Fairy Tales: The promise of happiness

 

Fairy tales are not bound by borders, social class, custom, religion, age or time. They are products of our desire to consider the world around us from within the safe realm of fiction. Fairy tales come to meet us where we are; they shift and change to reflect the needs and wants of audiences. The hopefulness embodied in many fairy tales once functioned to alleviate the drudgery of daily life — they both entertained and imparted wisdom.

The classic tales of ‘Cinderella’ and ‘Snow White’ promised better times and, if this was not possible, at least concluded with satisfactorily gruesome endings for the wicked. These stories were written at a time when women’s autonomy and access to education were severely restricted and, according to the law, they were subordinate to their fathers or husbands. For early readers, ‘happily ever after’ represented the institution of marriage and a life of stability, free of strife and hardship.

Watch | Director Tarsem Singh’s filmic adaptation of ‘Snow White’

Courtesy: Relativity Media

Watch | Go behind-the-scences of Eiko Ishioka’s costumes

Courtesy: Relativity Media

When the Parisian aristocracy recorded these stories — with their ostentatious ballrooms and banquets, luxurious carriages, opulent dresses, expensive jewellery and impossible shoes — they evoked aspirational wealth, status and power. Marrying for love, and between classes, were risky topics for the time.

While the visions of adventure, community, happiness and love in wonder tales of centuries past still intrigue contemporary audiences, many stories today are being retold in ways that challenge patriarchal systems and imagine new, more equitable ways of living for all.

A romantic fairy tale requires a wardrobe to match. Dress is critical to the identity of many fairy tale characters: it indicates status or occupation, and signals magical transformation. For Japanese designer Eiko Ishioka the costumes for the queen in Mirror Mirror (2012) are a demonstration of power and wealth. The costumes worn by Julia Roberts as ‘Queen Clementianna’ are oversized and highly embellished, sculptural in form and bold in design and colour. For Ishioka, it was important to reveal aspects of the character’s personality and emotions, the gold thread and detailed embellishment is important and reflects Clementianna’s assertions in the film that gold is her colour. The eye-catching ‘Peach dress’ costume (illustrated) is intended to intimidate her subjects through its opulence and scale. Another stunning creation for Queen Clementianna, the ‘Green dress’ costume (illustrated) conveys the complexities of character through colour, which shows the depth of the queen’s envy of Princess Snow played by Lily Collins, the highly constructed and precise nature of the dress also reflects Clementianna’s attempts to conceal her true personality in order to woo the prince played by Armie Hammer.

Eiko Ishioka (designer) ‘Green dress’ and ‘Peach dress’ costumes

Tarsem Singh (director), India/United States b.1961 / Eiko Ishioka (designer), Japan 1938–2012 / Eric Winterling (costumier), United States / ‘Green dress’ and ‘Peach dress’ costume from Mirror Mirror (2012) installed in ‘Fairy Tales’, Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA), Brisbane 2023 / Collection: The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, Los Angeles / Photograph: C Callistemon © QAGOMA

Eiko Ishioka (Designer) ‘Yellow dress with hood’ costume

Tarsem Singh (Director), India/United States b.1961 / Eiko Ishioka (Designer), Japan 1938–2012 / Production still from Mirror Mirror (2012) / © 2012 UV RML NL Assets LLC. / Photograph: Jan Thijs / Image courtesy: Relativity Media
(Left) Tarsem Singh (Director), India/United States b.1961 / Eiko Ishioka (Designer), Japan 1938–2012 / Production still from Mirror Mirror (2012) / © 2012 UV RML NL Assets LLC. / Photograph: Jan Thijs / Image courtesy: Relativity Media / (Right) Eiko Ishioka (Designer); Tricorne Costumes (Costumier) / ‘Yellow dress with hood’ costume from Mirror Mirror (2012) installed in ‘Fairy Tales’, Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA), Brisbane 2023 / Silk taffeta, polyester, nylon tulle, synthetic taffeta / Collection: The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, Los Angeles / Photograph: C Callistemon © QAGOMA

Showcased in the ‘Fairy Tales’ exhibition are eight incredible creations by Ishioka, created for Mirror Mirror — director Tarsem Singh’s filmic adaptation of ‘Snow White’. Richly detailed and sumptuously executed, Ishioka’s costumes bring the impossible luxury of fairy tales to life and highlight the aspirational nature of stories in which characters rise above servitude to a life of privilege and financial security.

Buy Tickets to ‘Fairy Tales’
Until 28 April 2024
Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane

‘Fairy Tales’ unfolds across three themed chapters. ‘Into the Woods’ explores the conventions and characters of traditional fairy tales alongside their contemporary retellings. ‘Through the Looking Glass’ presents newer tales of parallel worlds that are filled with unexpected ideas and paths. ‘Ever After’ brings together classic and current tales to celebrate aspirations, challenge convention and forge new directions.

Travel with us in our weekly series through each room and theme of the ‘Fairy Tales’ exhibition at Brisbane’s Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) as we focus on the stunning costumes from Mirror Mirror (2012) on display in Australia for the first time.

DELVE DEEPER: Journey through the ‘Fairy Tales’ exhibition with our weekly series

EXHIBITION THEME: 13 Ever After

Ishioka described her concept for Mirror Mirror as ‘hybrid classic’, an approach that allowed the designer to draw on fashions from the sixteenth to the nineteenth centuries to create the grandeur and whimsy of the fairy tale aesthetic sought by director Tarsem Singh. Ishioka led the creation of more than 400 costumes, as well as the purchase of and alterations to an additional 600 existing costumes. While many were completed by local costumiers and craftsman in Montreal, close to her studio and the film’s shooting location, the primary costumes were handmade in New York across four different ateliers; Tricorne Costumes, Jennifer Love Costumes, Carelli Costumes and Eric Winterling Costumes.

Eiko Ishioka (designer) ‘Cream wedding dress’ costume

The centrepiece of these extraordinary creations on display in ‘Fairy Tales’ is the exceptionally romantic ‘Cream wedding dress’ costume for Snow’s stepmother, Queen Clementianna. With its heavy layers of silken petals and vine motif, the garment has a vast circumference of 8.5 metres, weighs approximately 27 kilograms, and was designed to dominate the room.

Tarsem Singh (director), India/United States b.1961 / Eiko Ishioka (designer), Japan 1938–2012 / Carelli Costumes (costumier), United States est. 1982 /‘Cream wedding dress’ costume from Mirror Mirror (2012) installed in ‘Fairy Tales’, Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA), Brisbane 2023 / Duchess silk satin, Swarovski crystals / Collection: The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, Los Angeles / Photograph: N Umek © QAGOMA
Tarsem Singh (Director), India/United States b.1961 / Eiko Ishioka (Designer), Japan 1938–2012 / Production still from Mirror Mirror (2012) / © 2012 UV RML NL Assets LLC. / Photograph: Jan Thijs / Image courtesy: Relativity Media

Eiko Ishioka (designer) ‘Swan dress’ & ‘Rabbit suit’ costumes

These are the first of two costumes created for Princess Snow (Snow White) and her handsome beau, Prince Alcott. Worn during the film’s masquerade ball scene, the princess’s ‘Swan dress’ costume symbolises her youthful vitality and gentleness. The flowing white gown, with its wings and headdress, depicts Snow’s desire to escape the restrictive confines of life with her stepmother, Queen Clementianna.

Accompanying this costume is the ‘Rabbit suit’ costume worn by Prince Alcott, chosen for him by the queen, who is trying to charm the prince into marriage. She attempts to flatter him by saying, ‘In folklore, the rabbit is known to use cunning and trickery to outwit his enemies’. With its prominent bunny ears and lopsided top hat, Prince Alcott concedes that he ‘looks ridiculous’ when dancing with Princess Snow.

Tarsem Singh (director), India/United States b.1961 / Eiko Ishioka (designer), Japan 1938–2012 / Tricorne Costumes (costumier), United States est. 2000 / ‘Swan dress’ costume from Mirror Mirror (2012) installed in ‘Fairy Tales’, Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA), Brisbane 2023 / Silk, synthetic tulle, plastic, metal, nylon, feathers, resin / Collection: The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, Los Angeles / Photograph: C Callistemon © QAGOMA
Tarsem Singh (director), India/United States b.1961 / Eiko Ishioka (designer), Japan 1938–2012 / Carelli Costumes (costumier), United States est. 1982 / ‘Rabbit suit’ costume from Mirror Mirror (2012) installed in ‘Fairy Tales’, Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA), Brisbane 2023 / Silk, polyester, cotton, silk jacquard, synthetic fur, synthetic velvet, leather, rhinestones / Collection: The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, Los Angeles / Photograph: N Umek © QAGOMA
Tarsem Singh (Director), India/United States b.1961 / Eiko Ishioka (Designer), Japan 1938–2012 / Production still from Mirror Mirror (2012) / © 2012 UV RML NL Assets LLC. / Photograph: Jan Thijs / Image courtesy: Relativity Media

Eiko Ishioka (designer) ‘Wedding dress’ & ‘Wedding suit’ costumes

Princess Snow’s blue wedding gown features a burst of orange sleeves and an oversized bow at the back, complementing Prince Alcott’s tasselled wedding attire. Both costumes signify a new, independent future, free of the clutches of the soon-to-be-dead Queen Clementianna. In the film, the princess is wearing this gown as she begins her new life with a Bollywood-inspired dance — a nod to the contemporary, fractured nature of the tale and the cultural heritage of the director.

Tarsem Singh (director), India/United States b.1961 / Eiko Ishioka (designer), Japan 1938–2012 / Tricorne Costumes (costumier), United States est. 2000 / ‘Wedding dress’ costume from Mirror Mirror (2012) installed in ‘Fairy Tales’, Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA), Brisbane 2023 / Silk, synthetic, cotton / Collection: The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, Los Angeles / Photograph: C Callistemon © QAGOMA
Tarsem Singh (director), India/United States b.1961 / Eiko Ishioka (designer), Japan 1938–2012 / Carelli Costumes (costumier), United States est. 1982 / ‘Wedding suit’ costume from Mirror Mirror (2012) installed in ‘Fairy Tales’, Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA), Brisbane 2023 / Silk, cotton, synthetic, leather, rubber, plastic, metal / Collection: The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, Los Angeles / Photograph: C Callistemon © QAGOMA
Tarsem Singh (Director), India/United States b.1961 / Eiko Ishioka (Designer), Japan 1938–2012 / Production still from Mirror Mirror (2012) / © 2012 UV RML NL Assets LLC. / Photograph: Jan Thijs / Image courtesy: Relativity Media

TheFairy Talesexhibition is at Brisbane’s Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA), Australia from 2 December 2023 until 28 April 2024.

Fairy Tales Cinema: Truth, Power and Enchantment‘ presented in conjunction with GOMA’s blockbuster summer exhibition screens at the Australian Cinémathèque, GOMA from 2 December 2023 until 28 April 2024.

The major publication Fairy Tales in Art and Film’ available at the QAGOMA Store and online explores how fairy tales have held our fascination for centuries through art and culture.

From gift ideas, treats just for you or the exhibition publication, visit the ‘Fairy Tales’ exhibition shop at GOMA or online.

‘Fairy Tales’ merchandise available at the GOMA exhibition shop or online.

#QAGOMA

Peking Opera robe made in transparent plastic

 

Chinese artist Wang Jin’s Robe 1999 renders the iconic form of the Peking Opera robe in transparent plastic embroidered with fishing line (illustrated). The juxtaposition of a traditional high-cultural form and modern synthetic material refers to transformations in Chinese society, most pointedly the rapid evolution of consumerism. Robe is on display within the exhibition ‘I Can Spin Skies’ at the Queensland Art Gallery’s Henry and Amanda Bartlett Galleries (5 & 6).

Wang Jin ‘Robe’ 1999

Wang Jin, China b.1962 / Robe 1999 / Polyvinyl chloride and fishing line / 183 x 205.5 x 16.5cm / Gift of an anonymous donor through the QAG Foundation 2011. Donated through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art / © Wang Jin

Plastic, for Wang, is the material that most succinctly represents the contradictions of contemporary society — it is at once cheap and versatile, widespread and environmentally unfriendly. While producing such a revered article of traditional culture from such a crude fabric might be seen as disrespectful, the object itself retains a haunting beauty, one that could only be produced by the use of such a luminous surface to construct what remains a form of undeniable elegance.

This suggests that the relationship between tradition and modernity is more complex than a process of displacement, with an older tradition making way for a new one. In this sense, the forces at work in a rapidly transforming Chinese society deserve careful and ongoing attention.

Wang Jin, China b.1962 / Robe (details) 1999

#QAGOMA

Fairy Tales: Timothy Horn’s improbable objects

 

The ‘Fairy Tales’ exhibition comes alive with magical moments that defy expectations. Timothy Horn’s Mother-load 2008 presents an improbable object — a coach made of sugar — rendering make‑believe into reality, while Glass slipper (ugly blister) 2001 gives a modern take on the ‘Cinderella’ story with an oversized, highly embellished jewel-encrusted slipper.

Buy Tickets to ‘Fairy Tales’
Until 28 April 2024
Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane

‘Fairy Tales’ unfolds across three themed chapters. ‘Into the Woods’ explores the conventions and characters of traditional fairy tales alongside their contemporary retellings. ‘Through the Looking Glass’ presents newer tales of parallel worlds that are filled with unexpected ideas and paths. ‘Ever After’ brings together classic and current tales to celebrate aspirations, challenge convention and forge new directions.

Travel with us in our weekly series through each room and theme of the ‘Fairy Tales’ exhibition at Brisbane’s Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) as we take you on a tour of artwork highlights on display.

DELVE DEEPER: Journey through the ‘Fairy Tales’ exhibition with our weekly series

EXHIBITION THEME: 12 Ever After

Timothy Horn ‘Mother-load’ 2008

Australian sculptor Timothy Horn’s Mother-load 2008 (illustraterd), from his ‘Bitter Suite’ series, is a striking half-sized rendering of an ornate sedan chair — popular among the Neapolitan elite of the eighteenth century — encrusted in golden crystallised rock sugar. The work is grounded in the historical ‘rags to riches’ tale of Alma de Bretteville Spreckels. Spreckels rose from humble beginnings as a child of Danish immigrants to become a renowned North American art collector, philanthropist and socialite through her marriage to sugar baron Adolph Spreckels, whom she affectionately called her ‘sugar daddy’.

Motherload is inspired by the antique coach owned by ‘Big Alma’, who used it as a phonebooth in her Pacific Heights mansion in San Francisco. This highly embellished sculpture presents the kind of impossible fantasy of wealth and opulence central to many aspirational stories, including ‘Cinderella’. Its sugary materiality — beckoning viewers to contemplate a forbidden taste of the artwork.

Timothy Horn, Australia/United States b.1964 / Mother-load 2008, installed in ‘Fairy Tales’, Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA), Brisbane 2023 / Crystalised rock sugar, plywood, steel / Courtesy: Timothy Horn / © Timothy Horn

Timothy Horn ‘Glass slipper (ugly blister)’ 2001

In contrast to the faceted lines of an all-glass slipper, the jewel-encrusted lead crystal creation of Timothy Horn, Glass slipper (ugly blister) 2001 (illustrated), from the artist’s ‘Cinderella Complex’ sculpture series, captures the grandeur of the court of Louis XIV and the Palace of Versailles at the time of Charles Perrault’s telling of ‘Cinderella’. In the Baroque period, glass mirrors and crystal were highly valued objects of opulence and luxury. Fascinated by eighteenth-century engravings, patterns, jewellery and fashion, Horn blends a love of Baroque and Rococo art and glasswork.

Timothy Horn, Australia/United States b.1964 / Glass slipper (ugly blister) 2001, installed in ‘Fairy Tales’, Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA), Brisbane 2023 / Lead crystal, nickel-plated bronze, Easter egg foil, silicon / 51 x 72 x 33cm / Purchased 2002 / Collection: National Gallery of Australia, Canberra / © Timothy Horn

TheFairy Talesexhibition is at Brisbane’s Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA), Australia from 2 December 2023 until 28 April 2024.

Fairy Tales Cinema: Truth, Power and Enchantment‘ presented in conjunction with GOMA’s blockbuster summer exhibition screens at the Australian Cinémathèque, GOMA from 2 December 2023 until 28 April 2024.

The major publication Fairy Tales in Art and Film’ available at the QAGOMA Store and online explores how fairy tales have held our fascination for centuries through art and culture.

From gift ideas, treats just for you or the exhibition publication, visit the ‘Fairy Tales’ exhibition shop at GOMA or online.

‘Fairy Tales’ merchandise available at the GOMA exhibition shop or online.

#QAGOMA

For the love of it: Curator picks for 2024

 

On the last Wednesday of each month of 2024 the Australian Cinémathèque curatorial team present ‘For the love of it: A curator’s pick’ These films which have shaped the way they think about cinema — unbounded by theme, genre, or era, this eclectic selection ranges from guilty pleasures to Palme d’Or winners, most of which have never screened at QAGOMA.

On 27 March, Rosie Hays will present Underground (1995), Emir Kursturica’s raucus, circus-esque reflection on survival in times of war, which follows a community who move underground in war-torn Sarajevo.

In an equally vibrant screening, Rob Hughes has selected The Eight Diagram Pole Fighter (1984). This pinnacle of Hong Kong action cinema features one of the most extraordinarily choreographed fight sequences in cinema history, and will screen on 24 April.

Amanda Slack-Smith’s pick for 29 May is Boaz Yakin’s neo-noir Fresh (1994). Set in the slums of New York City, this gritty film applies the logic of chess to find a path through the injustices faced by contemporary African-American communities.

By mid-year, Lynne Ramsay’s, mesmeric Morvern Callar (2002), will be introduced by Sophie Hopmeier on 26 June. This enigmatic tale of mourning and reinvention is a tour de force of sensory cinema.

March | Underground (1995) M

Emir Kursturica’s meditation on war and the whirlwind of being caught in its tumult beats with a raucous and ecstatic heart. In Sarajevo, in the former Yugoslavia, a band of people head underground to live in a cellar seeking safety from the political corruption and conflict raging through the ravaged city. A moment of refuge becomes 20 years of life as they are convinced the war has not ended. Weddings, celebrations, parades and all the highs and lows of the human condition continue on in their self-imposed exile. The film is driven by Goran Bregović’s unruly, vital score that blends Gypsy and Balkan brass with punk sensibilities. A tour de force of the brutal, bombastic and beautiful motivations between people, Underground won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 1995.

6.30pm, Wednesday 27 March 2024

Production still from Underground (1995) / Director: Emir Kusturica / Image courtesy: Newen Connect

April | The Eight Diagram Pole Fighter (1984) M

Partway through the production of this martial arts epic from the legendary Shaw Brothers studio, lead actor Alexander Fu Sheng was killed in a car accident. Filming was halted and the script re-written by its pioneering director-choreographer Lau Kar-leung, who shaped the film into an enthralling treatise on rage, vengeance and mourning – culminating in arguably the most extraordinary action climax ever captured on celluloid. One of the highest peaks of Hong Kong cinema, The Eight Diagram Pole Fighter is a stunningly choreographed, potently realised showcase of the depths of the soul and the upper limits of what the human body can achieve.

6.30pm, Wednesday 24 April 2024

Production still from The Eight Diagram Pole Fighter (1984) / Director: Lau Kar-Leung / Image courtesy: Celestial Pictures

May | Fresh (1994) MA15+

Boaz Yakin’s Fresh is a coming-of-age story and gritty tale of crime and retribution in the slum neighbourhoods of New York City. Fresh (Sean Nelson) is a tough 12-year old who plans on surviving his current situation. While living in foster care with his Aunt and sister Nichole (N’Bushe Wright), he deals drugs for local gangster Esteban (Giancarlo Esposito) and saves the money. Wise beyond his years, Fresh decides to use the logic of chess learnt from his estranged father (Samuel L Jackson), to form a strategy that might help him achieve his ultimate goal. Incisive and packing an emotional pull, Fresh is a riveting and entirely unique neo-noir that situates the genre within a contemporary African-American experience.

6.30pm, Wednesday 29 May 2024

Production still from Fresh (1994) / Director: Boaz Yakin / Image courtesy: Studio Canal Australia

June | Morvern Callar (2002) M

Lynne Ramsay’s enigmatic adaption of Alan Warner’s novel traces the actions of Scottish supermarket worker Morvern Callar (Samantha Morton) following the death of her boyfriend. Moved according to her own strange logic and (a)moral code, Callar is a serene and inscrutable figure. Whilst Morton’s stripped back performance highlights a state of disconnection, we are drawn in through her character’s rich sensory world. Ramsay’s exquisitely shot and soundtracked film is a masterwork of visual atmosphere, touching us though the substance and texture of images, which envelop us in sensations which make us experience the world around us anew.

6.30pm, Wednesday 26 June 2024

Production still from Morvern Callar 2002 / Director: Lynne Ramsay / Image courtesy: Company Pictures

July | The Taste of Tea (2004) 18+

August | The Heartbreak Kid (1972) M

September | P’tit Quinquin (2014) 15+

December | Visages Villages (Faces Places) (2017) G

The Australian Cinémathèque
The Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA) is the only Australian art gallery with purpose-built facilities dedicated to film and the moving image. The Australian Cinémathèque at GOMA provides an ongoing program of film and video that you’re unlikely to see elsewhere, offering a rich and diverse experience of the moving image, showcasing the work of influential filmmakers and international cinema, rare 35mm prints, recent restorations and silent films with live musical accompaniment by local musicians or on the Gallery’s Wurlitzer organ originally installed in Brisbane’s Regent Theatre in November 1929.

Featured image: Production still from Fresh (1994) / Director: Boaz Yakin / Image courtesy: Studio Canal Australia 

#QAGOMA

Telia rumal: Double ikat textiles from South India

 

This collection of extraordinary telia rumal (some of which are on display within the exhibition ‘I Can Spin Skies’ at the Queensland Art Gallery’s Henry and Amanda Bartlett Galleries (5 & 6) was made using time-consuming double ikat dyeing techniques. Few weavers still maintain the skills required to create these attractive textiles, in part because economic pressure demands faster production.

Dana McCown, textile specialist on the telia rumal tradition, and who recently gifted this collection to QAGOMA gives us an insight into their craftsmanship and beauty.

Gajam Ramulu ‘Telia rumal’ 1999

Gajam Ramulu, India 1944-2012 / Telia rumal 1999 / Dyed cotton, warp and weft ikat, alizarin dye, natural oil and ash treatment / 109 x 107cm / Gift of Dana McCown through the QAGOMA Foundation 2020 / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art / © QAGOMA

Gunti Bhaskar Rao ‘Telia rumal with Islamic designs’ c.1990s

Gunti Bhaskar Rao, India b.unknown / Telia rumal with Islamic designs c.1990s / Dyed cotton, warp and weft ikat, alizarin dye / 105 x 108cm / Gift of Dana McCown through the QAGOMA Foundation 2020 / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art / © QAGOMA

Nalgonda Weaver ‘Telia rumal with lions, clocks and swastikas’  c.1990s

Nalgonda Weaver, India / Telia rumal with lions, clocks and swastikas c.1990s / Dyed cotton, warp and weft ikat in centre, supplementary weft lines in border corner / 112 x 208cm / Gift of Dana McCown through the QAGOMA Foundation 2020 / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art / © QAGOMA

The origins of telia rumal

The name telia rumal is derived from the oil process that enables the cotton fibre to accept dye. Telia means oil and rumal means square, referring to the basic shape of the textile. The style developed in Chirala, on the coast of Andra Pradesh, with the earliest recorded pieces made in the 1800s, but spread further to the Nalgonda District due to high demand from Arabic markets. Presently, the village of Puttapaka, Nalgonda District is one of the few places still weaving the telia rumal. There, the Gajam family have been keeping the skill alive.

Traditionally the imagery of the telia rumal was simple and geometric, but over time both Arabic and Hindu imagery was introduced. In the 1920s, more modern images emerged, from airplanes to clocks.

The Puttapaka weavers carrying on the tradition are from the Padmasali caste, which, translated, means ‘lotus weavers’. Life in the village centres around the temple; within, a family tree on the wall depicts the god Markandeye at the apex, with all Padmasali weavers descending from his sons.

The ikat process

The more common single form of ikat is a process where the warp or weft yarn is resist-tied before being dyed and then woven. (‘Resist dying’ uses various methods — in this case, tied-off sections of yarn — to dye textiles with patterns.) Single ikat is found in many places around the world, but double ikat is more rare, requiring a high degree of work and precision found in only a few places, particularly in Japan, India and Bali.

(Left to right) Examples of weft, warp and double ikat styles, as illustrated by the author / Courtesy: Dana McCown

There is a simple way to distinguish if fabric is ikat: the edges of images have a ‘feathering’ effect, created as the yarn moves slightly while weaving. If the feathering is on the right and left sides of the image, then it is weft ikat; if on the top and bottom, it is warp ikat. Feathering on all edges of shapes and images indicates double ikat.

A closer look at ikat textile feathering in Gunti Bhaskar Rao’s Telia rumal with Islamic designs (detail) c.1990s / Gift of Dana McCown through the QAGOMA Foundation 2020 / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art / © QAGOMA

To make telia rumal imagery, the weaving process requires an even greater degree of precision and preparation than for single ikat. To create the tied resist (undyed) areas on the yarn, the warp is first taken outside and stretched to full length. Rumals are traditionally made in units of eight. After stretching the yarn, a folding process enables all eight pieces to be tied at once, thus saving considerable time. The large areas to be resisted are tied with black rubber strips from bicycle inner tubes. These are easily available in the village, as many villagers ride bikes. Small resist areas are done with cotton yarn.

Craftsmen in Puttapaka stretch out warp yarn down the street, 1999 / Photograph: Dana McCown

The weft yarn is also tied in bundles depending on how complex the design is. The simple design in this weft yarn — seen stretched out below on a frame for tying — has only 15 bundles to be tied differently. More complex designs could have 150 bundles all tied and dyed differently. The first colour is always red; after that dye bath, ties are removed and re-tied to protect red and white areas from the black dye.

Weft is wound onto the frame with 15 dyed bundles to create this design, Puttapaka, 1999 / Photograph: Dana McCown
Yarn is removed from a red dye pot — always the first colour to be applied, Puttapaka, 1999 / Photograph: Dana McCown
Ramulu weaves a telia rumal length on a pit loom with fly shuttle in Puttapaka, 1999 / Photograph: Dana McCown

How telia rumal fabric is used

Traditionally, telia rumal has been worn in various ways by both men and women. Here are contemporary examples of it being worn both as turban and shoulder cloth for men.

Telia rumal textiles are worn in various ways (Left to right) A Hyderabad man wears a simple turban made with three lengths of rumal, 1999; master weaver Gajam Govardhan wears a shoulder cloth of two lengths, Puttapaka, 1999 / Photographs: Dana McCown

During the rule of the Nizams (1724–1948), telia rumal was popular with aristocratic Muslim women of Hyderabad. They wore two (square) rumal lengths joined together as dupattas or shoulder cloths. Eventually these dupattas were specially woven as rectangles, without the border between the two squares. Occasionally, they were heavily embroidered around the edges using gold, silver or silk thread to create a luxurious textile.

The contemporary telia rumal shawl/dupatta (illustrated below), hand-embroidered with silk thread in a paisley motif with trailing flowers, was commissioned by late textile enthusiast, Mrs Suraiya Hasan of Hyderabad. She searched for weavers and embroiderers able to replicate old styles seen in museum photographs.

Nalgonda Weaver, India / Embroidered dupatta rumal 2004 / Puttapaka saree, cotton yarn, hand-embroidered silk, warp and weft ikat, dyes / 92 x 250cm / Gift of Dana McCown through the QAGOMA Foundation 2020 / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art / © QAGOMA

Today, telia rumals are recognised for their craftsmanship and beauty, and are also created for decorative purposes. The large award-winning piece pictured below — designed and woven by Master Weaver Gajam Govardhan of Puttapaka — contains 100 different images of significance. Because there are no repeated images, the work required to resist-tie the yarn took months. Hundreds of bundles were individually tied and died for warp and weft. It is considered his ‘masterpiece’. For this extraordinary accomplishment, he was awarded the Padma Shri Award — the fourth-highest civilian award for distinguished service in India.

Weaving the telia rumal in South India

Two groups of the telia rumal gifted to the QAGOMA Collection have been featuredI Can Spin Skies’ in Queensland Art Gallery’s Henry and Amanda Bartlett Galleries (Galleries 5 and 6) between August 2023 and June 2024.

Dana McCown is a textile specialist world-renowned for her research on the telia rumal tradition. Her expertise is captured in a remarkable collection of textiles, gifted to the Gallery in 2020, which she worked closely with artists to develop over the course of more than 25 years. A selection of these works was included in ‘An Endangered Species: Telia Rumal: Double Ikats of South India’, exhibited at Toowoomba Regional Art Gallery in 2001, for which McCown wrote the accompanying publication.

Featured image: Gajam Govardhan’s award-winning 100 motif telia rumal 2011, installed for the first rotation of ‘I Can Spin Skies’, QAG, Nov 2023 / Gift of Dana McCown through the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art Foundation 2020 / © QAGOMA / Photograph: J Ruckli © QAGOMA

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Fairy Tales: Ever After

 

The final major theme of ‘Fairy Tales’, ‘Ever After’ addresses love and the myriad ways this complex emotion plays out in the genre. While the sentiment of ‘happily ever after’ often implies romantic love, fairy tales also offer broader perspectives on human connections, including love in all its forms — familial, platonic, intellectual and, of course, unrequited.

Bringing together works of art, design and film, ‘Ever After’ draws on the influential writings of Hans Christian Andersen, Carlo Collodi, AS Byatt and Oscar Wilde, alongside the many stories inspired by the Arabian Nights — also known as One Thousand and One Nights — a volume of Middle Eastern folktales and stories from across the Arab world and India.

Production still from The Adventures of Prince Achmed (1926) / Director: Lotte Reiniger / Courtesy: The British Film institute National Archive, London / © British Film institute

Published at the same time European fairy tales emerged from French salons, these stories were first translated from Arabic in the early 1700s by French orientalist Antoine Galland, who took the liberty of adding his own now-famous tales, ‘Aladdin’ and ‘Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves’. Hugely popular, their themes of wealth, revenge and transformation merged with European conventions to forge the modern fairy tale. These influences can be seen in the aspirational stories of ‘Cinderella’ and ‘Snow White’, narratives that continue to inform our understanding of fairy tales and romantic love to this day.

Buy Tickets to ‘Fairy Tales’
Until 28 April 2024
Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane

‘Fairy Tales’ unfolds across three themed chapters. ‘Into the Woods’ explores the conventions and characters of traditional fairy tales alongside their contemporary retellings. ‘Through the Looking Glass’ presents newer tales of parallel worlds that are filled with unexpected ideas and paths. ‘Ever After’ brings together classic and current tales to celebrate aspirations, challenge convention and forge new directions.

Travel with us in our weekly series through each room and theme of the ‘Fairy Tales’ exhibition at Brisbane’s Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) as we take you on a journey to see magical objects on display.

DELVE DEEPER: Journey through the ‘Fairy Tales’ exhibition with our weekly series

EXHIBITION THEME: 11 Ever After

Lotte Reiniger ‘Aladdin and the Magic Lamp’ (1954)

Lotte Reiniger, Germany/England 1899–1981 / Production stills from Aladdin and the Magic Lamp 1954 / 35mm film transferred to digital: 14 minutes, black and white (tinted), mono; English; Director/animator: Lotte Reiniger / Courtesy: The British Film institute National Archive, London / © British Film institute

‘Arabian Nights’ (or ‘One Thousand and One Nights’) — a collection of folktales from the Middle East — have been influential throughout the history of cinema, not least in the work of German animator and filmmaker Lotte Reiniger. Reiniger’s Die Abenteuer des Prinzen Achmed (The Adventures of Prince Achmed) (1926) (illustrated) was released more than ten years before the Walt Disney Studio production of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), making it the earliest existing animated feature.

Reiniger was the foremost pioneer of the silhouette animation technique, created by manipulating cardboard cut-outs of characters and backgrounds, frame by frame, the camera overhead taking a single shot with each movement. Reiniger would go on to make more than 60 animated films, sequences and advertisements using this painstaking technique. A tale of love, adventure and a genie, Reiniger’s Aladdin and the Magic Lamp (1954) (illustrated and screening in ‘Fairy Tales’) recreates sequences and motifs from The Adventures of Prince Achmed.

Hans Christian Andersen Papercuts c.1850s–70s

Hans Christian Andersen, Denmark 1805–75 / Papercuts installed in ‘Fairy Tales’, Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA), Brisbane 2023 / Collection: Museum Odense, Denmark

Danish author and artist Hans Christian Andersen was one of the most prolific tellers of fairy tales of the nineteenth-century. He wrote 168 tales, including the beloved stories of ‘The Little Mermaid’, ‘The Snow Queen’, ‘The Little Match Girl’ and ‘The Nightingale’, to name just a few. Andersen embraced the joy and wonder of fairy tales; his poetic stories often focused on themes of identity, transformation, and the complexities of human emotions. In contrast to the Brothers Grimm, who collected existing stories from others, Andersen wrote new fairy tales, drawing on folklore, mythology and his own experiences.

Hans Christian Andersen, Denmark 1805–75 / Swans with ballerinas c.1850s–70s / Paper, mounted on card / 9.4 x 13.6cm / Collection: Museum Odense, Denmark
Hans Christian Andersen, Denmark 1805–75 / Theatre decoration with ballerinas holding a wreath 1874 / Paper, mounted on card / 13.3 x 18.2cm / Collection: Museum Odense, Denmark

In his private life, Andersen was also a great oral storyteller and entertained his friends with delicate papercuts, which he would unfurl to reveal enchanting pictures and landscapes filled with trees, castles, theatres and dancers. Andersen described these scherenschnittes (‘scissor cuts’) — inspired by the ancient Chinese art of papercutting and silhouette puppetry popular in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries — as a prelude to writing. He would produce the papercuts during after-dinner conversations, gifting them to his companions and hosts. While not directly related to Andersen’s famous tales, the nine papercuts on display in ‘Fairy Tales’ feature recurrent images drawn from the theatre, ballet and other performances, as well as images capturing the widespread nineteenth-century fascination with distant lands and cultures.

Henri Matisse Ballets Russes costume c.1920

Henri Matisse, France 1869–1954 / Marie Muelle (costumier), France / Costume for a mourner (from the Ballets Russes de Sergei Diaghilev production of ‘Le chant du rossignol’) c.1920 installed in ‘Fairy Tales’, Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA), Brisbane 2023 / Cotton-wool felt, cotton-silk velvet, sized cotton, steel wire, cotton lining / 166.5cm (height; centre back) / Purchased 1973 / Collection: National Gallery of Australia, Canberra / © Succession H Matisse/Copyright Agency

In Hans Christian Andersen’s story ‘The Nightingale’ (1843), a Chinese emperor learns the value of unconditional love and forgiveness from a nightingale, a small brown bird with a magical voice. Despite being replaced by a prettier, jewel-encrusted, mechanical songbird (presented to the emperor as a gift), the nightingale returns to him in his hour of need. Andersen’s reflection on the timeless worth of friendship expressed in this story also reflected his era, one of great industrialisation, in which the values of nature and technology were being weighed.

Andersen’s ‘The Nightingale’ has been adapted to stage and screen, including, most notably, for the Paris-based Ballets Russes’s 1920 variation of composer Igor Stravinsky’s 1914 opera Le chant du rossignol (Song of the Nightingale), on display in ‘Fairy Tales’ is Costume for a mourner c.1920 (illustrated), one of most famous costumes from the performance. Known for their unconventional and ambitious productions, the Ballets Russes developed inventive collaborations with choreographers, composers, designers and artists.

Detail of Costume for a mourner (from the Ballets Russes de Sergei Diaghilev production of ‘Le chant du rossignol’) c.1920

Henri Matisse was commissioned by Russian impresario Sergei Diaghilev to design the costumes, set and decorative elements for the production. Costume for a mourner is one of the few costumes to have survived. Influenced by the Persian and Indian art Matisse had seen at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London while working on the ballet, the costume’s design also features the artist’s distinctive use of paper-cutting, evident in the appliqué of velvet chevrons adorning a loose-fitting white felt robe and headdress. While Matisse’s more widely known ‘cut-out’ period did not emerge until much later in his career, this early use of cut‑outs in his modernist ballet design echoes Hans Christian Andersen’s love of storytelling using intricate papercuts.

Kenneth Branagh (director) Glass slipper from ‘Cinderella’ (2015)

Kenneth Branagh (director), United Kingdom b.1960 / Sandy Powell (designer), England b.1960 / Glass slipper from Cinderella 2015 installed in ‘Fairy Tales’, Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA), Brisbane 2023 / Swarovski crystal / 20.3 x 19 x 7.6cm / Courtesy: The Walt Disney Company / © Disney Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Having traversed borders and cultures, from ancient Egypt to China, to Greece, ‘Cinderella’ is one of the oldest recorded fairy tales. The most familiar version of the tale today draws on French author Charles Perrault’s ‘Cendrillon‘, written in 1697. Perrault’s was the first version to introduce the iconic fairy godmother, pumpkin coach and slipper made of glass — a magical object that sees noble rights restored, usurpers denounced, and eternal love granted.

On display in ‘Fairy Tales’ we see one of the most iconic glass slippers in cinematic history, the Swarovski crystal creation (illustrated), designed by Sandy Powell for director Kenneth Branagh’s live-action film Cinderella 2015. This slipper was developed directly from the example in the 1950 Walt Disney Studios’ animated film. Manifested on screen with the magical wave of her fairy godmother’s wand, the slipper’s fragility and specific fit speaks to the unique value bestowed on Ella, for displaying the ideals of goodness, kindness, resilience and humility.

TheFairy Talesexhibition is at Brisbane’s Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA), Australia from 2 December 2023 until 28 April 2024.

Fairy Tales Cinema: Truth, Power and Enchantment‘ presented in conjunction with GOMA’s blockbuster summer exhibition screens at the Australian Cinémathèque, GOMA from 2 December 2023 until 28 April 2024.

The major publication Fairy Tales in Art and Film’ available at the QAGOMA Store and online explores how fairy tales have held our fascination for centuries through art and culture.

From gift ideas, treats just for you or the exhibition publication, visit the ‘Fairy Tales’ exhibition shop at GOMA or online.

‘Fairy Tales’ merchandise available at the GOMA exhibition shop or online.

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