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The Research Center for Material Culture asks "how might we reimagine practices of curation in the service of anti-racism? Or, said differently, what does anti-racist curation look like?" How to be attentive ? Bringing together activists, curators, cultural workers and academics whose work exemplifies such practices of anti-racist work, the center want to explore traditions of anti-racist curation and collecting. A conversation with Antonia Alampi, Paul Goodwin and Ming Tiampo. When: 19 Nov 2020. How: Zoom Online.

This portrait of Maharaja Sardar Singh was probably made in Jodhpur around 1900. Born in 1880, Sardar succeeded his father Jaswant Singh in 1895, at the age of 15, as Maharaja of Jodhpur. In the photo, Sardar is wearing the court dress and precious jewelry that pertains to his position as Maharaja. The turban alone is a badge of honor and a status symbol. More striking, however, is the ornament, the 'shast', that has been applied to it. It consists of a painted portrait of Sadar's father, set entirely in gold and trimmed with pearls. This tradition dates back to the Mughal period and only the most eminent were granted the privilege of wearing the portrait of the Maharaja. By wearing this 'shast' Sadar expresses, very consciously, both his strong sense of belonging to - and respect for - the memory of Jaswant Singh. His father died in 1895. But not only through the miniature portrait is Sardar connected with his father. The necklaces of rows of pearls and (uncut) diamonds, together called 'kantho', were also worn by Jaswant Singh on important occasions and recorded on the painted portraits known of him. The portrait thus contains many clues through which the person portrayed expresses his connection with the royal line of Jodhpur. Maharaja Sardar Singh ruled until his death in 1911 after which the regalia passed to his first son, Sumer Singh. We add this image to this conversation to discuss the attempts to curate differently and to question how we care for images and objects that are embedded in the pasts and structures that we aim to address through the attempts of curating and collecting differently.
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CURATING AND COLLECTING ANTIRACISM ?

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Research Center For Material Culture