Skip navigation

Main menu

  • What's on
  • Art & Artists
    • The Collection
      Artists
      Artworks
      Art by theme
      Media
      Videos
      Podcasts
      Short articles
      Learning
      Schools
      Art Terms
      Tate Research
      Art Making
      Create like an artist
      Kids art activities
      Tate Draw game
  • Visit
  • Shop
Become a Member
  • DISCOVER ART
  • ARTISTS A-Z
  • ARTWORK SEARCH
  • ART BY THEME
  • VIDEOS
  • ART TERMS
  • SCHOOLS
  • TATE KIDS
  • RESEARCH
  • Tate Britain
    Tate Britain Free admission
  • Tate Modern
    Tate Modern Free admission
  • Tate Liverpool + RIBA North
    Tate Liverpool + RIBA North Free admission
  • Tate St Ives
    Tate St Ives Ticket or membership card required
  • FAMILIES
  • ACCESSIBILITY
  • SCHOOLS
  • PRIVATE TOURS
Tate Logo
Become a Member
This is a past display. Go to current displays

Mrinalini Mukherjee, Jauba 2000. Tate. © Mrinalini Mukherjee.

Mrinalini Mukherjee

Discover the extraordinary sculptural forms of Mrinalini Mukherjee, who transformed an everyday materials into artworks

Mrinalini Mukherjee’s parents were well-known artists and teachers. Growing up with the intellectual and artistic community of Santiniketan in Bengal, she was schooled in debates about local knowledge and modern art. She studied painting in Baroda (Vadodara) with the artist K.G. Subramanyan, who championed Indian craft traditions.

When Mukherjee turned to sculpture, she rejected conventional materials and techniques associated with studio practice. She began to work with hemp rope. Weaving and knotting, she created complex shapes and folds that often resemble flowers or the body. Her early works such as the wall-mounted Ritu Raja 1977 were made from rope woven from hemp in two shades, the natural colours of the material accentuating the sensual forms. The title in Bengali refers to a ‘king of seasons’, usually the fertile spring. The title of Jauba 2000 refers to the hibiscus flower. In this later work, hemp dyed in brilliant colours is manipulated into flower-like forms around freestanding metal armatures, almost human in scale.

‘I work emotionally and intuitively and do not like analysing my feelings during the work process’, Mukherjee said. There are rich references in her work and titles to mythology and folklore, while her exploration of sexuality and the body suggests a strong feminine perspective. She was one of a number of women artists whose work established that textiles and fibres, which were traditionally associated with crafts, could be just as important as the materials conventionally associated with fine art.

Read more

Tate Modern

Getting Here

Free

We recommend

  • Artist

    Mrinalini Mukherjee

    1949–2015
  • Mrinalini Mukherjee with her jute sculpture, Woman on a Swing, 1989

    Mrinalini Mukherjee

    Rosalyn D’Mello

    Her beautifully crafted fibre scuptures evoked 'wizened spiritual beings,' as one writer remembers

  • Texture Coursework Guide

    Explore textures in art from woven textures and textured fabrics and materials to gestural marks and patterns

Artwork
Close

Join in

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • YouTube
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
Sign up to emails

Sign up to emails

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Tate’s privacy policy

About

  • About us
  • Our collection
  • Terms and copyright
  • Governance
  • Picture library
  • ARTIST ROOMS
  • Tate Kids

Support

  • Tate Collective
  • Members
  • Patrons
  • Donate
  • Corporate
  • My account
  • Press
  • Jobs
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy
  • Cookies
  • Contact
© The Board of Trustees of the Tate Gallery, 2025
All rights reserved