Geraldine Forbes | Bengali Pats / Story Scrolls: My Collection

The Moynihan Institute's South Asia Center welcomes Geraldine Forbes, professor emerita from the State University of New York at Oswego.

Researching 19th-century Positivism in Bengal and then Indian women who joined politics and social work in the 1920s and 30s, Frobes was introduced to the patuas of Medinipur in the late 1970s. The first scrolls she encountered featured religious stories but, by the 1980s, some of the artists had been commissioned to comment on women’s issues. Along with scrolls that featured religious topics, Forbes collected pats on dowry and the abuse of women. By the early 2000s, more sophisticated collectors urged her to acquire pats on historical events and the work of master painters. The extraordinary paintings done in 2001 and 2002 of 9/11 sparked my interest in how the patuas were representing contemporary issues.

Over the years the artists have responded to consumer demands by switching from painting scrolls to producing trays, cups, kettles, umbrellas, vases, saris, scarves, and fans featuring images from traditional scrolls. In this talk, Forbes will reflect on what she acquired over four decades and how the subjects, gender, and medium of the artists have changed.