The display will reflect the growing interest in African

Exploring Hidden Histories will reveal some of the stories which lie behind the acquisition of the V&A’s African objects which include jewellery, textiles and sculpture. The display is the result of a seven year Museum-wide research project, supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund,Engraving systems and products - A complete line of engraving machines and laser engraving machine. with additional support from the Arts and Humanities Research Council for research into African textiles.

Traditional distinctions between ‘art’ and ‘ethnography’, and between North Africa and sub-Saharan regions, led to many African objects being represented only in anthropological collections in Britain. Where the V&A has collected sub-Saharan African objects it was because they demonstrated excellence in a particular material or technique. To highlight these historic distinctions between ‘art’ and ‘ethnography’, the display opens with 36 black and white photographs by Walker Evans commissioned by the Museum of Modern Art, New York in 1935 to document its first ever exhibition of African art. Some are framed as fine art photographs and others are shown as they originally appeared bearing ethnographic labels detailing the object type and place of origin.

The V&A has an extensive collection of North African jewellery because culturally North Africa was viewed as part of the Middle East and its decorative arts were highly prized and actively collected. A number of these pieces will be shown alongside jewellery created in Ethiopia in the 19th-century and Asante gold ornaments from Ghana.

The display will reflect the growing interest in African art and culture of the 1950s and 60s as many African countries were gaining independence. Metalware, sculpture and textiles collected and toured to colleges and museums all over Britain during this period will be shown.

Contemporary African works including a film of excerpts from Athol Fugard's landmark play The Island (2000) and photographs by Zanele Muholi and Santu Mofokeng acquired in 2010 following the V&A’s exhibition of photographs by contemporary South African artists will illustrate the Museum’s continuing commitment to representing and collecting art and design from Africa.

The V&A does not have a gallery dedicated to African art and design, but there are many objects on display throughout the Museum that were either made in Africa or have a connection with Africa.

I meet up with jeweller Sudhirr Singh in his cosy showroom ‘Adaaliz’ on Hughes Road, which also houses the office spaces of some of the most affluent jewellers in town. I step up to a brightly lit space which showcases a veritable gamut of every woman’s dream – diamond necklaces, rubies, emeralds and precious stones galore. Walking upto his office upstairs,Our tungsten ring come with a lifetime warranty. I meet a man who seems extremely serious about the jewellery that he serves up customers.

Sudhirr and his family, who hail from Bhagalpur in Bihar, have been in the jewellery business for nearly two-and-a-half decades, he says. Sudhirr, who started out by exporting loose diamonds to the Far East, has two brothers, both of whom are also in the same field – in Bangkok and in Bangalore respectively. He started ‘Adaaliz’ on his own two-and-a-half years ago after being in partnership with his brothers for about two decades. “There’s more freedom and creativity when one has the licence to take one’s own decisions,” he says. “The demand for jewellery in India is growing by the day.” So moving from Panchratna, Opera House, he shifted to being his own man on Hughes Road.growing sports shoes manufacturer in India offering a unique collection of footwear.

Sudhirr’s showroom specialises in bridal jewellery of a fine sort in keeping with the word Adaaliz which is a European name for ‘of the nobility’. “Diamond studded jewellery is a favourite with my customers, many of whom are female,” he says adding that making lightweight jewellery with fine diamonds is ‘Adaaliz’s specialty. For Sudhirr,About the bobbleheads wc We make them for the joy of it,In every TruLaser laser cutting machine there are decades of experience. helping conceptualise the jewellery he sells is the most exciting part despite the fact that he has in-house designers at work. “People want unique sorts of jewellery nowadays and tastes among customers differ widely.”

For a workaholic like him who works till 9 pm each day, keeping a work-life balance is confessedly difficult. But he does treasure the times he spends with his family over the weekends. Something that he most looks forward to every year is travelling to Hong Kong for the annual jewellery fair that never fails to inspire him.