Countdown to Freedom
Commemorating the 60th anniversary of Indian independence
The Folio Society Gallery
19 July - 7 October 2007
Admission free
To mark the 60th anniversary of Indian Independence and the birth of Pakistan, a selection of British Library material relating to India's fight for freedom from colonial rule - much of it banned by the British Government in India between the 1910s and the 1940s - will go on display for the first time.
At the heart of the British Library's Asia, Pacific and Africa Collections lies one of the largest accumulations of literature and ephemera relating to India's fight for freedom from colonial rule. Countdown to Freedom gathers together books, newspapers, leaflets, posters, party membership forms and handbills, written in many South Asian languages as well as English, and intersperses them with photographs and correspondence from the India Office collections to chart the crucial decades culminating in the summer of 1947.
A series of placards created from the texts and images of actual banned publications leads into the exhibition. Highlights include a flag emblazoned with 'Simon Go Back' from the protest rallies of 1928 against the all-English delegation sent to decide the country's political future; propaganda posters advocating non-cooperation as the only means of achieving self-rule; and a large caricature depicting delegates at the First Round Table Conference of 1930. There is also a handwritten letter from an imprisoned Gandhi to the Viceroy; Cambridge student Chaudhri Rahmat Ali's proposal for the creation of the separate Muslim state of PAKiSTAN (an acronym derived from Punjab, Afghan Province, Kashmir, Sind and Baluchis tan); and British Prime Minister Attlee's final message of goodwill to the Subcontinent on the transfer of power.
Exhibition curator Leena Mitford commented, "The 60th anniversary provides an unmissable opportunity to display a little known part of the British Library's holdings: the South Asian response to the British in India and the struggle for purna swaraj or complete independence. Setting the voices of those fighting for freedom amongst historic records, letters and photos of the time, and bringing them to life through recordings and video footage, Countdown to Freedom offers a unique overview of the events leading up to Indian independence and the birth of Pakistan."
For more information, please contact Ruth Howlett at the British Library Press Office: +44 (0)20 7412 7112 or ruth.howlett@bl.uk
Editors Notes
Countdown to Freedom is on display in The Folio Society Gallery in the British Library from 19 July - 7 October 2007. Admission is free.
The British Library is the national Library of the United Kingdom. It provides world class information services to the academic, business, research and scientific communities and offers unparalleled access to the world's largest and most comprehensive research collection. Further information is available on the Library's website at www.bl.uk
The Folio Society was founded in 1947 with the intention of applying the highest standards of binding, typography and illustration to commercially-produced books. Nearly sixty years on, its aim remains the same - to publish books that will stand the test of time, in handsome, imaginatively designed and beautifully made editions, at reasonable prices. www.foliosoc.co.uk
The Folio Society Gallery is designed to provide a space which is adaptable, embraces the latest technology and gives visitors an insight into the British Library's collections in a short visit. This project was carefully designed to complement the Library's exhibitions in the Pearson Gallery and the permanent display of treasures in the Sir John Ritblat Gallery.