The Old Stone House in Park Slope hosted an opening reception on May 2 for its latest site-specific contemporary art installation, “Things Fall Apart: Meena Hasan at the Old Stone House. ” The installation draws a connection between the Battle of Brooklyn and British colonization in India.
The Old Stone House played a critical role in the American Revolutionary War, and the installation—titled after Chinua Achebe’s 1958 novel about British colonialism in Nigeria—draws inspiration from a British commander’s journey from fighting in the American Revolution to defeating one of India’s fiercest opponents of British rule, Tipu Sultan, the Tiger of Mysore.
The project is a collaboration between artist Meena Hasan; Dylan Yeats, the Old Stone House’s scholar-in-residence and a historian; and history enthusiast Imran Khan, whose curiosity sparked the idea.
When Khan, who grew up in South India, moved to Brooklyn a decade ago, he wondered whether there was any historical connection between his birthplace and his new home. His research led him to British commander Charles Cornwallis, who occupied the Old Stone House during the Battle of Brooklyn in 1776.
After surrendering to George Washington at Yorktown in 1781, Cornwallis returned to England and was later appointed Governor-General of Bengal in 1786. He went on to defeat Tipu Sultan — the Tiger of Mysore and one of India’s fiercest opponents of British colonialism — holding two of Tipu’s sons as hostages.
Khan recognized Cornwallis’ name from street signs he had seen growing up in India.
“What happened after Cornwallis lost America, he went to India and won India for the British,” Khan explained. “I just had these random facts that I hoped was like a party line, ‘Hey, do you know this?'”
Over drinks with Yeats, Khan shared what he had discovered. Yeats told Brooklyn Paper he’s always looking for ways to make the Battle of Brooklyn relevant to people today. Further research revealed to Yeats that British colonization in India was closely tied to Britain’s loss of the American colonies.
“Many of the people in India trying to resist British colonization allied with the French at the same time that the United States were allied with the French,” Yeats said. “There were all these connections. And in fact, early Americans who were advocating for independence were sometimes citing that the British atrocities in India were justification why they didn’t want to be British anymore.”
A friend connected Yeats with Hasan, and the trio met several times, studying history books and images.
“Then Mina took all that and created this site-specific [installation],” Yeats told Brooklyn Paper. “She used materials connected to this place and these histories in a very intentional way to create a statement about that complex history.”
Tipu Sultan adopted the tiger as his personal emblem, incorporating tiger stripes and motifs into his banners, seals, thrones, and weaponry — some of which are now on display in London.
Hasan’s paintings, sculptures, and ceiling piece grapple with the contradictions of history, memory, and imagery related to Tipu Sultan, incorporating his emblem — the tiger — and references to his family.
Using Higgins India ink for her paintings, Hasan established another connection to The Old Stone House: Brooklyn resident Charles Higgins invented American India ink and was instrumental in restoring the Old Stone House.
Hasan told Brooklyn Paper the exhibition is part of a larger body of work she has been developing over the past decade, exploring the history of colonialism in South Asia.
“I’m regenerating and representing objects, and especially textiles from South Asian history that are inaccessible to me -generally, they’re housed in Western art institutions. A lot of these objects exist in spaces that are far away and inaccessible to me,” Hasan said. “Making the work is a way to bring things closer and internalize and metabolize these complicated global colonial histories.”
Kim Maier, executive director of the Old Stone House, said the American Revolution helped spark uprisings around the world — and that the impacts of colonialism are still unfolding today.
“It’s very exciting to have this opportunity to exhibit Meena Hasan’s gorgeous work and better understand how our diverse Brooklyn community is connected through time in meaningful ways,” Maier said.
“Things Fall Apart: Meena Hasan at the Old Stone House” is on view Fridays through Sundays from noon to 4 p.m., or by appointment, through July 6.
