Space for More

It is named after Raman’s security agency called Hawk Eye Security Services (HESS) and the 400 sq ft gallery is based in one of its premises. It all began when Raman’s daughter,Revathi,a painter who has studied art in London and held group shows in Europe,wanted to hold an exhibition in Chandigarh. “The search to find a space which was affordable proved to be the major challenge. I realised how important it was for young artists to get a platform to showcase their works without worrying about financial constraints,” she says,adding that Hess did not charge users.

It was an idea whose time had come because like-minded people began to gravitate towards the Hess Space concept and today,they form a growing organisatiom. The Hess Project Space opened a few days ago with Revathi’s exhibition titled “Brown”,in which she plays with colours to create the colour brown,does wall painting,sketches and even shows a small film to depict her philosophy of work — an experiment in mixing the primary colours. With friends joining in over coffee and cake,the exhibition was a lively affair.

Among the Hess members is Gaurav Sahai,who has displayed his Sattva Shelf,with organic vegetable,pulses,masalas,herbs,plants and seeds for sale. Sattva is his endeavour to reach out to people about the benefits and importance of organic food and help them create their own kitchen gardens. “What I am doing may not be commercially viable at the moment. There are many people like me who need access to places like Hess Project Space to get a foot-hold,” he says.

The others are Lisa Tandon Chawla of the NGO Chhoti Si Asha who is exhibiting funky cloth bags made by street children,and Ankur Bhatia,who works with the Australian High Commission and offers his ideas on water purification and growing plants on terraces.

Moonstar Kaur studied finance and was an accountant in the UK. Kaur is now part of the project and is set to share natural healing remedies with visitors,from massage and hair oils to natural tooth powder. She will also teach people how to turn their kitchen waste into compost using a simple machine.

“I travel around the country to gain these experiences and community skill sharing was something I imbibed at Auroville,while urban farming I picked up in Bangalore. We also hope to soon start a library of off-beat books here,” says Kaur.