Last Lap

Rooted in Nostalgia

Sajad Malik, has done his BFA from the College of Arts, Sinagar. He has been working as a cartoonist for The Greater Kashmir (a daily newspaper from Srinagar). He has made a few graphic novels too. Sajad’s art works and his cartoons (done for the daily), draw from the same source in terms of technique, but he makes an honest attempt to create a conceptual segregation, such that no aspect overshadows each other.

Unlike most of us Sajad was not new to Delhi or for that matter to Khoj too. He was a part of a four day workshop at Khoj titled Imagine Peace! Sajad humorously recollects that the talks and the debates at the workshop were quiet contrary to its title. He said, “I was asked “How do you imagine peace?” to which I had no direct answer, for I had never experienced it first hand back home. I can imagine peace only through the stories which my parents narrate to me.” In his sensitive animation, Sajad showed a small boy sitting on a bicycle, hand-dragged by his father, crossing over the Zero Bride in Kashmir. Born in the late 80’s Sajad says that his year of birth fell at a time when Kashmir was already in the grip of unrest. Therefore to him the idea of peace is an image he constructs through nostalgia. Living through this, what lies as a core of his works is not the need to portray conflict, but the life within it.

For the Residency too, Sajad is working on a short animation. His works can be viewed on his website: www.kashmirblackandwhite.com

Tracing Transition

Neha Thakar has done her MFA in Painting from the MSU Baroda. Neha’s core concern is that of understanding a ‘particular process of transformation’, that is a shift, a move, from existence to non-existence; such that the form becomes or gets a status of a language. In videos like Process, Delivered, Neha employed ice, and made sculptures of it, and captured the way they changed their form. Such that the documentation of this entire process became the final art work, as there was no evidence / remains of the original physical works she undertook.

Installation with ice, done at the Residency Program by The British Council at Mehranghad Fort, Jodhpur, Rajasthan, 2009

Further Neha likes to plays with the contrast between the tangible and the intangible (in her works - objects catering to ones senses like – different fragrances / odours). She prefers to takes a minimal approach while executing her works, be it her sculptures or her drawings. Delhi provided her a lot of possibilities to explore. A walk through Old Delhi, and the place had lot to tease Neha’s senses, be it the Khari Baoli, the flower market or the old- ittar shop; these places nearly instigated her to align her works, for the Residency in relation to them.

Stills from video Impression, material - ice

Re-viewing Issues

One of the strongest assets of Bhavin Mistry is his drawing. In his earlier works Bhavin was interested in capturing – textures, their formations and multiple visual possibilities presented by them. To him these works held an intuitive aspect which he wanted to explore.

Untitled, Paper work

A metaphysical aspect runs deep in Bhavin’s current works – a single point perspective, bare eerie landscapes, solid architectural forms. His interest in mechanics made him work on objects which have a ubiquitous presence. With these he creates, what he calls hybrid form; most of which are granted a super-normal or alien status (which invariably hint at a surrogate human presence). All of which contribute to give an uncanny feeling, and at times, a feeling of intense claustrophobia.

Untitled, Paper work

Bhavin does not intend to break away from his conceptual structure – which is rooted in the addressing the idea of basic survival / necessities and claustrophobia. He claims that Delhi, has provided him a newer visual space - to observe, understand and redefine issues, which he has been working on. There seems to be no radical conceptual deviations / departure in Bhavin’s current works, but given the backdrop of the experimental space of the residency, Bhavin certainly intends to adapt newer ways of executing his them.

Current ongoing work at the Residency

Circuitous Connections

Agat Sharma, Masters from NIFT, Delhi, unlike most of the artists from the Peers 2010 who have attended art schools. The need for stressing on this is piece of information is that since Agat has a different background, his works need to been viewed in a different light. Evidently to him the human body plays a central role (most of the times). Though not intentionally but subconsciously it becomes like a point of reference.

Fear Silhouettes



CCTV (click to enlarge)

CCTV (detail)

His works like, Fear and Fashion, and his project titled – Metro and its Panoptic Modernity, mediate in public spaces, to explore how various systems function, for instance a signage system, a presence of which nearly installs the feeling of fear within the commuters. The idea of a city has played a major role in the conceptualization of his works. Technology – its change and its implications finds an important place in his works. He observes and analyzes the changes a city undergoes and its obvious ripple effect over various faculties including its inhabitants. For the residency, Agat intends to take a look at the idea of consumerism and human sentiments, and a vicious circle in which the city and its inhabitants invariably get caught.

Print Fear (detail)

Print Fear (detail)

Conjoined Experiences

I had introduced the members in the group earlier through their absence, and now I feel its time to introduce their works. This can act as a precursor to their current works at Khoj.

To begin with – Rabindra Patra. Ravi’s work is a close reflection of his personal experiences. In his early life he took up a job which dealt with electronics; and is utilizing this knowledge sensitively while formulating his visual vocabulary. The impact of Delhi on him, after he shifted from Bhubaneshwar, can be seen in his works like - Ande ka Funda and Jo Jita Wohi Sikandar. In which his works revolved around the idea of survival and the understanding and experience of power-play.

In his landscapes, Patra uses various electronic parts to construct a city. Further provides an aerial view, and renders a nearly abstract form to the scape and extricates it from a particular context. For the residency, Ravi intends to nearly narrate his experiences which he has been having with his peers. Most of us were new to the city, just as Ravi was when he shifted to Delhi, for Ravi this is like reliving his earlier time.

Pacing up

It’s already been 15 days that we all have been shuttling between the guest house and the studios. The first few days flew by as we were getting habituated to the weather and the space. Later, ideas were brewing in our minds about our work and yet the city provided a lot to attract us; and so we spent meandering through the intestines of Delhi. Further we had two great studio visits – at Jagannath Panda and Manisha Parekh’s space. And now it has dawned that not much time is left in hand. And all the latent ideas are finding a tangible expression. Everybody is gaining momentum, such that be it the day time or putting in the nocturnal effort, nothing seems to be a hurdle. Precisely the reason we chose to change the blog name!

Jagannath Panda's Studio

Manisha Parekh in her studio

All of us in our Respective Cozy Zones (Agat is missing)

Ravi and his electronic waste

Sajad -animating

(In continuation to the series I began earlier of introducing the members as and when they went missing. This one was clicked at Manisha Parekh's studio, where Bhavin, Neha and me were absent. Reason, we were simply busy reading a few catalogus)

Bhavin Mistry, Masters in Painting, M.S.U., Baroda. Bhavin shifted in his studio with most of his paraphernalia, including his sleeping bag. This act of Bhavin is just a precursor to what his final work is going to be.

Neha Thakar, Masters in Painting, M.S.U., Baroda. Neha likes to shuttle between her work and her reading, and so at any given time, she will have a few books with her.

And finally that is me, Vrushali Dhage, Masters in Art History and Criticism, M.S.U. Baroda.What do I write about myself? As I have to write about others.

Old Delhi

In the earlier post on the Khirkee Village I mentioned about the heterogeneous character of the space and the cramped-up houses of its residents. But a walk through Old Delhi, just inverted the image. A walk from the Chawri Bazar Metro Station till Jama Masjid was like walk through a cob-web. On either side there were electric cables hanging out, nearly formed a netted-canopy over the pavements. We had to literally look through these black lines to get a glimpse of some of the old buildings which dotted the lane. If Khirkee village was crowded, I don’t know any adjective I can use to describe Old Delhi. Every square inch of the space was brimming with some or the other activity.

Later with Himanshu Verma of Red Earth, we got a chance to go to the Khari Baoli – the spice market. In this market at any given time, people were either sneezing or coughing, as the aroma of the spices was too strong. He also took us to the flower market. As we wandered through these lanes it was clear there would be something or the other which would cater to our individual interest.

At a point near Chandani Chowk, I read a board which said “Mirza Ghalib Ki Haveli, Ballimaran – and that was it. I was sure that I wanted to go there. All the descriptions in Ghalib’s poetry seems live and real –

Ballimaran ke mohalle ki wo pechida dalilon ki si galiyan
Samne taal ke nukkad par bateron ke kaseede
Gudgudati hui pan ki peekon mein wo daad wo wah wah
Chand darwazon par latke hue boseeda se kuch taat ke parde
Ek bakri ke mamiyane ki awaz
Aur dhundhlai hui shaam ke benoor andhere ..
..aise deewaron se muhn jod ke chalte hain yahan
Chooriwalan ke katre ki Badi Bi jaise apni buhjti hui aankhon se darwaze tatole’’

(Unfortunately we were unable to see his Haveli from inside as we had reached late. But somehow I couldn’t even dare to click a picture of the exterior too, ASI has worked on it, This place is like a pilgrimage centre for any one who likes his works)

And just round the corner, Sajad and Bhavin found some gastronomic respite through a plate of freshly fried chicken. Neha was pulled into a shop selling Perfumes- Ittar, as I always say “she is the woman of strong senses” – I guess her final residency work shall attest this statement of mine. The electronics market pulled Ravi; Agat, Neha and me chose to walk through Kinari Bazar, as the name suggests, the lane presents a variety of lacework. The day ended on a peaceful note at the Sis Ganj Gurudwara.

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Bhavin's Yong & Kyong

Bhavin collected these pets from the Sarojini Nagar market and has given them a family status. He has named them Yong and Kyong

Through Lanes and By Lanes

It would be very naïve on my part to make a statement like “every city is full of contrasts”, by now we all are familiar with such facts. What remains of importance is how we perceive and further the manner in which we analyze them. Like most of the metro cities Delhi too is an integration of heterogeneous elements coexisting in close proximity.

The distance between our guest house and the studio is approximately 5km. The main road acts like a meridian and a slight drift from it changes the picture drastically. We all get off the rickshaws just opposite the grand City Walk and MGF Metropolitan Mall to step into a lane which has a dirt road leveled with pebbles, where dilapidated houses, workshops and a few illegal buildings virtually balance out the hang-out spaces of the chic crowd – just across the road. On experiencing this, the road no longer seems to be a functional entity but - a line of separation. This difference stood out even more starkly with the walk through the Khirkee Village, with Andi, who has worked on some community arts projects with Khoj, guided us through the village. We walked through the lanes of the urban village, visited Old Khirkee Mosque and the Satpula Dam. There was no strict sense of demarcation - the local residents and the historical buildings share the same vicinity. Apart form the architecture there was no feel of incongruence as the mushrooming residential and commercial buildings have encircled the monuments uniformly.

With such newer constructions one thinks about the earlier residents and the thought of their displacement strikes in subsequently. Just to go on a lighter note, Andi told us an interesting fact, “When the foundation for the City Walk Mall was being dug, there was no major issue related to human dislodging but that of the mice. These residents too lost their homes and were forced to find new ones, and consequently the lanes in the nearby locality were infested with them in no time.”

Introducing the Absent Ones!

The first post on a fresh blog would ideally be an introductory one, and I would like to adhere to this tradition too. The only difference being that I would like to introduce the group members of Peers 2010 through some photographs, but not through their presence but their absence.

Beginning with the official PEERS 2010 shot.

ABSENT MEMBER - Malik Sajad (College of Fine Art and Music, Srinagar). Sajad was totally sapped-off by the Delhi heat, absolutely understandable – as he had come from Srinagar (with max temperature of 23°). We have plans of cropping and inserting Sajad through Adobe Photoshop (precisely the reason to leave some space between Ravindra and me)

(Agat Sharma, had just stepped a few minutes before the click, as though he came in only for it, or else he too would have been the one to be introduced through another blank space)

Malik Sajad at the Khirkee Mosque - turned his back towards his peers and chose to click dogs.

SECOND PICTURE : Centre table talk –ISSUE -What needs to be cooked for DINNER! Which has become like a necessary formality, and ever since we have stepped in the guest house, FOOOD has been playing in the back of our minds, all our plans get moulded accordingly.

ABSENT MEMBER – Agat and Rabindra

AGAT SHARMA (NIFT, Delhi) – Knight In The Shining Helmet, tying the costume at the Kinari Bazar, Old Delhi. Agat was busy with his final jury and chose to stay away from us, at his own room, therefore missing.

RABINDRA PATRA allies Ravi, he was absent because he was the one with the camera. Ravi is the man who is always the first one to wake up and is always all set to leave for the studio early in the morning.

The remaining members will be introduced in the same manner, as and when they go missing. Wonder when we will get our complete family photograph!

Over the week, at the guest house, our temporary home, the post dinner sessions were allotted for showing and speaking about the woks of individual artists. And of course most of the discussion would begin focusing on the artists’ works but over the hours would deviate and deviate further to take an absolutely tangential path, such that we would have to make an effort to trace the point of commencement. These talks were like ice-breakers. I guess most of us feel intimidated to speak in public, therefore these extremely casual talks proved to be really good, as there was no special need gather courage to speak and no fear of getting battered for committing mistakes.

At this point, though I am extremely tempted to speak about their works, but I want to hold my self from doing so. The reason being that each artist needs to be spoken about, at length, which I would be doing in the following posts; and moreover what remains of initial / immediate interest is the way in which all of us are considering this opportunity to understand our works by taking a step back and looking at it from a different perspective. There all catalyzed the process of mental readjustment in an extremely positive manner. Well, looking at the DVD (movies and documentaries) rack in the digital library at the Khoj Khirkee Studio we collectively feel that 30 days would be too short a span to make the best out of this space!