WHAT IS A SHOWCARD?

Showcards are photo collages using film stills that have been cut out and assembled on a board and hand-painted.  As such, they are unique works of art, combining old and new painting styles with photographic technology, resulting in dramatic compositions with expressive uses of colour.  

While billboards and posters are a part of global cinema advertising practice, handmade showcards seem to be uniquely South Asian.  Showcards were produced in sets and displayed in glass cases outside cinema theatres or in lobby areas, sometimes in combination with lobby cards.  They were the final lens through which an audience would contemplate a movie before seeing it.  They conveyed the visual and emotional range of a film through colour, composition, facial expression, and gesture.  

By assembling pieces cut from film stills using strategies of overlapping and juxtaposition, the showcard artist essentially reinterpreted the narrative of the movie and brought it together in new ways.  Paint was used not as much for the purposes of realism but rather for its expressive, symbolic, or affective potential.  In the end, showcards were meant to draw the viewers into the narrative of the film, to make them desire to see it or enhance their experience of seeing it.  

This collection traces the evolution of Bollywood showcards as a form of graphic design for four decades—from the 1950s, just after Indian Independence, to the 1980s, just before India’s entry into the global economy.

Showcards provide insight into the use of photography and paint-- seemingly opposite mediums -- in the history of South Asian visual culture.  

While showcards have been described as photo-collage on top of paint or paint on top of photo-collage, examples in The Hartwick Collection show that there was a fluid relationship between the two.  

The showcard for Swami (1977) shows the co-existence of two distinct painterly styles over the cut-out of Shahbana Azmi: a photo-realistic wash over her face and hands and a more abstract impasto layering of paint to render the pink sari over her shoulder.  Even her hair has been enhanced with strokes of black paint to bring out the photograph as well as a few imaginative wisps not present in the photograph.  Further, paint is used not so much for the purposes of realism-- although that is there-- as to convey emotion, to soften the edges around a photographic cut-out, and to provide theatre-like lighting effects that seem to lift the faces of the main characters from the two-dimensional surface.

--Text by Dr. Deepali Dewan and Alexandra McCarter, based on Deepali Dewan, ed. Bollywood Cinema Showcards: Indian Film Art from the 1950s to the 1980s. Showcards from The Hartwick Collection. Toronto: Royal Ontario Museum Press, 2011. Copyright of and reproduced here with the generous permission of the Royal Ontario Museum.

WHY DO SOME OF THE ARTWORKS LOOK 'WEATHERED'?

These unique, hand-painted showcards have a rich history preceding their life in the Hartwick Collection. Some are in great condition, but many have tattered corners, marks from rain splatter, mildew residue, and uneven hand-cut edges. These conditions reflect the hot and humid climate they were held in for many years, preserved even as showcards were largely considered disposable in the early years after India’s independence in 1947. The collection has  been studied and treated by the Royal Ontario Museum conservation team to prevent further damage, and is presently held in a climate controlled storage facility with archival standards.  

To learn more about the history of these artworks, watch The Showcards, a short film documenting the origins of the collection.

ARE WORKS FROM THE HARTWICK COLLECTION AVAILABLE ON LOAN?

The Hartwick Collection lends works to exhibitions in museums, galleries, and other venues with a commitment to meaningful educational, aesthetic, intellectual, and cultural experiences.

The Hartwick Collection also recognizes its role as caretaker of these cultural artifacts and will lend material only to institutions with suitable facilities. Decisions on loans reflect consideration of the condition of the object, its relevance to the exhibition, and the borrowing institution. Loan requests should be submitted with as much lead time as possible to ensure adequate preparation and processing time.

Please contact angela@thehartwickcreative.com with loan inquiries.