Hobson-Jobson
Site-specific installation of paintings of political agents paired with prints of the maharajahs who they worked for.
The Museum of Legacies, Jaipur, India
11th December 2018 - 20th August 2019
For her first solo exhibition in Jaipur Stephanie Douet presents a site-specific installation of life-size portrait busts in the delicately arched and creamy architecture of an upstairs chamber in the Museum of Legacies in Jaipur. 12 paintings, all measuring 84 x 63cm, are installed alongside prints of the archive photographs that inspired them. The photographs are presented courtesy of Udaipur City Palace; some are copies of originals, taken from books and used for visual reference, showing pencil marks for scaling up the image, paint marks and tears; the others are photographs Douet took on her visit to Udaipur City Palace in 2015, where she discovered a room with neglected photos of political agents. These piqued her interest and started her on a quest to understand the British Raj and Britain's historic and contemporary relationship with India and its inhabitants.
The name ‘Hobson-Jobson’ comes from the Victorian slang glossary, and is a corruption of ‘Ya Hossein! Ya Hassan!’ which is cried in commemoration at Moharram* and shuffles together Indian and British cultures, their misunderstandings and syntheses.
The Museum of Legacies, Jaipur, India
11th December 2018 - 20th August 2019
For her first solo exhibition in Jaipur Stephanie Douet presents a site-specific installation of life-size portrait busts in the delicately arched and creamy architecture of an upstairs chamber in the Museum of Legacies in Jaipur. 12 paintings, all measuring 84 x 63cm, are installed alongside prints of the archive photographs that inspired them. The photographs are presented courtesy of Udaipur City Palace; some are copies of originals, taken from books and used for visual reference, showing pencil marks for scaling up the image, paint marks and tears; the others are photographs Douet took on her visit to Udaipur City Palace in 2015, where she discovered a room with neglected photos of political agents. These piqued her interest and started her on a quest to understand the British Raj and Britain's historic and contemporary relationship with India and its inhabitants.
The name ‘Hobson-Jobson’ comes from the Victorian slang glossary, and is a corruption of ‘Ya Hossein! Ya Hassan!’ which is cried in commemoration at Moharram* and shuffles together Indian and British cultures, their misunderstandings and syntheses.
