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Mapping a Liminal: Nurturing of Kantha Into Contemporary Art

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Mapping a Liminal: Nurturing of Kantha Into Contemporary Art MAPPING A LIMINAL: NURTURING OF KANTHA INTO CONTEMPORARY ART. Natasha Narain Bachelor of Fine Arts (Honours) Kala Bhawan, Viswa Bharati University, India. Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Fine Arts Creative Industries Faculty Queensland University of Technology, Australia. 2017 3 Keywords • Automatic drawing, catharsis, connection, conflict, complex and hybrid identity, goddesses, interdisciplinary, kantha, material culture, memory, making a place, painting, portability, reconfigure, reflexive, reparation, restitution, sacred, South Asia, touch, transnational feminism, transcultural, tradition, textile, transformation. 4 Abstract Kantha emerged as an embroidery and textile-based personal storytelling craft, anchored in women's experiences in undivided Bengal. Historical events and the increased complexities of a globalised world have altered the nature of kantha. This research examines different approaches that revitalise this tradition in contemporary practice. My project set out to discover how the conceptual and formal strategy of kantha could be reinterpreted through contemporary art in a way that acknowledges history and the trauma and loss involved. It does this through creative practice where kantha techniques are applied to different media and presented as a contemporary art installation, to reveal how a polyphonous reconnection with the past may be possible. This creative research is then contextualised within the practices of a number of contemporary artists who have integrated local and/or culturally specific motifs, metaphors, media and techniques into their art practices as a way to consider broader humanitarian issues and themes of cultural and environmental loss as seen through the lens of personal experience. What I discovered is that rather than simply providing a replication of kantha, this approach offers a self-reflexive solution that permits hybridised cultural complexity and a portable method of making place. Using kantha as the basis for my research design allows singular works to be interrelated and layered to offer open-ended meanings at the interstices between the personal and the mythical, across cultural and geo- political boundaries. 5 Table of Contents Keywords ..................................................................................................................................3 Table of Contents ......................................................................................................................5 List of Images ..............................................................................................................6 Statement of Original Authorship .............................................................................................9 Acknowledgements ...................................................................................................10 Chapter 1: Introduction .....................................................................................11 1.1 Background ...................................................................................................................11 1.2 Context ..........................................................................................................................13 1.3 Purpose .........................................................................................................................14 1.4 Thesis Outline ...............................................................................................................15 Chapter 2: Contextual Review...........................................................................16 2.1 Historical Background ..................................................................................................16 2.2 Loss and the Maternal Divine .......................................................................................22 2.3 Contextual Practices: Artists .........................................................................................25 2.4 Traditions of kantha ......................................................................................................31 2.5 Living tradition .............................................................................................................37 2.6 Summary and Implications ...........................................................................................38 Chapter 3: Methodology and Processes ............................................................40 3.1 Methodology .................................................................................................................40 3.2 Kantha as a method .......................................................................................................41 3.2.1 Kanthas ...............................................................................................................41 3.2.2 Collage................................................................................................................43 3.2.3 Bricolage ............................................................................................................46 3.3 Related research activities ............................................................................................48 3.4 Reflection ......................................................................................................................50 Chapter 4: Creative Work .................................................................................53 4.1 Canvas Painting ............................................................................................................53 4.2 The Dolls ......................................................................................................................57 4.3 Prayer Wheels ...............................................................................................................62 4.4 Artist’s Books ...............................................................................................................64 4.5 Installation and Sound ..................................................................................................66 Chapter 5: Conclusion ........................................................................................72 Bibliography ..............................................................................................................76 6 List of Images 1. Natasha Narain, 2014-2016, Kashmir, Kantha painting, detail (developing stage), oil, mixed media, stitch and collage on unframed canvas. 180 x 100 cm. 2. Kantha, maker unknown, Faridpur District, undivided Bengal, nineteenth century, cotton plain weave with cotton embroidery, 73 x 72.4cm. Stella Kramrisch Collection, Philadelphia Museum of Art (Mason, 2010. 203. Plate 20). Accession number: 1968-184-12. http://www.philamuseum.org/exhibitions/2010/364.html 3. Kantha, maker unknown, Faridpur District, Undivided Bengal, nineteenth century, Cotton plain weave with cotton embroidery, 97.8 x 94 cm, Stella Kramrisch Collection, Philadelphia Museum of Art. (Mason, 2010, 216, plate 34). Accession number: 1994-148-704. 4. Kantha, detail, maker unknown, Jessore District, undivided Bengal, nineteenth century, cotton plain weave with cotton embroidery, 88.9 x 81.3cm, Stella Kramrisch Collection, Philadelphia Museum of Art. (Mason, 2010, 207, plate 24). Accession number: 1994-148-679. 5. Natasha Narain, 2013-2015, Ivory and S.W.M.I., photographic reproduction of dress as a body and doll as a deity. (Where S.W.M.I. stands for she will / will not make it). 6. Maker: Dhanapati, Kantha, detail, Goddess Chandi. Nineteenth century, Faridpur District, Bengal. 165 x103cm, Stella Kramrisch Collection, Philadelphia, (Mason, 2010, 188, plate 4). 7. Arpita Singh, 2006, Whatever is here, oil on canvas, 214 x 275cm. Exhibited: 2014, Other narratives - Other structures, Lalit Kala Akademi. Vadehra Art Gallery Collection, New Delhi. 8. Kimsooja, 2008, Bottari Tricycle, Installation, used Chinese tricycle, bedcovers and clothes, 295 x 190cm, Continua Gallery, Le Moulin. Image Courtesy: Thierry Depagne. 9. Kantha, maker unknown, Faridpur District, undivided Bengal, late nineteenth Century, Cotton plain weave with cotton embroidery, 165 x 115cm, Stella Kramrisch Collection, Philadelphia Museum of Art. (Mason, 2010, 189, Plate 5). 10. Kantha, Vishnu on a horse with eight gopis, detail, maker unknown, nineteenth century, undivided Bengal, 95cm square, cotton plain weave with cotton embroidery, Stella Kramrisch Collection, Philadelphia. 1994-148-705. (Mason, 2010, 185). 11. Natasha Narain, 2016, Inself, kantha painting, acrylic, mixed media and collage on canvas. 7 12. Natasha Narain, 2015, Performative presentation of Kantha, H.P. University, Simla. India. Image courtesy: Kesang Youdon. 13. Natasha Narain, 2014. Artist in residence at Logan Village Library, as part of community engagement, W.O.R.D.S. “Homesickness Project”, Mentors: Kevin Leong & Elizabeth Woods. Image Credit: Kevin Leong. 14. Natasha Narain, 2013-2016, detail of collage from three kantha paintings. 15. Natasha Narain, 2014-2016, Kalpa Vriksha, Kantha painting, oil, mixed media and collage on un-stretched canvas, 180 x 100cm, Image Courtesy: Carl Warner. 16. Natasha Narain, 2016. Excerpts. Curated by Mark Webb, The Block, QUT. Image Courtesy: QUT Creative Industries Faculty. 17. Natasha Narain, 2015, Body, kantha painting, oil, collage and mixed media on un-stretched canvas,175 x 100cm. Image Courtesy: Carl Warner. 18. (18A). Natasha Narain, 2016.
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