MASTER

Master mini-matchbox featuring a rather dapper-looking 

rooster. 

MORE HORSES/WARRIOR BABE

Three more examples of horse images, featuring one of my 

favorite back-side images, the warrior babe holding up a 

sword in front of the arena.

SPEED/COW

Another example of the hand-made wooden matchbox.

I am not sure what kind of animal is being portrayed here 

on the SPEED matchbox- arguably a deer or a camel without 

a hump- whatever it may be, it's fast, and the hunter with the 

bow and arrow gives the image a nice mythological quality. 

In contrast is the matchbox image of the mother and calf

with the rising sun behind them, a lovely image of rural India.

BIRDS

Assorted bird-themed matchboxes. From the mundane to the 

sublime, birds are another popular subject for Indian matchbox 

artwork. 'WE TWO' featuring the two love-birds was purchased 

at Hampi in the state of Karnataka.

KISAN/CAMEL

The KISAN (farmer) with his bullocks is a very popular

matchbox image and is still a common sight 

all over India. Even on a busy highway, one can see 

these often colourfully decorated and painted oxen 

pulling the bullock-cart, a symbol of the old way of life. 

The camel/fish combination is a good example of the 

apparently random imagery one comes across in

Indian matchbox art.

CHEETA FIGHT!

I love this particular matchbox, CHEETA FIGHT 

is another popular brand and can be found easily, 

I am not sure if cheeta fighting still goes on

in India, or for that matter, if it ever actually did.

The friendly-looking elephant below is another 

matchbox mainstay, and unlike cheetas, 

can be found roaming the streets of many

Indian cities.

HORSE/POWER

More images of horse-themed matchbox art. 

These two are examples of the extremely cute 

mini-matchboxes one finds, many matchboxes 

are available in both sizes.

HORSEHEAD

More horse-themed matchbox art, perhaps a reference to the 

the infamous scene from 'The Godfather' (or not).

Here you can see the wooden matchbox packaging which is 

widely used in certain parts of India, they have an 

old-fashioned look about them as they are still assembled by hand.

HORSES

Another popular subject for matchbox art, 

oddly one rarely sees horses in India and 

they tend to be much less well-fed-looking than these three.

AIM/AIR/AAM

AIM, AIR and AAM (mango)...

AIR

Another airplane theme, looks like an F-16 on a radar screen,

this AIR matchbox is a rather inventive rip-off of the 

ubiquitous AIM matches one finds all over India.

Both AIM and AIR matchboxes feature humorous

anecdotes or riddles on the back-side, eg:

"Why are they called apartments when they're 

all stuck together?"

NAVIN

NAVIN- Another airplane, this time a Boeing 727 that seems 

to be taking off on an outer-space adventure.

Viking and Helicoptor

Two more flying-themed matchboxes, I don't remember where I found these, however...

VIMAN #2

VIMAN (front and back)

Sometimes the back-side of a matchbox is even more interesting than the cover,

as evidenced by this psychedelic explosion of stars...

VIMAN (close-up)

This is identical to my other VIMAN matchbox except that it is a different match works ie: the Globe Match Works in Thonugal. VIMAN were flying machines used by the first human beings as described in the Vedas, sometimes in elaborate detail...

ancient legends or the original UFOs?

AGNI- The One That Got Me Started:

This is the matchbox that started my collection, 

found on the streets of the Colaba district in 

Mumbai (Bombay).  I love the paradox of space-age matches!

VIMAN- Another image of flight...

The Idea:

The Idea:
The idea for a collection performance came to me while
travelling India in 2005-06. I started picking up the ubiquitous
empty matchboxes on the streets and sidewalks of big cities
(such as Bombay) with the idea of documenting my travels in
such a way as to leave, at the end, a collection of matchboxes
instead of a scrapbook, journal or photographs. Initially I was
simply enthralled by the rough beauty and humourous images
often adorning the matchboxes, but upon further reflection,
I realized that the Indian Matchbox is a pure reflection of
Indian society, encapsulting all it's contrasts and contradictions.
Hand-made wooden matchboxes are still common in many areas,
existing alongside mass-produced models, just as bullock-carts
and cows share the road with SUVs on even the most modern of
the countries highways. This omnipresent paradox is one of the
things that makes India such a fascinating place in which to travel.
The Act:
The simple act of stooping to pick
up a discarded matchbox also had an interesting effect, sometimes
people would be amused by the foreigner picking up trash, others
found it distasteful, and some people would engage me as to why
I wanted the discarded matchbox, and would sometimes offer their
own for my collection. It soon became clear to me that the act of
collecting the matchboxes also had some significance,
and the idea to create a collection performance was born.
I quickly amassed a fairly large collection, as matchboxes can be
found virtually everywhere in India, in little villages, on trains, on
the side of the highway or on the steps of an isolated and ancient
temple on the top of a sacred mountain. I started sharing the
collection with fellow travellers and locals alike, and the reactions
were always the same: astonishment at the sheer variety and
beauty of the matchbox images, and how, when seen together
as a collection, they transformed the lowly matchbox into
something more, something somehow grandiose and poignant:
a symbol of the soul of India.