Counterparts: Hannah Sabapathy | 20/20 Reflections Series

Chelsea Space and UAL's Decolonising Arts Institute present 20/20: Reflections, a series of talks and screenings on the 20/20 project.
Artist and designer Hannah Sabapathy is in conversation with curator Uthra Rajgopal as they delve into the reproduction and appropriation of designs and patterns in historical textile production. Hannah’s new work created during her 20/20 residency at The Harris Museum, Art Gallery & Library in Preston, was produced in response to The Textile Manufactures of India; a set of fabric sample books put together in 1866 by John Forbes Watson and published by the India Office of the British Government. This will be on permanent display in The Harris Museum when the museum reopens in 2025.
Artist Biographies
Hannah Sabapathy is an artist whose practice, focused on pattern and colour, bridges the world of craft, design and art.
She originally trained as a printed textile designer and worked for several years in the textile industry. After studying at the RCA her practice shifted to exploring different materials in the creation of a series of sculptural furniture pieces made using a range of techniques including screen printing, lacquering and laser etching. Her work combines drawing, screen printing and rudimentary printing techniques to create unexpected collages of patterns. More recently, she has been working with metal and vitreous enamels taking inspiration from historic patterns and techniques.
Hannah is currently doing a PhD at Leeds University.
Uthra Rajgopal is an Independent Curator with expertise in South Asian textiles and has worked at the V&A and the Whitworth. She is a keen advocate of championing and expanding the field of textile arts and building networks across and between South Asia and the wider communities and most recently started a UKRI funded PhD at Nottingham Trent University.
_
About Chelsea Space
Chelsea Space is a public exhibition space at Chelsea College of Arts. The gallery's programme is international and interdisciplinary, reflecting and responding to the artistic approaches, research and interdisciplinary focuses of the College.
The emphasis is on the exposure of process and ideas, critical discourse and relationships with key cultural partners, through a yearly exhibition, residency and events programme.
www.arts.ac.uk/chelsea-space
About The UAL Decolonising Arts Institute
UAL Decolonising Arts Institute seeks to challenge colonial histories and imperial legacies, disrupting ways of seeing, listening, thinking and making, to drives social, cultural and institutional change.
We recognise the importance of past and current research and curriculum change projects at UAL and beyond. These include the ground-breaking AHRC Black Artists and Modernism research project, numerous initiatives led by UAL Teaching and Learning Exchange and Arts SU, as well as wider local and global movements to decolonise, and the complex genealogies and geographies of postcolonial, decolonial and intersectional thinking and practice yet to be reflected in our histories and cultures.
20/20 is generously supported by funding from Freelands Foundation, Arts Council England and UAL.
www.arts.ac.uk/ual-decolonising-arts-institute