The thread that shaped South Asia-UK relations
Photo: Ben Deakin
Daniel Nelson
Cotton: labour, land and body tries to squeeze centuries of colonial “economic violence”, exploitation, impoverishment and South Asian migration into a single room at the Crafts Council in London.
It’s absurdly ambitious but surprisingly effective - as long as you are prepared to meet it on its own thoughtful, unflashy terms.
It’s not that the exhibition lacks visual delights: the predominant black and white aura is pierced by a could–splash handwoven hanging panel containing Bangla script. There’s also a video that page-surfs through a book of superb 19th century Indian fabric patterns; an expressive film exploring the relationship between East Lancashire and Bangladesh; punched khadi paper (made from 100 per cent cotton rag) echoing Mahatma Gandhi’s campaign to end British rule.
But the real importance and impact of the show comes from the history the artworks (by Raisa Kabir, Brigid McLeer, Bharti Parmar and Reetu Sattar) illustrate.
The Bangla script coded into the colourful weave is significant because Bangladesh is now the world’s second largest garment exporter, and Britain today profits from the low wages, precarious working conditions and environmental damage in Bangladesh.
The pattern book was intended to inspire designers and manufacturers in Britain to reproduce and replace Indian textiles. Britain banned quality Indian imports and secured a monopoly over the cotton market, trends exacerbated by technological advances that dislocated India’s handloom industry.
Gandhi saw boycotting British goods and championing Indian-spun and woven cloth as key to his cause.
So there’s much to reflect on here about skills in the Global South (Bengal’s muslin “was once revered as one of the greatest treasures of the age, fabled for being light as air” ), Empire (particularly relevant to the recent and current backlash that is trying to insist on British benevolence), cultural appropriation (Paisley prints could well be called Kashmiri), and why many people from Sylhet have moved to the UK.
Curator Uthra Rajgopal’s painstaking work on “how one of the world's most ubiquitous materials has shaped the relationship between Britain and South Asia” deserves close scrutiny.
* Cotton: labour, land and body, free, Wednesday–Saturday 11am–5pm, Crafts Council, 44A Pentonville Road, London N1 9BY until 4 March; Wednesday –Saturday 11am–5pm Info: 7806 2500/ https://www.craftscouncil.org.uk/gallery