Gurnesha Bola

This dissertation will trace the changing identity and value of the hand-painted Bollywood film poster and hoarding from cheap ephemeral advertising to art object. Today, one is more likely to find the hand-painted poster and hoarding in auction houses and gallery and museum collections across Europe than pasted onto the walls of Mumbai’s cinema halls. Collected and valued as art, these objects have undergone a significant shift in the way they are viewed and consumed. This research aimed to explore this change with a particular focus on the role and experience of the maker. By centralising the maker in this design history I aimed to explore discussions of craft, art, collecting practices and value (specifically economic and cultural value).

The limited academic history available on these objects thus far is largely concerned with their changing aesthetic properties, influenced by social, political and technological changes, as well as various artistic and stylistic preferences. I aimed to understand the changing identity of these objects and particularly how the makers may have either contributed to or experienced these changes. I argue that repositioning the maker within this history offers a more nuanced consideration of the not only the content but context of these objects including their production and consumption over time.