A fan of fans
As treasures from artist Jatin Das’ hand fan collection are displayed at an exhibition, we uncover the story and dreams behind the collection
Is the Delhi heat getting to you? Don’t want to step out of an air-conditioned environment? Do you ever think about the times when technology wasn’t advanced enough for commoners to possess even a ceiling fan, let alone an AC? That’s when the significance of hand fans was felt the most. Today, when a portion of veteran artist Jatin Das’s collection of hand fans is on display for the public, one can only sit back and marvel at the artistic aspect of something as commonplace as a hand fan.
At the exhibition, aptly titled Pankha (hand fan), Jatin Das is found in his usual restive state. One wonders if it’s because of the exertion brought about by the act of curating a humongous show. But he denies, explaining, “It’s fatigue due to 60 years of working. My collection of hand fans is 40 years old and has more than 6,000 pieces. What you see on display here is just 10%. This collection is for a pankha museum – a khayali pulao (wishful thinking) as I call it.” As dear this collection looks, it’s also difficult to preserve it, with fans made out of all possible materials, including straw, bamboo, cloth, wood, paper, and even leather.
His son and art curator Siddhartha Das recollects, “I can’t actually remember when it was that I first saw him collecting fans, but I know that whenever we travelled, he got very excited about seeing anyone making fans.”
Siddhartha, who has himself brought the leather fans from Kutch, adds, “Nandita (Das, actor-filmmaker and sister of Siddhartha) and I kept trying to dissuade him because it’s quite scary when your father has this passion, because if you collect a lot, where will it get stored? We were mired in the pragmatic side of it and worried about who’ll look after it. The whole idea of a museum was also very scary. But he is very stubborn.”
On the day the show opened, one could spot the third generation of Jatin Das’s family — Vihaan (Nandita Das’ son) sketching one of the hand fans on display. Nandita, too, says she grew up around collectibles his father picked up from world over. “I don’t remember a time when he didn’t [collect hand fans]. From the time I was born, our house was like a museum filled with little knick-knacks picked up from craft persons around the world. It still is,” she says, adding that she has also contributed to the collection. “Because wherever one would go, he would say, ‘Bring hand fans for me’ and I’d be like ‘Please!’ And I would get a little bugged, to be honest, but every time I saw a hand fan, I would also think of him and bring one,” she says.
One tries to unravel the legend behind this collection of hand fans – how Jatin was gifted a hand fan by a friend, and that inspired him to start collecting them. “I also don’t know, but we kind of assumed that the friend was (photographer) Raghu Rai because he’s one of my father’s closest friends,” says Siddhartha.
Where will the collection now find its place? “These hand fans are made and embellished by women. It’s a dying craft. I want to request that the government makes a National Fan Museum. I’m going to donate the collection,” says Jatin.
My collection is 40 years old and has more than 6,000 hand fans. What you see on display here is just 10%. JATIN DAS ARTIST
Our house was like a museum filled with knickknacks picked up from craft persons around the world.
NANDITA DAS ACTOR