Curator of the Victoria and Albert (V&A)
museum’s design drawings collection and lead curator for architecture, Abraham
Thomas is a key speaker at the India Design Forum, 2013, to be held at the
National Centre for the Performing Arts, Mumbai, a two day event (March 16-17)
that features experts talking about how design transforms the world and impacts
lives. Thomas, who is in charge of a vast collection of drawings that ranges in
scope from the 15th century to the present and covers topics that
include architecture, furniture, product design, fashion,
textiles, metalwork and graphic design, also is responsible for the museum’s Architecture
Gallery, organised in partnership with the Royal Institute of British
Architects and their collection of drawings and archives now held at the
V&A. He has curated exhibits such as On the Threshold: The Changing
Face of Housing, World Expo 2010 Shanghai: Designs for the British Pavilion and
Paper Movies: Graphic Design and Photography at Harper's Bazaar and Vogue, 1934
to 1963. He is also lauded for his work
on the V&A Tunnel Entrance commission by architect CJ Lim, Seasons
Through The Looking Glass and the V&A's bicentenary retrospective on
Victorian designer and architect Owen Jones. Thomas
is working on a book on fashion illustration and photography, expected to
be released next year. He joined the museum in September 2005 on the Assistant Curator Development
Programme and has spent time in the Word & Image Department (the Prints,
Drawings, Paintings and Photographs collection), the National Art Library and
the Archive of Art and Design, as well as the Designs section of Word &
Image, which covers objects that show the working process of design, from
architectural drawings to fashion designs and textile patterns. A stint in the Asia
Department had him cataloguing and researching nineteenth-century Indian
photography.
Q: What does your role as Curator to the
V&A’s design drawings collection and the Architecture Gallery involve?
A: The V&A design drawings collection ranges in period from the late 14th century through to the present day, and across disciplines as wide-ranging as architecture, furniture, product design, fashion, textiles, metalwork, sculpture and ceramics/glass. The V&A's architectural drawings collection is an area of particular focus for us, and forms a joint collection with the Royal Institute of British Architect's (RIBA) renowned collection of architectural drawings. Organised together with the RIBA, the V&A's Architecture Gallery is the
UK's only permanent gallery dedicated to architecture.
Q: You are writing a book on the fashion drawings and photography – when do we
get to see it? And is there any Indian connection? Some of the work in the
Fashion Gallery have Indian embroideries and embellishment, don’t they?
A: The book will be published in Autumn 2014, and it will look at the role of the fashion image in the context of design process, editorial and commentary - from illustrations to design drawings, photography, look books and magazine spreads - mainly focussed on the 20th century to the present day. There isn't a particular Indian focus in the book, but you
may be interested to know that the V&A has a large collection of 19th/20th century design drawings for British Paisley textiles, which originally developed and gained popularity through the import of Indian textiles by the East India Company in the 18th century.
Q: Have you followed the evolution of design in India – fashion, architecture, even movies?
A: I'm not an expert myself, but this is an area the V&A is really interested in. My colleague Divia Patel is currently working on a future exhibition for the V&A on modern and contemporary Indian design, which looks fascinating. She also curated a V&A exhibition on Bollywood Posters in 2002, "Cinema India: The Art of Bollywood".
A: The V&A design drawings collection ranges in period from the late 14th century through to the present day, and across disciplines as wide-ranging as architecture, furniture, product design, fashion, textiles, metalwork, sculpture and ceramics/glass. The V&A's architectural drawings collection is an area of particular focus for us, and forms a joint collection with the Royal Institute of British Architect's (RIBA) renowned collection of architectural drawings. Organised together with the RIBA, the V&A's Architecture Gallery is the
UK's only permanent gallery dedicated to architecture.
Q: You are writing a book on the fashion drawings and photography – when do we
get to see it? And is there any Indian connection? Some of the work in the
Fashion Gallery have Indian embroideries and embellishment, don’t they?
A: The book will be published in Autumn 2014, and it will look at the role of the fashion image in the context of design process, editorial and commentary - from illustrations to design drawings, photography, look books and magazine spreads - mainly focussed on the 20th century to the present day. There isn't a particular Indian focus in the book, but you
may be interested to know that the V&A has a large collection of 19th/20th century design drawings for British Paisley textiles, which originally developed and gained popularity through the import of Indian textiles by the East India Company in the 18th century.
Q: Have you followed the evolution of design in India – fashion, architecture, even movies?
A: I'm not an expert myself, but this is an area the V&A is really interested in. My colleague Divia Patel is currently working on a future exhibition for the V&A on modern and contemporary Indian design, which looks fascinating. She also curated a V&A exhibition on Bollywood Posters in 2002, "Cinema India: The Art of Bollywood".
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