PAGE FROM HISTORY Van Rheed genuinely respected Malabaris, their knowledge and culture

Eight years ago, Kerala-born Annamma Spudich left research and decided to direct her intellectual energies to another interest: the history of Indian scientific traditions in natural sciences. She gave up a lucrative career as a cell biologist at Stanford University, where she had carried on research for twenty-five years.

In 2003, Dr. Spudich put together the exhibition “From Forreine Places All the Varietie of Herbs” at the Cantor Center for Visual Arts, Stanford University. She has curated yet another show, “Such Treasure and Rich Merchandize”, which is currently on at the National Center for Biological Sciences (NCBS), Bangalore.

Dr. Spudich, who is a scholar-in- residence at NCBS, quotes from Prof. Donald Lach’s “Asia in the Making of Europe.”“The remarkable story of knowledge Europeans encountered is often a foot note to the imaginative daring of the European voyages of discovery.”

In her introduction of the exhibition catalogue, she explains how the spice trade was the principal context of contact between Asia and Europe in the early modern era; how until the middle of the 18th century, botanicals from India were important ingredients of European life as culinary additives, medicines, and luxury items like perfumes, aromatics and unguents for religious rituals; and how the wealth of botanical knowledge from indigenous medical traditions and centuries-old agricultural practices made its way into several European books.

The exhibition revolves around seven European books published during that period. It includes Garcia da Orta’s book “Colloquies on the Simples, Drugs and Materia Medica of India” published in Goa in 1563; John Huyghen van Linschoten’s “Itinerario” published in Holland in 1596; John Gerard’s “The Greate Herball” published by John Norton, London in 1597; and van Rheede’s “Hortus Indicus Malabaricus” (12 volumes) published in Amsterdam between 1678 and 1693.

According to Dr. Spudich, these books are not only important repositories of traditional knowledge but also windows into the nature of pre-colonial East-West interactions.

From the very outset, “Such Treasure and Rich Merchandize” comes out as a well-researched and competently presented exhibition. Scrolls of fluttering fabric featuring sections of an arched Indian fig tree stand suspended from a high ceiling at the entrance. “This is inspired by a tiny 3 inch by 5 inch woodcut printed in ‘The Greate Herball’ (1597),” explains designer Sarita Sundar of Trapeze, who has collaborated with Dr. Spudich in putting up the show.

The exhibition is a veritable treasury of insightful quotes, striking illustrations and carefully congregated historical records. Far from being an academic exercise, it blends elements of art, science, history and design to offer a rich and visually stimulating experience to the visitor.

Scores of botanical illustrations, prints, and maps culled out of collections in India, Europe and America, and imprinted imaginatively on panels reveal fascinating glimpses of little known chapters of history; they also highlight the importance of Indian botanical knowledge to the science and history of a bygone era.

Thanks to the creative inputs by designers, the exhibition intermingles with the soothing ambiance and architecture of NCBS. At the same time, one felt that a show of this nature would have attracted better response had it been set up in a more accessible public space like Chitrakala Parishat, Lal Bagh or Cubbon Park.

The exhibition is on till the end of the month. NCBS is located at GKVK, Bellary Road, Bangalore 560 065. For further details, call 9900122300.

GIRIDHAR KHASNIS