The exhibition, which showcases over 120 artworks by artists from South Asia and Wales, is on display at the Glynn Vivian Art Gallery in Swansea till November 2
Over 200 years ago, Robert Clive’s son, Edward, inherited a significant portion of Tipu Sultan’s fabled art collection and transported it to the Powis Castle in Wales, where it remains till this day. Edward was married to Henrietta Herbert, the daughter of the 1st Earl of Powis, who went “on a shopping spree” through the mighty Mysore ruler’s bountiful treasures after his defeat in the Fourth Mysore War. Some of these priceless artworks are currently on display at Tigers & Dragons: India and Wales in Britain, a unique exhibition being hosted at the Glynn Vivian Art Gallery in Swansea. However, unlike other Western exhibits that spin a controversial victor narrative while displaying Indian artefacts, Tigers & Dragons attempts to explore the shared imperial connections between the two British colonies — since Wales refers to itself as Britain’s first colony. While making its case for the fact that Welsh involvement in the Empire was different to the larger British experience, the exhibition, which showcases over 120 artworks — paintings, photographs, performances, textiles, sculptural installations and new media by roughly 70 artists from India, Pakistan, Wales, England, highlights these imperial connections (through war, trade and language), while also exploring other equivalences — between Tigers and Dragons; Mothers, Maps and lost mother tongues. “I decided it should be called Tigers & Dragons, because it represents the tiger of India and dragon of Wales. It’s a powerful metaphor,” says Dr Zehra Jumabhoy, art historian and co-curator of the exhibition. She details this further: “When I got involved in the art scene in Wales, I realised that there are actually many similarities (between India and Wales), not just in terms of the way Wales feel subjugated, but also the way in which they construct their nationalism.” Jumabhoy, a lecturer in Modern & Contemporary Art at the University of Bristol, and art historian with a background in art criticism who specialises in South Asian art (including exploring and analysing the socio-political contexts of the region’s art history in relationship to British Imperial pasts and presents), curated this exhibit alongside Katy Freer, Exhibitions Officer at Glynn Vivian Art Gallery. In conversation with GQ, she speaks about the exhibition being a part of the Swansea Museum’s larger decolonising agenda, the contribution of talented artists — like Goa-based contemporary artist Nikhil Chopra — in bringing this vision to life, and how Indian art is having its moment. Inside Tigers & Dragons, a unique art exhibition that explores the historic connection between India and Wales in the context of British Imperialism Tigers & Dragons “The idea for Tigers & Dragons took place about five years ago. We’d wanted to do a big conference around Imperial Subjects first, which was to be partially sponsored by Tate Gallery and the Paul Mellon Foundation, and then maybe host an exhibition, but then COVID hit. After a year of waiting, we decided to take this project online,” Jumabhoy explains. And that's how Imperial subjects became an online thing. Hundreds of art and history enthusiasts from India, Pakistan and America showed up virtually for the programming, including renowned historian William Dalyrymple. “He’d join in on video from his bedroom, and even doze off at times. You could hear him snore and see his belly going up and down!” (laughs) Tigers & Dragons, a manifestation of this ambitious project, took physical form on May 23, and will be on display at the Glynn Vivian Art Gallery till November 2. The curated artwork juxtaposes South Asia’s historic fine art traditions (gleaned from the Imperial encounter) alongside modern and contemporary artworks. Displayed artwork In keeping with the theme of highlighting similarities between Wales and India in the British Imperialist context, a number of contrasting artworks have been placed side-by-side to emphasise this unique connection. For instance, in a spoof-like imitation, Pushpamala N’s traditional depiction of Mother India (a part of her larger series based on the idea of the nation) faces Christopher William’s more voluptuous Mother Wales. “The whole thing maps onto each other. The idea of Mother India taking the entire territory, and you have Mother Wales doing exactly the same thing, except she's a crone,” Jumabhoy explains. The exhibit also has on display celebrated Indian photographer Raja Deen Dayal's photographs, which were borrowed from Karachi-based art collector Taimur Hassan’s valuable collection. “We chose a page of Lord and Lady Curzon standing over a tiger, so that the tiger dialogue continued in Nick Hill's space as a conversation. On this theme, we even have on display a series of little tiger epaulette that was supposedly issued after the Battle of Plassey,” she adds. Jumabhoy and Freer collaborated with Powis Castle to borrow several historic artworks for Tigers & Dragons, including Nathaniel Dance-Holland’s full-length portrait of Robert Clive, shown in military uniform with the ribbon and star of the Order of the Bath. They also secured original works by Henrietta Clive, featuring a miniature of Tipu Sultan. Another highlight, retrieved from the National Library’s archives, depicts a Welshman receiving the Victoria Cross during the siege of Delhi. This piece is displayed beside Clive’s portrait, alongside Adeela Suleman’s commissioned tapestry Imperium Amidst Opium Blossoms: A Kashidakari on the era of the East India Company. Opposite hangs Pakistani-American artist Shahzia Sikander’s The Explosion of the Company Man, a striking work — borrowed from the Bristol Museum — featuring a figure who closely resembles Clive and stands as one of the exhibition’s key pieces. The decolonising agenda While Tigers & Dragons may align with the museum’s decoloning agenda, some artworks — such as the depiction of a Welshman winning the Victoria Cross during the siege of Delhi — appear to highlight Wales’ participation in British imperialism in India. In this light, does the exhibition risk conveying an apologist undertone? “On one level, there is this sense of apology. And Powis Castle, which is at the edge of Wales and contains so much Indian treasury, comes under that apology. But then, because Wales considers itself Britain’s first colony, there’s a disconnect with what role it played in the building of the Empire. And that's what I also wanted to explore through this exhibition,” says Jumabhoy. Nikhil Chopra’s From Land to Fire Sometime around the 1870s, Richard Glynn Vivian, the founder of the Swansea Museum, took off for foreign shores. Equipped with a sketchbook and camera, he made his way through Chennai (then Madras), Mumbai (then Bombay), Lucknow and Sri Lanka. Through his travels, he collected souvenirs and painted watercolours of ‘exotic India’. The latter forms much of the base for Nikhil Chopra’s exciting segment at the exhibition. Titled From Land to Fire, the Goa-based artist assumes various personas while painting a panorama which riffs on the picturesque renditions of India by Imperial British artists (including Glynn Vivian’s watercolours). Chopra also delivered a powerful performance that offered a tongue-in-cheek nod to the colourful life and style of Glynn Vivian, and drew parallels between Mumbai and Swansea’s imperial and industrial histories. Growth of the Indian art market Jumabhoy credits the recent boom in the Indian art market to the billionaire collectors like Kiran Nadar, as well as the fact that no other country is witnessing growth in their domestic art market, due to recession and other crucial factors. She explains: “India is going through a phase of extreme. It's very bullish. And it's also, oddly, not very international in its outlook. I think the boom in Indian art is also connected to India's overall economic boom. Now, it’s not just progressive artist groups and NRIs collecting expensive art pieces… I also think that people are very aware of the fact that there’s a new world order, which is all about global capital. In fact, that’s what drove British colonialism in the first place.”