Collection Wednesday: Matchboxes from India

February 11, 2009 • 3:18 pm • POSTED BY stephen penning

In the last post I posed the question “Why do we collect things?” I proposed that one of the major reasons maybe to inspire recollection. This seems to be the case with artist and illustrator Matt Lee.

Originally from London and now working at Srishti School of Art, Design & Technology in Bangalore, Matt’s matchboxes are tangible items that serve to remind him of his experiences in the subcontinent.

Matt was kind enough to share his insights on the collection.

Matt, how did the collection start? I moved from London to Bangalore, South India in January 2007 to lecture graphic arts at a school of art & design here. Since then I have collected over 160 matchboxes from my various travels around India.

Due to their economical and disposable nature, matchboxes are extremely popular here, far more so than cigarette lighters, and can be found at any roadside food/tea stall or cigarette kiosk. It was never really a conscious decision to start collecting them. I think the first matchbox I found was a design that featured an illustration of a killer whale with a title that read ‘dolphin’, I found this ‘mistake’ quite humorous. My first connection with these matchboxes was that aside from being great designs, they seemed quite random and they made me smile.

As the collection grew I began to enjoy their diversity more, it became a great thrill to find new designs. I also began to find the juxtapositions between the Indian matchboxes interesting. The diversity of the visuals, placed side by side on a shelf create interesting and often humorous juxtapositions. For example a swastik design resides next to a birthday cake, a tube light design next to an Indian elephant, or sometimes even narrative, such as a lion matchbox watching the cyclist matchbox…

For me, as an outsider, these matchboxes really encapsulate the visual (overload) culture of a modern Indian city like Bangalore. The mix of visual juxtapositions that range from historical and religious iconography to contemporary Indian and appropriated western (often copyrighted) imagery sum up quite perfectly what it is like to live in Bangalore.

What is some of the historical iconography that can be seen? There are examples of historical figures, for example: ‘Shivaji’ (A portrait of Shivaji Bhosale. 1623-1680. Who founded the Maratha Empire and was responsible for the re-establishment of Hindu rule throughout the mainlands of present day India after being ruled by various Muslim dynasties). Or in contemporary pop culture: ‘Porter’ (A reference to a Bollywood film from 1983 called Coolie, starring icon Amitabh Bachchan as a railway porter).

Did you have to go to any extreme or extraordinary measures to acquire any of the boxes? Yes actually, I was with a colleague of mine on a 48 hour train journey from Bangalore to Varanasi. We decided we would try and collect matchboxes from the major train stops along the way. Five hours into the journey we arrived at Chennai, with a 20 minute stop before departure. We decided that this would be enough time to leave the station in search of cigarette kiosks where we could buy matchboxes. Well, we did not realize how long the station platform was or how long it would take to get out of the hustle and bustle of the station, or that when we returned we would not be let back in through the same entrance…without tickets. Anyhow, we managed to get back on the train in the end, puffing and sweating, just as the train signaled its departure. Although we got some nice matchboxes, we decided we would not be doing that again!

You’ve mentioned that the boxes represent memories of travel and experiences through India. Do you have a favorite experience and how does the associated matchbox relate to it? I have collected these designs from many places over many months, collectively they have become more of a personal map that represents my time and journey through India. These tangible objects are visual signifiers of memories that are less anecdotal and more about feelings for a place, an event, a person or an experience. It is not just the visual contained on the matchbox which signifies the memory but their physical condition and the ‘scars’ of their use. I cannot attach a memory to all of them but certainly my attachment for them goes beyond that of their design.

What sort of value do you prescribe to your collection? These matchboxes have come to represent my time here in India. Their value is not quantifiable.

Graphically speaking which is your favorite matchbox? My favorite design would be the ‘502’ (The flaming match with the blue background). I love the graphic simplified form, the horizontal composition and limited use of bold flat colour. It reminds me of the famous ‘Priester’ poster by Lucian Bernhard.

Are there other collections that you admire or envy? Not collections as such but I admire the work of Pop artists such as Peter Blake and Andy Warhol as well as Joseph Cornell’s surreal boxed assemblages of found objects. In a way this collection has a lot to do with that tradition. As Wikipedia says…’Pop art challenged tradition by asserting that an artist’s use of the mass-produced visual commodities of popular culture is contiguous with the perspective of Fine Art since Pop removes the material from its context and isolates the object, or combines it with other objects, for contemplation. The concept of pop art refers not as much to the art itself as to the attitudes that led to it.’

Are you still collecting? Are there other items you collect? Yes, still collecting. I will be traveling through North India soon so am looking forward to chancing upon lots of new designs then. I used to collect used postcards as a child, though I think they got thrown away a long, long time ago. I do not really collect anything else, though the idea of collection runs through many of my personal art projects where I like to work thematically, exploring ideas through series of drawings (often quite small) to be displayed collectively side by side. For example, recent projects include a series of 50 praying character drawing, a series of 100 drawings of strange ways to die, or exploring landscapes through a limited set of iconography. There is something interesting about working thematically through a series of ideas at a small scale, and how they display a collective identity when exhibited together.

View the collection in its entirety here.