வருக வருக

welcome

This is a guide through the exhibition. There are markers ( different meanings of kolam) mapping the text and space. The text is written by Raghavi, employing a mixture of formats. Formal, blab, rant, poetic, exhibitory text, alternating between first person and third person narrative. It jumps between these formats to reflect the complexity of migrant identity, subverting colonial linguistic norms.

kōlam n. [T. kōlamu, K. kōla,M. kōlam.]

threshold ritualistic design practised by south-asian women, a form of welcome; கோலம், பொதுவாக பெண்களால் வரையப்படும் பாரம்பரிய கலை, வரவேற்பு வடிவம்
form, appearance, identity; உருவம், மானுடக்கோலம், அடையாளம்
beauty; அழகு
colour; நிறம்
anthropological tool used to observe, decipher and understand complex cosmic patterns; பிரபஞ்சத்தைப் புரிந்துகொள்வதற்கான வடிவமைப்பு கருவியாக ஆதிகால மனிதர்களால் பயன்படுத்தப்பட்டது

அடையாளம்

form

This liminal space explores the plurality of Tamil identity, the contradictions, the poetics and the politics. It negotiates what we bring forward through the threshold, what we leave behind. It seeks right to self-determine. How do I define my postcolonial Tamil identity? She takes multiple forms. They take multiple shapes.

In the reading room, works of children and community members of Nottingham Tamil community are presented against the blue wall. These works are produced with support by Nottingham Tamil Kuzhumam. The artworks are produced as an exploration of their diasporic Tamil identity. From traditional Indian dance form to tennis, from social media to saree, these works expand what it is to be a Tamil-British person through collage-making. Why are these artworks here?

Is it here because I am. Is it here because the Thanjavur bronzes are here, Tipu’s tiger is here? Is it here because the Kohinoor is here? Is it here to claim? To stay, to be? These footwear, community artworks work as an invitation to marginalised communities and Tamil diasporic community into contemporary spaces. As an art-form, kolam is a practice of making-home. Each artwork here is a kolam, making home, adding a new definition of home.

Across the blue wall, on the shelves, you can find a kolam notebook handed down by Raghavi’s grandmother to them. Kolam art-form is an intergenerational practice, handing down embodied practices and care. Could an exhibition do the same?

அழகு

beauty

As you follow the footwear and kolam into the Gallery 1, to your right, works by artists from Palani Studio are presented as an abstract kolam, making patterns and connections.

Is the space between one artwork and another enough for colonial aesthetic to stand? Can you hold my beauty next to yours? What if clumsiness were a stance—a soft rebellion? How much works could a gallery hold? During initial conversations, Palani wanted to exhibit as many photographs as possible. He wanted to portray as many stories as possible. It was not only a comment on politics of space and opportunity but it was also a promise of collectivity and solidarity. Layered display defies the pristine order of the white-cube, offering instead a gentle disruption—a decolonial gesture where beauty lies in closeness, where meaning grows in the mess.

The photographs shows slices of oppression and exploitation. Scenes from Chennai Ennore oil spill, Kannagi Nagar displacement, Anakaputhur eviction, Chennai flood, and many more important political instances along with equally important domestic scenes. This section also holds works by photographers Noor Nisha and Ravikumar from Palani Studios. These photographers are documented as a part of Palani’s work with People’s Archive of Rural India ( PARI)

The narrative jumps from one to another, not fully making sense, reflecting the representation of Tamil lives in the global gaze. It critiques the momentary visibility of these issues and misrepresentation.