MA Fine Art: Drawing graduate Nele Bergmans explores artistic language
- Written byJoy Stokes
- Published date 08 March 2024
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Bringing the traditional into the contemporary, the Jhuley Lal: Crafting the Contemporary residency in Pakistan seeks to showcase the indigenous crafts of rural Sindh through a cultural and knowledge exchange with UK-based artists. Nele Bergmans, a Belgian-born MA Fine Art: Drawing 2023 graduate based in London, was able to put her skills to use after being selected for the residency.
During her time at Camberwell College of Arts Nele spent most days in the workshops, focusing on learning new material processes. She told us some of her favourite learning experiences included casting bronze and aluminium in the metal casting foundry and experimenting with heating and slumping glass in a ceramic kiln and printmaking in its many forms. Impressed by the support offered at the College, Nele said: “Trying my hand at so many different skills felt quite special to me as my tutors encouraged me to explore my own artistic language in whatever medium, and all the workshop technicians shared that same ethos.”
We caught up with Nele where she filled us in on this amazing opportunity, her time studying with us and her plans for the future as an artist.
Hi Nele! Can you tell us more about the Jhuley Lal: Crafting the Contemporary residency?
Yes. The focus of the Jhuley Lal: Crafting the Contemporary residency lies in collaboration and revival of local craft economies. The residency is organised by THISS Studio, a London-based architecture and design practice, in collaboration with Numaish-Karachi, a Pakistani design and arts practice which focuses on public space. It’s funded by the British Council in Pakistan.
My residency was centred around timber craft in Shikarpur, a town once famous for its beautifully timber-carved doors and building structures. After the Partition from India in 1947, many Hindu families who were wood carvers had to leave. Buildings were taken over and plundered, and it became difficult to preserve the local culture and heritage and keep traditions and skills from being lost. Most of the exquisitely carved objects crafted at the time have long been sold to wealthy people living in large cities or lie in scrapyards among rubble and dust. Many of these centuries-old traditions have become less profitable, desirable and accessible leading to a diminishment a way of life and livelihood; a loss accelerated by devastating floods that hit Pakistan in 2022. Unfortunately, this is the sad reality of many craft economies around the world.
The brief was to make a contemporary domestic object with a focus on spotlighting a traditional craft and imagining it in a more contemporary art and design context. We were paired in teams of 1 UK-based artist with 1 Pakistani artist and were tasked with working around a specific craft in the Sindh province in Pakistan. Underpinning the project was the hope that, through our collaborations and the subsequent publicity, there will be a renewed interest in local craft economies and an increase in possibilities for local communities and younger generations.
I was paired with artist Shaukat Ali Khokhar and our project stemmed from 3 ideas: beauty, fish and water. They came together in the simple everyday object of the water cooler. Seen everywhere on the streets, these large vessels are frequently placed on tiny stools or tables. They are often orange, plastic and banal, and yet, they are somehow beautiful in their simplicity and everyday nature. Taking this object and transforming it into a handcrafted timber contemporary piece of art, we hoped it would evoke associations of something familiar, yet wonderful and new. We made the final project in close collaboration with the Bablani family, the only family left in Shikarpur with a generation's family heritage of master wood carvers. Everyone was so patient and friendly, which I learnt is fundamental to successful collaboration: think about your own position towards the other people involved and be generous and kind.
The work made during my residency was shown, among others, at an exhibition in Karachi in February and will be travelling to London for the London Design Festival in September 2024.
What’s next for you?
This residency felt like a dream project and I hope that this is just the beginning and that more opportunities will grow and develop from it. It solidified my passion for collaborating and working with materials in their local context. I plan to continue working with other organisations, such as the Portland Sculpture and Quarry Trust which focuses on the transfer of skills and knowledge of the local stone quarry landscape through art and community projects. Looking ahead, I hope to be involved in more projects that focus on materials and collaboration in a larger historical and economic context that have a lasting impact.
As a mature student with a career as an architect but without any formal arts qualifications, I started the course feeling excited and determined. As a result of my positive experience studying at Camberwell College of Arts, the skills that I have learnt and the connections that I have made, I feel ready to take my art practice outside of the educational setting.
