Reimagining Collections: Profile of Avani Tanya
By Cleo Roberts
Portrait of AVANI TANYA. Courtesy the artist.
Through the new curvilinear Exhibition Road entrance of the Victoria and Albert Museum, hidden in the Sackler Centre, are a series of artist studios designed for short-term residencies. Since the beginning of August, Avani Tanya has been using the space as her base and access point to the museum’s South Asian Collections, a bountiful loot originating from the East India Company’s presence in India from the late 18th century until late 19th century. Tanya’s work at the V&A is part of the Delfina Foundation’s themed program “Collecting as Practice,” and the artist aims to explore the processes that have, over time, governed the conduits of this collection, its public face, presentation and private dimensions.
