Raqs Media Collective
The Return of Tippoo’s Tiger

Photo: Srinivas Kuruganti Lunchroom, Learning Centre

Tippoo’s Tiger is one of the V&A’s most popular objects. It is an 18th-century automaton from South India, showing a tiger devouring a British army officer. How might audiences react to it and make sense of it in 4017? The Return of Tippoo’s Tiger is a communication from the future, channelled by Raqs Media Collective, where the tiger has become an uncanny meme for Europe’s presence in the world. It is meant as a funny, fantastical reminder of the ongoing battle between defeat and victory, man and nature, history and mystery.

Raqs Media Collective appear as artists, curators, sometimes as philosophical agent provocateurs. They have created installations, exhibitions and art installations across the world.