Silk River – Project Report

Silk River – Project Report Report by Kinetika, 5 Feb 2018 2 2 Silk River - Project Summary This ambitious project explored the unique relationship between London and Kolkata through a year’s artistic exchange between communities along the Thames Estuary and Hooghly River. Artistic director Ali Pretty - worked in collaboration with associate artistic directors Ruchira Das and Korak Ghosh and an international team of contemporary and traditional artists, writers and photographers to capture and interpret the experience of journeying along these mighty rivers. Working in 20 locations and with partners from Murshidabad to Batanagar (Hooghly) and Kew Gardens to Southend (Thames) to reinterpret a shared heritage, we raised cultural awareness of the Indo-British relationship through engaging diaspora communities and connecting young people with artists along the route. Closing Ceremony, Victoria Memorial Hall, Dec 16th 2017 “It’s been inspiring what we’ve been seeing, not just the colours but the enthusiasm, the amount of determination and commitment over the years to make this a reality…It’s what I call the living bridge – it is bringing people together in the UK and in India in a way that is really relevant to the communities that they exist in.” British High Commissioner to India, Sir Dominic Asquith “I’m at the final event for one of the most important projects that we’ve had in the Year of Culture. Silk River has connected 20 communities in Kolkata and London and been at the heart of our mission to use the Year of Culture to celebrate the modern-day relationship between our two countries, to connect with people and to inspire them to build a relationship for the next 70 years. It’s been a wonderful event, it’s been an incredible project and we’re so, so grateful to everyone involved. Thank you very much.” British Council India Director, Alan Gemmell OBE 3 3 Where the Thames & Hooghly meet Silk River has been in development for over 30 years, and while we know now that there will be legacy projects that will continue the journey, we cannot yet know where it might lead in 30 years from now. It all began in India, in 1985, when Habib Tanvir, director of the Naya Theatre, encouraged Ali to become an artist. She followed him to Calcutta to learn about art and politics, and then began to work in participatory arts in the UK with the help of British community artist Elizabeth Lynch. In the process of exploring diverse art forms Ali followed the Asian diaspora to Trinidad, later becoming a carnival designer. Settling in London she learnt to paint silk, her artistic career took off and Kinetika was founded in 1997. Recently Ali has devised a different model of participation in response to changing social, economic and environmental circumstances engaging diverse disparate communities in walking, talking and making. Based in Purfleet and working closely with the local community, Kinetika created Thurrock 100 (thurrock100.com), an annual walking festival, making artworks and exchanging stories that connects people to each other and the place that they live. SILK RIVER transposed this model to an international context for the first time - a tool for re-imagining the relationship between India and the UK as part of the UK/India year of culture. Bringing together Ali’s experience of working between Kolkata and London over many years, she welcomed this opportunity to collaborate with a team of talented artists and producers to deliver this project, creating new artworks on Murshidabad silk and connecting thousands of people through this extraordinary journey. The challenge now is to reflect and collaborate with our partners and build on the foundation that the Silk River network has created, both along the Thames Estuary and along the banks of the Hooghly. ‘The inimitable bond between London and the Thames and Kolkata with the Hooghly are very special to me. Over the years I’ve observed many similarities and connections between them. Silk River is to me ‘a tale’ of two cities. Many set aside a particular time every year to remember their mutual interdependence with their river. London, among other festivities has a month-long celebration with Totally Thames. I want the same for Kolkata, and my involvement with this unique event, Silk River, gives me an opportunity to remember our Hooghly. We are sure that this will go a long way in making people conscious of the river, its importance and its heritage. Hopefully, it will also help us all to reinterpret and understand why we need to preserve this special bond.’ Korak Ghosh Korak Ghosh, Director, Silk River India Walk 4 4 The Inspiration Patachitra The aesthetic and design of the silk scrolls was inspired by the traditional Bengali art form of Patachitra. This is a unique folk tradition of visual storytelling accompanied by songs performed the Patuas. The painters are called Patua and bear the surname – Chitrakar. The paintings are mostly based on stories on mythology, social, historical or contemporary issues. The Patuas compose songs on the stories then paint to corroborate with the story which they Swarna & Monaranjan Chitrakar, with Ruchira unfurl and sing. This makes the Patuas lyricists, painters, singers, Das, performing in the UK all blended into one. We worked with many Patachitra artists on the silk scrolls in India and Swarna and Monaranjan Chitrakar visited the UK to deliver artist exchange workshops, accompanied by Ruchira Das. “Very informative. Lots of inspiring stories through the paintings and singing. Fantastic project to be involved in thank you.” Workshop attendee Murshidabad Silk With the assistance of Crafts Council of West Bengal, the high-quality silk for the scrolls was woven in Islampore under the supervision of eminent silk merchant Gadadhar Hore. “It has turned out to be a great revival project as the weavers were contacted and convinced through a series of negotiations that it would be a wonderful opportunity to recreate the superior quality silk on a pilot basis for an international project. The weavers rose to the challenge and the silk for the scrolls was woven on looms that had not done so in recent memory. Here at the Crafts Council of West Bengal our role as an intermediary ensured that the silk was pure Murshidabad and not mixed with yarn from other parts of India or indeed the world. The success of the scrolls in telling the story of the British connection to India, from the past to the present will restore Murshidabad’s place Silk weaver in the history of Empire – as a centre of trade and a producer of exquisite silk.” Ruby Palchoudhuri, Director, Crafts Council of West Bengal Silk River shared the beautiful qualities of this silk to a wide variety of audiences, from Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, to an exhibition at Victoria Memorial Hall, Kolkata. We estimate that more than 63,000 people saw the scrolls live during Silk River events. The scrolls are now being booked for exhibitions to continue to share their story, and Kinetika is likely to use this special silk on other projects and possibly a range of products too. 5 5 Silk River Textile Residencies India - January 2017 The first ten scrolls were designed and painted in a fourteen- day residency hosted by the Murshidabad Heritage Development Society in Azimganj. Working with the Rural Crafts and Cultural Hubs and the Crafts Council of West Bengal many talented craftspeople were selected to work with the Kinetika artists. Artists’ residency to make India scrolls “The Patachitras could see the connections in terms of graphic design but the batik technique was new for them. Dipika, one of the younger members of the Patachitra family quickly saw an Who created the Indian Scrolls? opportunity. She was excited by what she might learn from the artists of different traditions. 4 Kinetika Artists 12 Patachitra Artists None of us can predict the longer-term impact of the residencies 4 Batik artists 2 Clay Doll Makers on the artists, how the skills learnt, and the design approaches 2 Kantha Stitching Artists explored will manifest in their work… The challenge for the 2 Sara painting artists partners in Kolkata will be to follow up this moment with further 4 Future Hope students 15 Fashion/Art Students opportunities for the artists to develop and flourish.” Elizabeth 17 Students from SRFTI Lynch, Independent Consultant, Azimganj Residency. 63 people in total Full credits HERE The 10 Murshidabad silk scrolls were first presented at the Murshidabad Heritage Festival that hosted the launch of Silk River in Jan 2017. “Thank you for your support and good wishes towards Murshidabad Heritage Festival (MHF) 2017.. From the festival’s roaring success, we managed to carry on Murshidabad Heritage Development Society’s primary objective of preserving, conserving and protecting the rich culture and heritage of Murshidabad.” Pradip Chopra MHDS MHF Festival 6 6 UK – June 2017 The 10 UK scrolls were created at a twelve day residency held at Kinetika’s studios in Purfleet. Over 130 artists and volunteers attended over the two weeks. The residency was led by Ali Pretty and Jacci Todd and hosted by Jane Ford. At the residency it was clear that people really felt they had learnt new skills. We had up to five different locations come together at one time which was a brilliant way for the partners to exchange their stories, build a shared vision and lay the Making the UK scrolls June 2017 foundations for the Silk River Artists network. Several of the artists will now be employed by Kinetika on future projects. “The Artists Residency was an opportunity to really get the locations connected in a practical and productive way and this achieved and went beyond its goal.

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