Marabar Caves

4 August – 2 September 2017

Marabar Caves was an exhibition that took its title from the caves featured in E.M. Forster’s 1924 novel ‘A Passage to India.’ This was the first exhibition in a series of three, entitled ‘Resources of the Social Imagination’ which looks at the relationship between narrative pleasure and contemporary art.

The exhibition takes as a point of departure Forster’s description of the caves in Chandrapore which are part actual and part fictive. Narratives that are cosmological, geological and mythical combine to describe a space that is highly sculptural, one that becomes psycho-sexual with the aid of a colonial gaze.

Audio, ceramics, embroidery and exhibition design form a response to Forster’s description of the caves. A narrative written and led by Evangeline Riddiford Graham is accompanied by a series of ceramic works by Tom Hinton. Recently Areez Katki has been investigating non-linguistic narratives using synaesthesia and applied arts textile practice. Devices designed to lean against and languish on were constructed and embroidered upon for the exhibition.

Organised by Victoria Wynne-Jones. Images have been reproduced with permission from the artists.