Gautam Hemmady’s exhibition of Indian matchbox labels traces the history of the country
Stories — the cosmos is filled with a million of them. Some in stone, some on paper, some on parchments, carpets and so many more. There are perhaps many ways in which the folklore, lifestyle and issues of impact of a race can be determined but Gautam Hemmady decided to do it through matchboxes labels.
He has put his excuisite collection of matchboxes up on exhibit titled Matchbox labels and the stories they tell at India International Centre. It traces prominent themes and subjects in Indian matchbox label design from the earliest experiments of including the merchant’s name as a form of branding and quality assurance through various subjects that continued to search for competitive advantage in a highly unorganised industry.
Starting from May 27, the exhibit will include original matchboxes, labels, printed packaging material, and promotional products used by the industry, from Hemmady’s personal collection of over 25,000 items dating back to 1890. The exhibition is divided into sections dealing with a wide variety of subjects that include merchant traders, mythology, religion, art, architecture, The Swadeshi Movement, film, advertising and messaging, plagiarism, kings and curtesans and is loosely chronological tracing the entire history of the Indian matchbox industry.
Hemmady’s fascination with matchboxes dates back many years but it was only in 2012 that he actually started collecting it. What triggered his interest more was the lack of information on Indian matchboxes and labels. He pointed out, “I was amazed and fascinated by the variety and small talk at each of the retail outlets that I visited on that first day. When I found out that so little was available on matchboxes and labels, I decided to begin accumulation anything and everything related to the industry. Since then I have managed to accumulate a large variety of material with a view to establish an archive of sorts.”