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On DeliciousExhibition of Multicultural Tapestries at Arts Centre
16.01.06
Mulana – the art of people is a unique exhibition of multicultural tapestries from a community arts collaboration between London and Rajasthan, West India, which runs at the Wellington Arts Centre from 17-31 January.
The public are invited to the opening reception on Thursday 19 January at 5pm.
The project was initiated in 2005 by Ray Mahabir, a renowned Trinidadian textile designer of Indian descent now living in the United Kingdom, who will discuss future plans for the Mulana Project at the opening reception. He is in Wellington to offer free workshops for local youth and creative groups who will then help create the next series of tapestries.
Please contact the Wellington Arts Centre, telephone 385 1929, for further details of the workshops, which are limited to groups of 12-15 participants.
Rau Mahabir has spent the last five years working with village artisans in Mulana studying the traditional embroidery stitches used by the women which were being lost because of the demands of the tourist market for cheap, quick work.
The project began with new designs by young people from a range of ethnic backgrounds – Moroccan, Iraqi, Afro-Caribbean, Greek Cypriot and mixed race – all living in West London. Working with the New Audiences Team at London's Natural History Museum, Mr Mahabir encouraged the young people to sketch a part of the Museum's collection, and find a connection to their questions around identity.
The sketches were transferred onto textile banners, and local women artisans in Mulana then embroidered the designs onto the three 1.5m x 3m banners which will be displayed together with panels documenting the workshops and creative process. Mr Mahabir describes the results as, "street art meets village arts, graffiti transformed through embroidery, and an experiment in global creative connections."
Councillor Ray Ahipene-Mercer, Culture and Arts Portfolio Leader for Wellington City Council, will open the exhibition. He says he is very excited that the Arts Centre is hosting such an ambitious project.
"This is a truly global community arts project, and we are all proud that our Arts Centre has been invited to work with Ray Mahabir, whose energy and creative force have made such a success of the Mulana project. These three initial tapestries are making their debut in Wellington and will then go on to be shown at the Natural History Museum in London in April.
"Ray Mahabir will be in Wellington for the exhibition and his workshops for local youth and creative groups provide a terrific opportunity for young people to contribute to three Wellington designs which will become the second stage of the project."
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