Decolonising Indian walls: How Maazi Merchant is bringing India’s lost heritage back home

Decolonising Indian walls: How Maazi Merchant is bringing India’s lost heritage back home

Art start-up Maazi Merchant is on a mission to bring India's forgotten art back home

In a studio filled with the hum of printers and the scent of archival paper, Parakram Kakkar (pictured) examines Three Princesses from Mysore, a portrait by Thomas Hickey, which marks a colonial turning point. After Tipu Sultan’s defeat, the East India Company introduced the smallpox vaccine to secure its rule. Queen Lakshmi Ammani, widowed by the disease, ensured vaccination for princesses. By 1807, over a million Indians had been inoculated, with the portrait symbolising British use of art to shape India’s image.[Source Link]

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