The exhibition Folk Archive will provide a snapshot of art, customs and rituals undertaken by Britishers
There are photographs, drawings, paintings, films, performances and some astonishing objects that serve as a narrative on a vast range of British pastimes and pursuits. These are the works from prisoners and community groups, Notting Hill Carnival troupes, protesters, pop fans, teenagers, villagers and the homeless. The collection demonstrates that folk art in the UK is both widespread and vigorous.
Consisting of more than 280 elements, the exhibition titled Folk Archive by international artists Jeremy Deller and Alan Kane is a visual account of contemporary popular British culture. The exhibition, organised by The British Council, will be on display at Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) from January 31. The show will blur the lines between traditional categories of ‘fine arts’, design, crafts, folk and daily creativity.
The idea initiated in the most unlikely of places — in a pub. As a strategy for putting the exhibition together the artists talked about updating the notion of what is considered folk art in Britain. “Art, made by working people, was thought to have disappeared in the UK around the turn of the 20th Century and we suspected it had probably just mutated, evolved and became ignored,” said Deller. They set themselves to seek out that art and promote it.
Folk archive was completed in 2005. The duo spent about five years taking pictures and picking things as and when they happened. Deller mentioned, “There are recording of some performances which are part of very long traditions that have been going on for hundreds of years.” The process of collection was hassle free but he still laments, “There are sheer amount of things we could have included but were unable to due to lack of time and money. Potentially, it is an infinite show.”
Right from the start the show has been on a shoe-string budget and it was a challenge for them to put up an expensive looking show. Kane on the other hand, had a very clear idea that they would not define the subject of the show. It was their attempt to suggest the huge range and depth of creativity in the world that one can come across if they start looking for it. He said, “The thing we were not sure of when we started out journey was how people would feel about us paying a strange type of attention to their work but almost without exception, people understood quickly what we were trying to do and contributed eagerly.”
The artists were driven by their personal interest and desire for collecting artefacts. Deller said, “We looked for works which had humour, modernity, insight, a unique voice, perspective or something that attempted to tackle ambitious subjects.”
When they held the exhibition for the first time, many of the original objects were borrowed. While most of them were returned to the owners some of them were bought at a negotiated price by the British Council. Kane said, “However a substantial part of the exhibition was documentary photographs and videos which we collected. We included what were new technologies then, websites and the Internet in general but now that has, in itself, become a huge resource for imagery of the kind of things we liked and were looking at,” said Deller.
According to Kane, the important (and perhaps even pioneering) thing about the project was to use art strategies, systems and locations to display art ideas and works which were made with a sense of community and were not focused on the most boring question in art, ‘which celebrity is the artistIJ’
Folk Archive will provide the Indian audience with a snapshot of art, customs and rituals undertaken by the inhabitants of Britain. The Folk Archive gives insight into the festivals and celebrations of local communities and contains pieces created by everyday people in order to convey their messages publically — messages of love, sadness or anger — things that a global audience would be able to relate to.
The exhibition will also show examples of visual creativity from as many areas as they could conceive of — signs, graffiti, performances, jokes, publications, models, tributes, decorations, cakes and even some paintings and sculptures. “The only thing which ties them all together is that they were made to be seen by people who would not call themselves artists primarily,” Deller concluded. itishers