Rao in his workshop, Polavaram, 2015……………..…...167 Figure 0.14: The storehouse of wood blocks in Mukkantieswarudu Rao’s