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Ambika Trasi: A Scream, A Growl

Ambika Trasi: A Scream, A Growl A Scream, A Growl is a print series illustrating a speculative narrative that I conceived of based on archival material from the 1955 exhibition, Textiles and Ornamental Arts of India at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York. The work considers an encounter between the dancer Shanta Rao, who was at the museum for a Bharatanatyam performance in conjunction with the exhibition, and Tipu’s Tiger, one of the exhibition objects on loan from the Victoria and Albert (V&A) Museum in London (fig. 1). I imagine the connection Rao might have felt with the iconic instrument given her dual roles as dancer and an unofficial ambassador of the classical Indian dances. As the former, she was determined to assert ownership over her work; as the latter, she felt restricted by government patronage, but was also, at times, a gatekeeper of the very same classical traditions she was disseminating.Figure 1Ambika Trasi, A Scream, A Growl 1, 2022, digital collage, dimensions vary.image courtesy of the artist.In my narrative, the dancer and mechanical organ merge to become one hybrid being. Part Bharatanatyam dancer, part British soldier, part man-eating tiger out for revenge, and part wooden automaton and pipe organ, the creature http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Asian Diasporic Visual Cultures and the Americas Brill

Ambika Trasi: A Scream, A Growl

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References (6)

Publisher
Brill
Copyright
Copyright © Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands
ISSN
2352-3077
eISSN
2352-3085
DOI
10.1163/23523085-08010009
Publisher site
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Abstract

A Scream, A Growl is a print series illustrating a speculative narrative that I conceived of based on archival material from the 1955 exhibition, Textiles and Ornamental Arts of India at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York. The work considers an encounter between the dancer Shanta Rao, who was at the museum for a Bharatanatyam performance in conjunction with the exhibition, and Tipu’s Tiger, one of the exhibition objects on loan from the Victoria and Albert (V&A) Museum in London (fig. 1). I imagine the connection Rao might have felt with the iconic instrument given her dual roles as dancer and an unofficial ambassador of the classical Indian dances. As the former, she was determined to assert ownership over her work; as the latter, she felt restricted by government patronage, but was also, at times, a gatekeeper of the very same classical traditions she was disseminating.Figure 1Ambika Trasi, A Scream, A Growl 1, 2022, digital collage, dimensions vary.image courtesy of the artist.In my narrative, the dancer and mechanical organ merge to become one hybrid being. Part Bharatanatyam dancer, part British soldier, part man-eating tiger out for revenge, and part wooden automaton and pipe organ, the creature

Journal

Asian Diasporic Visual Cultures and the Americas – Brill

Published: May 22, 2023

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