Art at Babur
Babur’s art collection began before our restaurant was rebuilt in 2005, with Rasi Chakra, the large kalamkari by A K Das in the reception area. This piece was, in fact, the inspiration for rebuilding Babur as you see it now. We subsequently acquired his Tarang, hanging in the stairwell, and he kindly agreed to make a design based on this piece for our menu folders.
Sian Lester designed and executed her two suede and leather triptychs while the re-construction was underway and these were hung before we re-opened. There is a great tradition of leatherwork in India, where Sian has travelled and absorbed the artistic influences of the Subcontinent.
We celebrated our 25th anniversary by commissioning two further pieces of art. Lasting Impressions was commissioned from Kate Pritchard, who had previously made our oversized, Indian-style papier-mâché Christmas baubles. She took her inspiration for this piece from her first trip to India.
And, after 25 years in business, we thought it was time that our guests knew something about Babur himself, the first Moghul Emperor of India. This resulted in our Baburnama Scroll painting by Durga Devi Talukdar, showing scenes from Babur’s eventful life as told by himself in his autobiography.
But our largest commission by far, commemorating our 30th anniversary, is the 45-meter long outdoor mural adjacent to the restaurant by Matt McGuiness, a food lover, artist and co-founder of Gourmandizing London who works in a graphic-design style. In this enormous piece Matt has illustrated little-known, interesting and humorous facts about Indian spices.
Rasi Chakra, Ajit Kumar Das
Natural dyes on hand-woven Bengali cotton cloth
Ajit Kumar Das lives and works near Shantiniketan, where the Indian Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore established what became a national university. Das works in the form known as kalamkari, derived from the words ‘kalam’, which means ‘pen’ in Telugu, and ‘kari’, which means “craftsmanship”. The ‘pen’ is a bamboo stylus with a jute wick and Das makes his own natural dyes. Das’ work has moved this form beyond craftsmanship into art and the Victoria & Albert Museum has four of his works in their permanent collection.
Rasi Chakra is the artist’s own horoscope and its outstanding feature is the thousands of Sanskrit words transliterated into Bengali.
Tarang, Ajit Kumar Das
Natural dyes on hand-woven Bengali cloth
Tarang is AK Das’ representation of the lotus flower (the national flower of both India and Bangladesh), a potent symbol for Hindus and Buddhists as the flower arises out of mud and yet the bloom is pure and beautiful. Das also made the design for our menu folders based on this piece.
Sun Rays, Sian Lester
Suede and leather triptych
Sian Lester is a textile artist and designer and is a graduate of the Chelsea School of Art and Design. She has lived in Malaysia and India and the suede and leather triptychs by her were inspired by the forms and colours of AK Das’ Horoscope. She may be contacted at Sian_lester@hotmail.com.
Lasting Impressions
Kate Pritchard, Ceramic installation on board
This work was inspired by the culture, spices and one of the key staples of Indian cooking, rice. The indelible mark of moment in time, left in ones’ memory, was an aspect of the rationale behind using clay, and a vehicle to manifest the physical form of spices and rice into the actual work.
After a visit to India at Christmas the work was further enhanced by a new colour pallet and visual references, after realising how vibrant and diverse the country actually is.
The title also refers to what one experiences in life after new and rewarding encounters; and in this instance the lingering taste of a memorable Indian meal.
Baburnama Scroll
Durga Devi Talukdar – alcohol-based ink on paper
The scroll illustrates a few key scenes in the life of the first Mughal Emperor, Babur, as described in the Baburnama, his autobiography. The work begins in 1494, presenting Babur at age 12, when he is proclaimed King after his father’s death. The Baburnama Scroll displays his love of gardens and nature, epitomises the hardships that he encountered and finishes with victory in his 20-year campaign to conquer India at the battle of Panipat, less than four years before his death.
Honor Oak x Babur
Matt McGuinness – emulsion on concrete beams
In this 45 meter-long mural adjacent to the restaurant, Matt has used curving text to give a walking rhythm to this mural on little-known facts about spices (nutmeg is part of the formula for Chanel No.5) and George Orwell’s famous lament about the lack of monuments to food heroes.
