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POWER CLOTHS OF THE COMMONWEALTH RMIT Victoria The Place To Be GALLERY Crafts Museum New Delhi India Australian Government 26 September -20 October ano Catalogue of Works A I C ARTS Government of South Australia Arts SA Dep ot of Fon¼o AffsInandt Trade VICTORIA 8 POWER CLOTHS Ls": St,'• -------- _ _ _ OF THE COMMONWEALTH m g Crafts Museum, New Delhi, India -,..- .-,....n.....-.: "C7 25 September —20 October 2010 -- rtr 'ft -t; - ; --- --- --- -4: T _ Curators: Suzanne Davies and jasleen Dhamija 0 ' • O.' NA, .0-•:\14<i ti . f ...,‘ \ .s4414. Presented in partnership by RMIT Gallery, 1rT 011% and the Crafts Museum, New Delhi, India. ___ ‘74..!oi"“ -s i ..i. Exhibition Advisory Committee, Delhi: 1. ..71 1‘,-) °•4# ‘.....7 • Not till ri .,,,, 40. Dr Ruchira Chose, Chairman, Crafts Museum; ProfessorJasleen Dharnija; Mr Ashok Dhawan; Mr Sudhakar Rao and Mrs Anita Saran --4•047 t Iv, \ • ' fa'N,\ • 4: ''llist, d .••••,, Research Assistant to Jasleen Dhamija: Ms Paroma Ghose k , i , ' vo, Exhibition Installation: Black Lines (4 '4, 1 RMIT GALLERY, MELBOURNE Director: Suzanne Davies Executive Assistant to Suzanne Davies: Vanessa Gerrans Exhibition Coordinator: Helen Rayment Conservators: Debra Spoehr and Sharon Towns Project Administration: Jon Buckingham ear 0 0 1\0 ' CRAFTS MUSEUM, NEW DELHI Chairman: Dr Ruchira Ghose Deputy Director: Dr Mushtalc Than e ri Deputy Director: Dr Chart; Sculta Gupta Mr S Ansari, Mr Bhittilal, Mrs S P Grover, Mr R L Karna, Mr MC Kaushik, Mr B B Meher, Mr Sahib Ram, Mr Nawab Singh, Mr Rajendra Singh, Mr Sunderlal Public Program: Ms Rim Sethi and Professor Vandana Bhandari (symposium) THIS EXHIBITION HAS BEEN KINDLY SUPPORTED BY The Australian Government through the Australia International Cultural Council, an initiative of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade; The Australia-India Council; The High Commission of Canada; Indian High Commission Trinidad and Tobago, Powerloom ,••r • eie.• • •..7 --- ----- v iv.••• •••"V TTLV V:ih/rVitV • V , Development and Export Promotion Council; The High Commission r ',MTV ••• V•i i \;•Iv \ri 'y ------ • t t ,n4p. o .SZ. .r ›6 6 0 of Ghana; The High Commission of Malaysia; RMIT University; t .1:Ctt t in W., ;;: ;, e• lilt if; !fa ca. ; ; Zn" 4;j. 1H4., esn The Victorian State Government. Professor Kay Lawrence AM, ‘itcepo.', 449 jr.',..„-b6 J cst supported by Government of South Australia, Arts SA, and the University of South Australia. f A A A hjA A -3 1-6; ern IA 4A, A AAA At. tit 'A. 'fr- •--A -nal'.3 3 3 A. A A -= KAU) .4-1.1).* A 6 .O. The Place To Be The Commonwealth Games zoio will provide an unique opportunity to Victoria and India enjoy a longstanding relationship based on mutual respect showcase vignettes of our cultural traditions to visitors from 74 countries. and common interests, and supported by the presence of a large and vibrant The exhibition of textiles from the Commonwealth countries, being organized Indian community in our state. by RMIT Gallery, Melbourne, and Crafts Museum, Government of India, titled Power Cloths of the Commonwealth, should be a captivating event. Victoria has built its fortune on our people — using their skills, knowledge and capabilities to establish dynamic and internationally-focused industries, Textile embodies the cultural ethos of a society, its ethnic identity and its creative supported by high levels of investment in science and technology, education expression. It is also an effective symbol of the philosophy and socio-political and innovation. history of the society. The exhibition brings together the variety and wealth of creative expression that finds shape in a basic material need of humanity. Nearly one quarter of Victorians were born overseas and more than 43 per cent have a parent who was born overseas. Victorians come from more than 200 The exhibition will be inaugurated on Sunday 26 September zoio at the Crafts countries and speak over 230 languages and dialects. Victoria's thriving Indian Museum, New Delhi. The Government of India and the Government of Australia, community is nearly 300 000 strong and has been vital in creating personal, State of Victoria and the High Commissions of many countries have contributed business and community connections between India and Victoria — connections significantly to this exhibition. that have led to cutting-edge collaborations in science and technology, exciting arts and cultural exchanges, and new investment and trade opportunities. I wish this special exhibition all success. Power Cloths of the Commonwealth had its creative beginnings in the Cultural Programme for the Melbourne Commonwealth Games in zoo6. It is a pleasure Sheila Dikshit that the handover State of Victoria, through creative partnerships, is able to share CHIEF MINISTER OF DELHI,INDIA in the spirit of the XIX Commonwealth Games, Delhi. In partnership with our host the Crafts Museum, the Australian International Cultural Council, the Australia-India Council, RMIT University, we are delighted to present this contribution to the enjoyment and success of the XIX Commonwealth Games, Delhi. John Brumby PREMIER OF VICTORIA Jacinta Allan MINISTER FOR INDUSTRY & TRADE POWER CLOTHS OF THE COMMONWEALTH ZAMBIA These are the times when the origins and UNITED KINGDOM SIERRA LEONE history of the tribe are recited in the form Makishi Masquerade mask and costume Textiles and power have many intriguing cultural and political of epic poems by the royal soothsayer. The VR Gloyes,1897, as worn by Queen Victoria. Shaman (Sierra Leone). Wood, fibre worked in macrame Makishi embody the mythical heroes and Pair of black gloves embroidered in chain Photograph: Dave Tacon. connotations. Three distinctive but not mutually exclusive notions Mask: 138 x 34 Cm perform their legendary skills and deeds. stitch with VR for Victoria Regina and a so x Sz cm Body: 1.2 crown, celebrating the monarch's Diamond RMIT Gallery Collection, of power are at play, including power implied as a consequence of the The masks are made of a wicker structure political significance of the wearer: for example, the distinctive dress Jubilee (So year reign). Melbourne, Australia Makishi: Masks from Zambia covered with tree-bark, although nowadays 32.5 x 8.3cm cloth is also common, moulding and choices of major political figures such as Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal The tradition of the Makishi masquerade Collection: Meg Andrews, London. Wielding a sword in the battle depicting the distinctive features of each Nehru, Kwame Nkrumah, Nelson Mandela or Queen Victoria. is original of the Luvale, Chokwe and the www.meg-andrews.com against AIDS character. The mask is then plastered and Mbunda people in the North Western The British Empire reached its peak of painted or decorated with pieces of white Sierra Leone, along with other West African provinces of Zambia, although the power during the reign of Queen Victoria Of particular note, from a private collection in Edinburgh, Scotland and paper and red cloth. These colours have countries such as Benin and Senegal, is said migration towards urban areas has The formation of the Commonwealth of never before exhibited, is the khadi blanket gifted to Reginald Reynolds symbolic meanings, the red being the to be one of the birthplaces of voodoo, which contributed to the diffusion of makishi Countries emerged out of the recognition blood of circumcision and menstruation, was taken to America and the West Indies by Mahatma Gandhi at his ashram at Sabarmati in 1929. Reynolds was traditions beyond the region traditionally of a common legacy after liberation. Many signifying suffering but also life. White by the unfortunate souls captured by slave appointed by Gandhi to deliver the Ultimatum to the British Viceroy occupied by these tribes. Makishi has been of the countries brought into the Empire stands for purity, black for death. Animal traders. recently declared Masterpieces of the Oral during colonial expansion shared similar explaining the reasons for the revolt against British rule. fur, bark fibres and natural dyes are used to and Intangible Heritage of Humanity by administrative infrastructure introduced According to the United Nations, Sierra decorate the makishi masks and costumes. Power may also arise from the spiritual or mystical status of the garment UNESCO. by the British, such as a broad civil service Leone is the poorest nation in the world. It Distinctive of the is struggling to recover from one of the most The Makishi (singular: Likishn, through the Chikuza, the mask and an education system based on the use or cloth. Such powers may be embodied in the configuration of particular presented here, is the long, conical headgear. of English. The principles binding member brutal conflicts of the zoth century. On top forms/shapes/images such as in the shaman's wrapper from the Than, mask and the costume, are the reincarnation of grinding poverty and the scars of a ten- of the ancestors who rise from the He is a fairly benign spirit who "acts as master countries of the Commonwealth still alive of ceremonies during year war, the spectre of AIDS looms. Malaysia, or the head hunters' shawl. graveyards and come back from the spirit mukanda and supervises today are a sense of common colonial world among the living during important the work of circumcising the tundanji history, governance based on democratic Apart from patriarchal traditions, one of Ritually powerful cloths are further represented by the spectacular social and cultural events. (young candidates)", "it favours fertility and values, the desire for peace, liberty of the the biggest stumbling blocks to curbing hunting". Yoruba masquerade costumes, the Egzingan masks. The Makishi Chi/cure thus combines powerful individual and equality of all races. the spread of HIV is scepticism of Western The ancestral spirits are central to the functions and is most important. Among medicine. Evil spirits have long been accepted masquerade masks of Zambia also embody powerful ancestral spirits.
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