What happens when a group of women come together for art? A collaborative project by Bengaluru-based textile art studio Tharangini Studio and Australia’s Bábbarra Women’s Centre (BWC) is the answer for that. Blending traditional Indian techniques with Australian Aboriginal designs, their project of a collection of textiles has recently been nominated for the Asia Pacific Arts Awards which celebrates Australian creatives engaging with the Asia-Pacific region. Taking place between June 2 and 6 in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth, the award has recognised the project under the ‘Innovation’ category. Reflecting on the nomination, Padmini Govind, partner of Tharangini Studio, states, “The recognition is awesome, but we truly enjoyed the experience of working with the women from Bábbarra. It was magical and we felt honoured to be entrusted with their legacy art forms.”
Recounting their two-year-long journey, Govind explains how the project started with translating woodwork – over 77 of their sacred arts into woodblock. “The work involved translating BWC’s traditional artwork into woodblock prints, an Indian traditional technique that is new for Australian Aboriginal artists,” she notes. When asked about what made the project a good nominee, Govind notes, “When creating a design roadmap, we have to be careful about the cultural significance of what we are interpreting. It is like translating a legacy. Secondly, we had to map out their design language and translate it into our traditional woodblock and fabric techniques, which quite often requires some changing of the way we print,” she says.
Amidst the excitement of the work, Govind recalls the key challenges saying, “In our studio, most speak Hindi, and similarly, people in Arnhem speak 14 different languages and tribal dialects. And for both of us, English is a fourth language.” For BWC, even though printing on textiles was familiar, woodblock printing was a concept completely new. As Govind explains, “Woodblock printing allows us to preserve the prints for much longer than lino. Over the past three decades, the BWC had been using lino [linoleum], which disintegrates as it is like rubber.”
According to Govind, one of the key learnings from the collaborative project for Tharangini studios was utilising urban community resources efficiently for the collaborative work. “We realised that we were doing so much with minimal resources, and we could be doing so much more with them. Even if you don’t have a common language or you are practising different types of art, it’s the human connection across cultures that really makes that bridge,” she says. Govind also credits the success of the collaborative project to their women-to-woman bonding and kinship. Govind points out that BWC is primarily a women-based centre that started as a women’s refuge; it later became a thriving art centre and it was important for team Bábbarra to work with other women-led studios.”