Mansi Rao: Dining tables on streets and carpets on floors – A study of vernacular furniture in north-west India

The South Asia Collection Museum in Norwich,UK has over 250 vernacular furniture items and related objects from north-west India. When it came to representing these objects, available research was scarce. Emerging from this museological need of contextualising the collection, a collaborative project, ‘Vernacular Furniture of North-West India’ was conducted with the Design Innovation and Craft Resource Centre (DICRC), CEPT University, India. The project was carried out in three phases between 2015 and 2021 with the aim to identify, map, document and study vernacular furniture that has traditionally been, and continues to be an inherent part of day-to-day life in an Indian household. The project is the first of its kind. It not only provides extensive documentation of diverse furniture types that are used in the region, but also challenges inherited narratives about what furniture is in an Indian context. It makes an important contribution to museological discourses and highlights the need for this important form of material culture to be regarded in the same light as other forms of cultural heritage such as architecture and textiles.

The talk draws on the knowledge gained through fieldwork experiences. It presents a variety of vernacular furniture and everyday objects and includes the voices of the people who continue to make and use such furniture and for whom such items are an integral part of their everyday life.

Mansi S Rao

Collection Curator

The South Asia Collection, Norwich, UK

Mansi S Rao is the Collection Curator at The South Asia Collection and the SADACC Trust, Norwich, UK. Her professional work has mainly included projects relating to craft practices that are living traditions in South Asia, predominantly in India and Sri Lanka. Her curatorial practice and research are focused on bridging gaps that exist in the study of craft objects and their socio-cultural bearing within source communities.

In her previous role as a Senior Research Associate at the Design Innovation and Craft Resource Centre (DICRC), CEPT University, India, an important project she worked on as a Principal Researcher was the Vernacular Furniture of North-West India project. Her talk today is based on this project. Having first graduated as an architect, Mansi has previous experience of spatial design, heritage listing and documentation projects with INTACH, and architectural conservation projects. Mansi is also an advisor for the Ena de Silva Foundation in Sri Lanka to develop projects and methods for archiving and researching Ena’s textile and other craft works. She has an MA in Museums, Heritage and Material Culture Studies from SOAS, University of London. She was awarded the Chevening Scholarship (2017–18) and the Charles Wallace India Trust and Simon Digby Charitable Trust Scholarship (2017–18) to study and conduct research in the UK.