Archipelago (Silk route South China Sea - Bay of Bengal)
Date:
2018
Materials:
Textiles sourced from South East Asia, China, Japan, glass beads, silk and embroidery on linen
Dimensions:
150 x 150 cm
Exhibition history:
2018 Le Consulat, Paris, France
Courtesy:
Lucy + Jorge Orta
During a research residency at the NTU Centre for Contemporary Art (Singapore, 2017) Lucy Orta took an interest in Javanese batik. Historically the motifs represented complex spatial concepts the abstract compositions of a communities’ lived experience depicted villages, burial sites, and agricultural cycles and given Indonesia’s seventeen-thousand-plus islands; it is likely that batik textiles also served as maritime navigation aids.
Building on the cultural significance of textiles as storytelling devices and their role in maritime navigation, in the body of work "Archipelago", Lucy Orta has created a series of textile maps. These maps represent principal islands in Southeast Asia, reproduced in vibrant textiles sourced in Singapore markets. Contemporary Java prints, Chinese jacquards, Japanese weave, and Malay embroideries represent the multi-ethnic communities living in Singapore and signal its history as an important maritime trading port.
Using traditional appliqué techniques, different fabric motifs are overlaid and padded to simulate an island topography. The patchwork islands are embellished with three-dimensional silk floral appliqués and embroidered with glass beads, materials historically traded via the Silk Route through the South China Sea and the Bay of Bengal. These elements are placed onto large linen canvases embroidered with nautical lines and compass roses taken from early 17th-century maritime maps. Lucy Orta’s maps depict imaginary landscapes abundant with rich floral motifs and lush vegetation.
Using textiles as a medium, the body of work "Archipelago" reflects the broader cultural and ecological impact of the transcontinental network of economic and political interests that governed relationships between Asia and Europe, from the ancient Silk Route to the new China Belt and Road Initiative. Increasing global consumption, the massive deforestation of tropical forests in Malaysia and Indonesia releasing carbon into the atmosphere now pose a significant threat to our planet. The delicate beauty of floral motifs that repopulate the islands make a silent and poetic plea to curb human impact on our planet.