Provenance

A film work of cinematic scale Provenance traces in reverse the global trade in furniture from the Indian city of Chandigarh Conceived in the 1950s by architects Le Corbusier and Pierre Jeanneret Chandigarhs controversial modernist architecture includes original pieces of furnituretables chairs settees deskscreated specifically for the buildings interiors Recently these pieces have appeared at auction houses around the world commanding record prices Starting with the Chandigarh furniture in the present the film begins in New York apartments London townhouses Belgian villas and Paris salons of avid collectors From there it moves backwards to the furnitures sale at auction preview exhibitions and photography for auction catalogues to restoration cargo shipping containers and Indian ports ending finally in Chandigarh a city in a state of entropy