2023 EXHIBITIONS
Albert Hall Museum
Exhibiting Artist: Lochan Upadhyay
Power of Cloth is an ongoing project that was conceived in 2008 as a site specific work to explore the social structures and its complexities, and to attain an in-depth understanding of different relationships and interactions that people share in a given space.
Consisting of two units that look like an entrance that one comes across, particularly during rituals and ceremonies, the sculpture represents the socio-cultural politics of a place. The consistent use of fabric as a medium in the form of ropes or discarded and collected fabric turns out to be a material familiar to the audience, and engages the viewer by being recognisable and useful but also uncomfortable and obsolete. In its 1st phase, the project saw a Public Art installation in Partapur that was made specifically to develop a dialogue with the community using the social tools most familiar to them. The installation included a wedding ceremony set-up of a massive entrance way, two chairs, and a shamiana.
The project was supported through a Public Art Grant by Foundation for Indian Contemporary Arts in 2009.
Amrapali Museum
Exhibiting Artists: Wolf
The origins of storytelling are in the cave paintings of early humans. I of the Tyger is a piece drawing inspiration from vintage book covers. The main question asked is - How do stories come to life? A collaboration with award winning craftsman Avaz Mohammad for the mounts of these works to set the stories within the tiger. Avaz traditionally works with lac, a natural resin, to create bangles and jewellery. The work uses materials like found objects - originally printed Intaglio (each page has the Plate number), original illustrations created with acrylic paint inspired by Persian miniature art, embroidery bits, metal wires, scrap paper, etc.
Gyan Museum
Exhibiting Artists: Nehal Verma, Shubham Sharma and Zoya Singh
Shubham Sharma’s solo exhibition, Spaces In Between and Zoya Singh’s The evolution of the horse and the great spirit who watched it and Nehal Verma’s Slicing at once were hosted at the Gyan Museum.
Shubham’s work looked at the concept of ‘destroyer’ through the meaning in Hindu Mythology. Casting Shiva as the Supreme Lord who creates, protects and transforms the universe he is also the ‘Destroyer’ in the sacred trifecta. Similarly in the world of mankind we all are the destroyers. We all have sowed a seed inside us to destroy the existing space through different categories. Some of the spaces are already destroyed through politics, some through industrial purpose and some through materialistic needs. His sculpture questions the who and what of mankind today.
For Zoya Singh, Eagles are birds that see everything from a higher perspective. In shamanism, it is said that energies of an eagle assist us in finding the guiding vision of our lives. Birds who hold the vision of the future. A guiding light/messenger for many natives, tribes and kingsmen alike. Born in the Chinese year of the horse-1990, Metal gold horses in particular, Zoya has always been drawn to horses since the time she can remember.
Nehal Verma’s work is an attempt to perceive and simultaneously etch out for perception the non-linearity of thoughts. Thoughts that scarcely have any beginning or any end, sprouting out in the short fields of our minds. Thoughts that are half formed, half realised. The project allowed the artist to traverse from the real world of three dimensions to a place of two dimensions. In other words, it is an attempt to develop a space in two dimensions based on the belief that every instance, every passing moment separates itself from the linearity of time.
Jaipur Rugs Head Office
Exhibiting Artists: Devari, Rohini Singh and Shreya Parasrampuria
The New Thread: Personal and Collective Storytelling, a group show by women artists— Devari, Rohini Singh, Shreya Parasrampuria.
Rohini Singh explored the idea of combining the contemporary subject with the age old craft of block printing. The subject revolves around the life of everyday people in the city of Jaipur. Rohini Singh’s work is continually inspired by and reflects her everyday life. Symbolically, they speak about contemporary subjects drawing inspiration from vivid dreams, books and nature. Using mixed media as a methodological approach her work often contains postcards, stickers, and prints from Wooden carved blocks.
Shreya Parasrampuria With increasing issues of migration and loss of the “Pol Culture” in the Heritage city of Ahmedabad, this project using these textile panels sheds light on the way the urban population of Ahmedabad sees a part of their city, and twists it, making the audience question themselves and their own way of thinking.
Each piece is inspired by a specific time or place but is not in any chronological order. The memories are of past life and things closest to the artist. Outside of this the city of Jaipur acts as a canvas to place these memories in. The work notes small moments that offer insights into the story of life. These works are imagined like notes in a diary - photographs marked by meaning, experiments with image making, among other methods.
Devari’s work highlighted the support for the women in Iran who are protesting against an oppressive regime. The work entails tying hair filaments with dried twigs by using thread - hair that belongs to women who volunteered to cut their hair to show solidarity with the women of Iran. The tied hair and twig pieces are then stitched to the cotton cloth piece called lugadi in the local language of Rajasthan. The title of the work ties itself to the natural phenomenon of shedding a body part - abscission.
Rajmahal Palace, RAAS
Exhibiting Artist: Tanushree Sarkar
The skin is Red – Half woman half dream is inspired by Hawa Mahal, a unique building in Jaipur. Also known as ‘The Pink City’ Jaipur is a land of historical architecture. The pink and red sandstone, marble, precious gems and mirror inlay work by artisans have become markers that are unique to the city. Of all the architectural attractions though, Hawa Mahal stands out as a special space for the artist. It remains one of the tallest buildings in the world without a foundation and this is achieved by technical knowledge of Rajput and Mughal architects. This building was intended as a private viewpoint for women of the Royal court - leading to the zenana area of the palace. For the artist the building is a symbol of freedom, while adhering to the strict purdah system of 18th and 19th century Rajput culture. Looking at the Hawa Mahal as a symbol, Tanushree wishes to bring to contemporary times this idea of freedom.
The Open Space Society (TOSS)
Exhibiting Artists: Ashok Meena and Amar Prajapat
Amar Prajapat’s visual language is derived from visuals that are experienced whilst travelling infused with elements from memory. Through his work he depicts the fluctuations of the mind symbolic in the horizon lines and skylines. His paintings sublimate aspects of living in a city that are often trampled by the speed of urban life or the wheels of encroaching development. By shifting the apertural focus sharply on select elements-the architecture of built monuments but also the tapestry of skies, his works are an invocation to the beauty of stilling both space and mind.
There is a moment between the still image converting to a moving image - perhaps it gives a glimpse of a parallel world. Ashok Meena’s Bioscope attempts to find sounds in these images and experiment with their juxtaposition. The project is his exploration into understanding the world from a vantage point. He draws connections between distinct worlds in the belief that everything is interconnected. Using everyday communication tools like phones, tablets and projectors he attempts to weave the different kinds of footage in an attempt to explore the extraordinary.
Narain Niwas
Exhibiting Artists: Aditi Anuj, Sarban Chowdhury and Pranjal Maheshwari
Within Narain Niwas’s Kanota Courtyard, we hosted exhibitions at Jaipur Rugs and Frozen Music’s showrooms.
At Jaipur Rugs Aditi Anuj’s site specific installation, Unfolding Jaipur, looked at the freedom to imagine as one of the highest forms of freedom that can be. The city of Jaipur brings that to life with its rich heritage and culture. Keeping the essence of that freedom, we have handcrafted these birds, opening doors to infinite possibilities and reimagining Origami.
In Frozen Music’s showroom, Earthing Conversations explored the cross section of art and design. Sarban Chowdhury’s Cultivating chaos, engages with the notion of chaos within the human mind in this particular set of works. Choosing the term ‘Cultivate’ as a way of placing in the viewer’s mind the outlandish and unfamiliar the artist tries to locate his perception of the human mind. Centred in the artist's thought process is the porous nature of the subconscious - everything that is observed seeps in and is reflected in the work. Bringing together a narrative of curiosity and exploration the viewer is set to discover from a point of unease. An added layer is our contemporary reality of chaotic urban landscapes and historicity of Jaipur.
Pranjal Maheshwari’s series, Inescapable, is based on ideas of beauty. Specifically, finding beauty in nature through the structure of plants as well as the plant kingdom as a whole. This is ironic considering the artist’s roots are in the desert region of Rajasthan - where vegetation is scarce. Her in depth research in plant structures and learning is highlighted in her works. Using delicate forms the artist tries to portray a sense of belonging as well as being a part of a vast universe. Terracotta is used to accentuate this fragility and strength - a connection with nature -"mitti se judhe". She has experimented with surfaces and textures - using oxides and glazes, physical methods like pinching and coiling as well as variations in temperatures to get what is displayed.