DABGAR SCREEN AND CANVAS
2025
The Dabgar project is an exploration of a centuries-old and little-known craft, perpetuated in the province of Punjab in Pakistan. In the continuity of parchment, this craft transforms animal skin scraps into a continuous, resistant and translucent material. Using collagen from the skin as the sole binding agent, this craft is unique and ancestral, and is now in danger of disappearing. The Dabgar project aims to open up the formal language of this technique, which until now has been reserved for the creation of painted objects. It explores new uses, new scales and new sensory qualities of the material. It also opens up new perspectives for this craft, working to promote it, questioning production systems and striving for recognition for the artisans. Navigating between objects and sculptures, between emanation and silence, between gesture and living matter, the collection reveals the elemental beauty of the material.
The monumental screen is as much a surface as it is a sculpture, playing on a scale that is unprecedented for leatherwork, which is usually limited to the size of the leather itself. The deformation of the canvas, the random colours of the different skins, and the evolution of the surface and form over time operate as a constant revelation. In a form as simple as a leaf, the material of the Dabgar expresses itself and becomes living matter.
The painting is a mural celebrating the hidden side of traditional Dabgar castings. The piece is turned upside down and the edges form a frame. The skin assemblages reveal variations in shape and colour, giving the surface the appearance of a sky.
Photo Credits Stéphane Ruchaud.
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