A Festival of India major exhibition, guest-curated by Haku Shah, for which Mingei International was the only venue
A documentary publication (Form and Many Forms of Mother Clay) by Haku Shah was published by the National Crafts Museum, New Delhi. A documentary exhibition videotape was produced by Mingei International Museum.
This exhibition was one of the core projects of the 1985-86 Festival of India held in the United States as a comprehensive presentation of the culture of India. _FORMS OF MOTHER EARTH,_ organized and shipped from India, was designed by Mr. Shah, Curator of the Tribal Museum in Ahmedabad, India, to focus attention on the age-old relationship between human beings and clay. The various clay forms that were represented in the exhibition are an inseparable part of village life that has existed for thousands of years in India.
The exhibition consisted of approximately 300 terra cottas made throughout the Indian sub-continent. It was the first exhibition to present such a wide range of contemporary terra cotta objects and to investigate in depth their social, historical, religious and artistic heritage. Diverse Indian cultural patterns are revealed by the variety of terra cottas that are made for all members and classes of society. Created on both a large scale and as small, personal images, terra cottas are used in a variety of settings from public temples and sanctuaries to the rural village home.
The entire exhibition was brought to life by eight potters from India, who demonstrated, within the Museum's exhibition area, the living tradition of building terra cotta pots and architectural sculptures, such as Nandi bulls, Ganeshas and other animal forms of India.