3 min readNew DelhiJun 5, 2024 10:11 PM IST
First published on: Jun 5, 2024 at 10:11 PM IST
Upon entering the massive halls of Jawahar Bhawan in Delhi, viewers are confronted with questions meant to instigate inquiries. In his note on the exhibition titled “Moments in Collapse”, artist-curator Gigi Scaria contemplates: “How does the artist respond to the multiple folds of our time?”.
The exhibition that follows has each participating artist ponder the question through their work — covering the realities of our condition “socially, personally and politically”.
Right at the entrance is Arunkumar HG’s repurposed wood elephant, Overshoot, that emphasises how unreasonable demands are ruining ecological balance. It is juxtaposed with Rakhi Peswani’s Aberrations, which also reflects on the friction between man and environment and how the fast expanding urban metropolises are consuming nature. In another corner, Shailesh BR’s Melting Lotus urges the audience to become a participant as they are invited to pick one of the several orange wax flowers from the floor, place it on the cauldron and observe it melt.
Organised by the Safdar Hashmi Memorial Trust, the showcase transcends through its multiple concerns as sheer placement of works also guide viewers. “There are several things that we no longer attempt to understand critically. They have become a norm. These narratives have been built over the last 10-15 years and the majority now blindly follows. Anyone who voices an opinion against government policies is considered anti-national. India was not like till some years back,” says Scaria.
So subtle parallels are drawn between different moments in history. While in Murali Cheeroth’s photo assemblage “Unmarked” we see the devastation of Gaza, where Israel’s ongoing offensive continues since October 2023, on display a few feet away are Pablo Bartholomew’s photographs of the day after the demolition of the Babri Masjid. Vikrant Bhise’s Mahad Satyagraha-2 reminds us of BR Ambedkar’s anti-caste movements and the legacy of his philosophy and political ideologies. In Akshay Sethi’s watercolour “She and the Lathi” he paints students protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Act in Delhi in 2019. He particularly refers to an instance where a group of women shielded male protesters from police lathis.
While some of the works have been commissioned for the exhibition, others that are more familiar include Shilpa Gupta’s drawings that document government crackdowns. N Pushpamala’s 2021 video performance Gauri Lankesh’s Urgent Saaru is presented as an act of remembrance for the artist’s close friend, journalist Gauri Lankesh, who was shot outside her home in 2017 allegedly for her political views. It has the artist dressed as Mother India as she prepares a curry recipe shared by Lankesh. A note alongside reads: “This particular recipe was specifically chosen for the performance as the tomato coconut curry is deep red in colour, the colour of blood, and because the times are… urgent.”
With his digital print Liberty Is Not Your Green Statue, Orijit Sen leaves his audience with a thought. He notes: “She does not stand on a stone pedestal. She walks on a tightrope. Every step, every minute, every day.”
In his note on the exhibition titled "Moments in Collapse", artist-curator Gigi Scaria contemplates: "How does the artist respond to the multiple folds of our time. (gigiscaria.in) 
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