40 Objects for 40 Years
Floating Rangoli (2000) by Ranbir Kaur
In partnership with British Waterways
Rangoli is an artform from India where temporary patterns are made from colourful materials such as powders, spices and petals. They are usually created on the floor or on a tabletop but we worked with Ranbir Kaur to make it float. It was quite a logistical feat!
Ranbir is an artist specialising in South Asian arts and crafts whom we worked with on a variety of projects over many years. With our support, she expanded her rangoli practice and created contemporary large scale rangoli designs in many different public settings transforming this domestic, religious artform into public art. Thousands experienced her live rangoli making at the BBC’s Mega Mela at the NEC. There she was seen by a programmer from Womad festival who then commissioned her to make rangolis at festivals all around the world, giving her international profile.
Nominated by: our Director, Deirdre F. who worked closely with Ranbir.
To celebrate Craftspace’s 40th Anniversary, we commissioned the artist Stewart Francis Easton to create an artwork which would explore the story of Craftspace through 40 objects. Stewart created a series of four beautiful graphic quilts.
