Lighting up a passion

When the UK-based artist, illustrator and educator, Matt Lee moved to Bangalore in 2007, he did not realise that an object, as ordinary as a matchbox, would one day become a passion in his life. Little did he know that he would own a collection of over 550 odd Indian matchboxes, each of which has its own story to be told.

“I came across my first Indian matchbox at a roadside chai stall a couple of weeks after I first arrived here. It had an illustration of a killer whale with a caption over it that read ‘dolphin’. I found this quite amusing and so, I kept it. Looking back, I think that my first connection with Indian matchboxes was that they often seemed quite random and they made me smile,” explains Matt, who is a faculty member at Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology. 

In his large collection, gathered over the last five years, one may find Juhi Chawla or Priyanka Chopra smiling. Then there’s the illustration of an ostrich called ‘Astrice’, ‘Bul Bul Rani’ with the playing card’s queen drawn on it, ‘Don’ with a lion’s photograph on it and ‘Family Cops’ with four cats on it. It’s not hard to understand why he associates the word ‘random’ with his collection.

Unlike with other collections, the saving grace in his case is that there are new designs constantly being made and with such a wide variety of labels available, it’s hard to run out of new matchboxes. “When I started, I had no idea at the time that this small curiosity would grow in the way that it has,” confesses Matt. “The enjoyment is in the process and so the series is never complete. Each new design that I come across adds to the continuing story,” he adds.

For him, the charm of collecting it lies not in the monetary value of the object but rather, stumbling across one that he does not already have, which always brightens up his day. “I often receive emails asking if I would like to trade or buy matchboxes.

But it’s not really about that for me — I do not go out of my way to find or buy matchboxes. For me, the satisfaction is in the process of building a collection that holds sentimental significance,” says Matt. His matchboxes found a place in an exhibition called ‘Collections’ at Fictillis Gallery in Seattle, USA, back in March this year, which was a truly proud moment for him.

“From a graphic perspective, one of the most interesting matchboxes I have came across recently has ‘Judo’ written in bright red letters on a green background with an iconic illustration of a white Judo suit.

I found this matchbox while walking along Doddaballapur Road in Yelahanka. Another recent favourite is a matchbox with an illustration of a cockerel and above it is written ‘Good Luck’. I always like matchboxes where there is a less direct relationship between the text and image,” shares the 32-year-old, who fancies the cheap and disposable boxes that hold the power to start a fire.

He says that of late, he has come across many matchboxes with digitally duplicated imagery, like the matchbox with ‘Twin Chicks’ written above a mirrored illustration of two bright pink chicks.

Ironically, he came across this matchbox outside a chicken centre in Yelahanka! Another such example is a matchbox titled ‘King’ that has a photograph of the same tiger repeated on both sides, which he found on Independence Day this year.
What does Matt intend to do with his huge collection? “I plan to continue collecting the matchboxes for as long as I live and work in India,” he concludes with a smile.