Harmony in a medley

Helpless hands reach out from under the waves of a tsunami. A puja fire casts an inviting glow over shadows. Thatched roof cottages stand isolated in a sea of sand. A lone bird glides over fisherman boats. Words can hardly describe the images depicted on the walls of the Balgandharva Art Gallery. Rohini Shitole,Akshay Khandalkar,Amanjot Kaur,Ruta Potnis and Shubhi Srivastava,five city-based post-graduate students from the National Institute of Design,shared a common dream – to showcase their art using a variety of mediums. Come June 28,and their dream became a reality. “We came up with the idea of the exhibition nearly three months ago. Everyone keeps talking about holding such an event,but we wanted to actually do something about it,” says Potnis. The artists are eager to showcase different styles and sides of art,something that is removed from the mainstream,to give their audience a fresh blend of ideas.

“Some of us have done extensive research in Gujarat and have used our experience in our work from our time there. Some are experimenting with digital art,trying to exaggerate and simplify something as ordinary as a hairstyle. The aim is to achieve something different and unique,” says Kaur. Khandalkar,for example,uses a lot of different lighting to produce the desired effect in his photographs. Shitole focuses mostly on bird photography,while Kaur has displayed photographs from her Kutch travels.

The medium and technique explorations have allowed the artistes to explore the realm of the real and the fantastic. Experimenting with different mediums allows the artists to turn to different styles of photography and paintings. But even in their experimentation,they seek to maintain a unity in their individuality. In fact,an entire wall of the gallery is taken up with paintings of the elements where each artist has contributed to put up paintings depicting earth,sky,water,fire and wind.

This is the first exhibition that the five NID’ians have put up,and they admit that they had feelings of apprehension before the event. “We were sceptical about the idea initially,but as the date came closer,we got more and more excited about it,” smiles Srivastava.

(The exhibition will be held at the Balgandharva Art Gallery till June 30 between 10 am and 8pm)