Structures of Memory: Modern Bengal — Memorial to Labour, Symbols of Socialism, Golden Coil (Detail)

Installation titled Structures of Memory: Modern Bengal by Indian artist Vivan Sundaram (b.1943, Simla), site-specifically installed at Victoria Memorial Hall, Calcutta, India, in 1998. 

Hosted in the colonial monument located in the center of Calcutta, the multimedia installation includes several elements brought together in a single standing historical structure. The installation uses historical textual and visual references to draw parallels both conceptually and visually. Using the original space as a platform, it functions as a site-specific interactive and participatory work.

Memorial to Labour, Symbols of Socialism, Golden Coil
is a section of Structures of Memory: Modern Bengal which consists of several components: chronicle of peasant and working-class struggles written on jute bags stacked to make a rising wall; vitrine with coil of jute fibre; vitrine with axe, hammer and sickle, encased in red velvet.

Other credits:
Compiled by Sunetra Mitra with help from Shamita Sen; fabrication: Praneet Soi, Indra Purkayashta; display: Rajesh Chakravarty, Debyendu Ukil

Exhibition history: ‘Structures of Memory: Modern Bengal,’ site-specific installation at Victoria Memorial Hall, Calcutta, 1998.

Alternative title

Structures of Memory | The History Project

Access level

Online

practitioner
Publication/Creation date

1998

Creation place

India

Medium

Site-specific installation

Dimension

304.8cm x 609.6cm x 45.72cm

Content type

artwork documentation

Share
Citation
Rights statement

In Copyright

What does this mean?

This item is covered by one or more copyrights. It is available for research only or use within Hong Kong’s fair dealing rules. Please do not copy, re-use or reproduce this item without the permission of the copyright holder.

Structures of Memory: Modern Bengal — Memorial to Labour, Symbols of Socialism, Golden Coil (Detail)