Shamiana is a ceremonial tent. The theme of the tent was
chosen for its strong symbolic resonances and the inspiration
for the project was the richly decorated tent hangings of
the Mughal and Rajput courts, which can be seen in the V&A's
Nehru Gallery and in other museums around the world.
But tents are also the temporary dwellings for
refugees. Many of the Asian women involved in the project
shared the experience of migration, dislocation and temporary
accommodation in a strange land. For them the symbol of the
tent was powerful and easily understood.
In 1997 all 56 textile panels made by community
groups in Britain and abroad were displayed in a Mughal tent
set up in the Pirelli Gardens at the V&A.
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![Detail from 'Akbar hunting', from an Imperial copy of the Akbarnama, gouache on paper, Mughal c.1590 [IS 2-1896 55/117]](/vastatic/microsites/shamiana/images/inline/tent01detail.jpg)
