Royal Geographical Society

Expanding Universe

The Royal Geographical Society has invited London-based artist Hormazd Narielwalla to make a large-scale, multiple part painting that will be hung for five years in their iconic Map Room. This major installation has been developed from the artist’s research into
the Society’s archive and will be presented in the form of 15 related canvases, which cumulatively suggest a map of the Universe.

Each of the panels is made over the templates of intricate German tailoring patterns, and used as the foundation of the work as an abstract maze of complex notations that resemble astronomical maps. Amongst the fine tracery of lines, some have circles printed within them that suggest distant planets in the abyss of space, or the trajectories of multiple solar systems. The patterns, originally made as maps of the human body, are extended into images that imply the infinity of the Universe. Themes of migration, discovery and colonialism are embodied in the work that suggests that geography, in traditions of Western map-making, was indelibly connected with Empire. Coincidentally whilst Narielwalla was researching at the RGS (in 2023) and became particularly struck by a hand-drawn, painted map of the Red Sea made by an unknown person from Koch in 1865, India successfully landed a space shuttle on the moon.

Incorporating references from the historical archive (including monsters, sea creatures and mythical characters depicted on 15th Century maps), the motif of a ship acts as a metaphor for the Indian shuttle landing and the assumption that India’s space adventures will continue into the unknown.