Jewelry in narratives is a curation of stories – epics, temple histories, moral stories from India in which jewelry plays an important role. The narratives are told as stories and also showcased as jewelry.
While we refer to India as one entity, it is not our goal to homogenize Indian culture. This project is one of the several pluralistic approaches to both storytelling and the practice of jewelry making and wearing in India.
India has a rich storytelling tradition that is embedded in the arts and crafts of the country. Jewelry exhibited in Jewelry in Narratives project draws from a 600-year-old storytelling craft of India – Tholu Bommalata or shadow leather puppetry. The spacers and accents used in jewelry are made of brass by Dokra artisans in Chattisgargh.
In Tholu Bommalata (pronounced Tho loo Bom malaata), the maker-storyteller brings the characters to life by speaking, singing and manipulating the puppets behind a screen. The stories, songs, and the colorful puppets belong together. However, because of a steady decline in patronage over years, the puppet makers have turned to commodifying their craft as décor objects and jewelry. These objects exist fragmented, separated from their stories.
The primary aim of the Jewelry in Narratives project is to unite the jewelry with the story once again. It offers a unified approach to the craft that is sustainable and profitable while creating desirable products. The project functions on the “create with me” framework where collaborators teach and learn skills from each other.
Founded by Divya N, this non-profit project looks at art jewelry as adornment, as a repository of stories, a signifier of culture, and as a narrative device.
Trapped in the residues of colonial history, Indian jewelry is globally discussed as an exotic object where the value of the object comes from its materiality and making and not from the memories it holds or stories it shares. This project, is an effort to decolonise the gaze through which Indian jewelry is seen. By looking at jewelry and its making as storytelling, we hope to discuss the joy the play of jewelry brings to the maker, wearer and viewer.
All artwork for the stories and jewelry have been painstakingly created by Divya N and Sinde Sriramulu. Each piece of jewelry that is created is handmade and original. The whole project was conceived and executed during the pandemic, under several constraints. It has come to life over long calls, video conferencing sessions, millions of messages and multiple packages of art materials and components couriered across the various states of India.
The stories have been collected from various sources, including oral histories and temple histories and compiled to form one narrative. Hence, there may be differences from the master narrative. The project hopes only to be a curator of stories and not an expert on history, religion and mythology or iconography.
This is a Not-For-Profit, self-sponsored project, with artisans equitably compensated for their contribution.
Divya N
Divya N, Project head
Divya is a fashion designer, jewelry maker, design educator, and blogger who lives, teaches and makes in Chennai, India. She is the founder of Sayuri, a brand that creates colourful, kitschy mixed media jewelry filled with stories of India.
Sinde Sriramulu, Artist
Sriramulu is a leather puppetry artist and performer from Nimmalakunta, Andhra Pradesh. Along with his wife, parents, and in-laws, he creates puppets, jewelry and paintings and Home Décor articles.
Prerna Kolluri
Prerna is a fashion communication graduate, who is the project assistant at Jewelry in Narratives. She is a photographer, writer and an ardent experimenter with a zest for knowledge.
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