An exhibition of over 80 postcards titled Hiya & Goodbye: Postcards from the Early twentieth Century is presently underway on the Museum of Artwork and Pictures (MAP), showcasing missives from India’s colonial period.
It might appear that X (previously Twitter), doesn’t have dibs on character restriction. In response to Khushi Bansal who curated Hiya & Goodbye together with Meghana Kuppa and a staff from MAP, “The messages on these postcards inform us rather a lot about life in these instances. What’s attention-grabbing is how abbreviations had been used to convey information inside a restricted house; brief types will not be a up to date idea.”
Khushi says Hiya & Goodbye was conceptualised “after we realised we’ve such an expansive publish card assortment at MAP”. A piece of the gathering contains round 1,300 postcards that had been donated by Kenneth X and Joyce Robbins to MAP.
From the Hiya & Goodbye exhibition by MAP
| Picture Credit score:
Particular Association
Nonetheless, amount alone will not be cause sufficient for an exhibition. The staff realised these postcards supplied a wealth of data on life in these instances, particularly in areas of cultural identification and lived historical past.
“Whereas some carry messages to family members, others speak about their go to to a small city or monument. We get a way of what folks overseas had been speaking about India, as a result of a variety of these postcards had been exchanged both throughout the Indian elite circle or between foreigners,” says Meghana.
“We find out about the price of dwelling, societal norms and extra by searching by them. We discover a micro historical past of kinds inside these postcards, formed by colonial exercise in India throughout this era,” she provides.
For over six months, the staff pored over hundreds of postcards from their assortment, sorting them by totally different classes corresponding to structure, panorama and extra. Throughout this time, they referenced books corresponding to Omar Khan’s Paper Jewels: Postcards from the Raj and Picturesque India: A Journey in Early Image Postcards by Sangeeta Mathur and Ratnesh Mathur.
In response to Khushi, the staff targeted on three points to construction Hiya & Goodbye. “First, we appeared on the general historical past of the early twentieth century. Although postcards had been launched within the late nineteenth century, we appeared on the interval throughout which they had been most extremely circulated,” says Khushi.
Fascinating aspects of human nature emerged throughout the staff’s work with these postcards. “Over the course of our analysis, we came upon that lots of people wrote postcards in letter format, leading to a sequence of notes from which the receiver would piece collectively info,” she says, including that postcards had been very very like social media of our day, with a picture and restricted house for textual content.
These postcards additionally give viewers an idea of time in at this time’s context. “Postcards had been for fast and speedy communication, however would nonetheless take a minimum of two weeks to be delivered, a minimum of inside India,” says Meghana.
In response to Meghana, postcards of the 1800s solely had a small house below the picture for the sender so as to add a be aware with the reverse used just for addresses. It was solely within the early 1900s, a design change noticed extra space alloted on the again, she says.
An embellished postcard from the Hiya & Goodbye exhibition by MAP
| Picture Credit score:
Particular Association
Second, the staff started to look into how folks’s use of postcards mirrored the notion of their very own identities and beliefs. “We checked out printing presses, the print tradition that existed on the time and the way it happened. This lead us to have a look at colonial identification and tradition in addition to the influence it had on our economic system and politics.”
Khushi says there was a pure segue to reminiscence and nostalgia as the ultimate facet of the exhibition. “On the finish of all of it, a postcard is a message from one individual to a different, and whereas most of them had been little love notes between household, mates and lovers, they had been additionally utilized by firms to speak issues referring to enterprise.” As an example, the staff got here throughout a postcard addressed to the Ravi Varma press in Lonavala concerning provides, she says.
Postcards current
Although there are about 80 postcards on show, the staff wished vistors to benefit from the curation course of as a lot as they did. “We’ve arrange just a little desk throughout the exhibition itself for folks to expertise is the act of searching for themselves in addition to mirror on the messages — it will additionally assist them perceive the method of curation,” says Meghana.
“Linking to the thought of how postcards revolutionised communication, we wished to revisit the thought of sending postcards — whether or not to a beloved one and even to your self. So we arrange just a little desk with yellow postcards from the publish workplace with a stamp already affixed. Guests who’re so inclined can write a message and in the event that they put within the right tackle, we’ll mail it for them,” says Khushi.
MAP’s digital stamp
| Picture Credit score:
Particular Association
The staff at MAP additionally put collectively a digital postcard greeting. “This primarily means you may mess around with totally different backgrounds and components to design your individual postcard. As soon as carried out, you may scan a QR codein addition to a specifically designed stamp by MAP and e mail this digital model to any recipient,” she provides.
The digital stamp was designed by Mahesh KS, a member of the staff. “This distinctive stamp not solely commemorates MAP, but additionally the 12 months to mark this occasion,” says Meghana, including, “Those that create personalised digital postcards playing cards also can give MAP a replica for his or her archives, in the event that they so select.”
Hiya & Goodbye on the Museum of Artwork and Pictures can be on show until August 18, 2024
