A unique collection of Pankha, traditional Indian hand fans, that features different artworks by eminent artist Jatin Das, tracing the history of the object is currently being showcased at the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA). The month-long exhibition that concludes on June 24, features fans and paintings, prints and films selected from Das' vast collection. His romance with fans started when a friend gifted him a pankha years ago. Das's collection now includes over 5,000 different fans.
The art work at the exhibition shows how Das continues to collect fans on his travels, often visiting basti markets and haats or asking chowkidars, cooks and peons for hand fans, especially during the hot months when they are most likely to be produced.
In his endeavour, he has come across beautiful pankhas, hand-made by mothers, wives, sisters and daughters. Das, sometimes visits antique dealers, to get hands-on rare or antique fans. His friends too shower him with pankhas generously, familiar about his passion for them.
From fixed ceiling fans operated by a pankhawala to cool a congregation, to large phads used for the comfort of aristocrats and nobility, to hand fans and flywhisks, an amusing assortment of more than 500 artefacts in size, variety and beauty are part of the event. The fans range from intricately woven bamboo, grass, cane, wheat stalk and palm leaf, to feather, silk cotton, leather, bead and mica or mirror. "This collection of pankhas is a small attempt to rejuvenate the spirit of the living traditions of India. The makers of these fans carry on a long tradition of decorative creativity – a tradition which is sadly disappearing today, for a variety of reasons," says Das, giving insight into his work.
The Pankha collection was first shown at the Crafts Museum in Delhi and has since travelled across India and around the world to Switzerland, Philippines, United States, Malaysia and the United Kingdom. It will ultimately be housed in the JD Centre of Art in Bhubaneswar, Odisha – Jatin Das' home state.
This exhibition also features demonstrations by skilled craftspeople and fan-making workshops for children. The fans are categorised by their usage, material, origin or type. The exhibition will feature pankhas in addition to other art forms. Cool Indian summer drinks, leisurely music, poetry and literature centred on the warm months complete the image of these lyrical objects as the mercury continues to rise in the Capital.
