In memory of Vivan Sundaram: The art community came together to remember the artist and his art

"He was not just a brilliant artist and an activist but a remarkable and honest person," stated Prabhat Patnaik, his friend and economist, at the memorial programme organised by the Safdar Hashmi Memorial Trust (Sahmat) on April 17 at Jawahar Bhavan in Delhi.

Written by Aditya Vaddepalli
New Delhi | April 18, 2023 06:00 PM IST

3 min read

Vivan Sundaram (Express Photo by Amit Mehra)

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Weeks after artist Vivan Sundaram passed away in Delhi on March 23, the art fraternity came together to remember the artist, his art, and the philosophies and ideologies that guided his life. “He was not just a brilliant artist and an activist but a remarkable and honest person,” stated Prabhat Patnaik, his friend and economist, at the memorial programme organised by the Safdar Hashmi Memorial Trust (Sahmat) on April 17 at Jawahar Bhavan in Delhi.

While an exhibition featuring photographs and videos of him and his work, spanning over six decades, was on display in the lobby at the venue, the speakers at the event included historian Sohail Hashmi, artist Gulammohammed Sheikh, art scholar Ashish Rajadhyaksha, director and curator at Kiran Nadar Museum of Art Roobina Karode, art historian Tapati Guha Thakurta, Tate Modern senior curator of International Art (Photography) Yaufumi Nakamori and theater director Anuradha Kapur.

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Talking about Memorial (1993–2014), a room-size installation by Sundaram, which is on display at Tate Modern till September 3, Nakamori said, “Sundaram carefully took charge of how every small component needs to be placed. The entire exercise was done remotely. The utilisation of the photograph as a sculpture material makes Memorial unique. He used the original image in a variety of ways, employing it as both a sculptural support and surface as well as a dominant visual metaphor.”

Vivan Sundaram (Express Photo by Amit Mehra)

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Kapur, while talking about 409 Ramkinkars, one of the projects on which she collaborated with Sundaram, said, “409 Ramkinkars was dedicated to the life of artist Ramkinkar Baij. It brings together theatre, performance art and installation.”

The artist who died at the age of 79, following a brain hemorrhage, is survived by his wife Geeta Kapur. His other influential works include History Project (1998), Sher-Gil Archive (1995), the digital photomontage Re-take of Amrita (2001–06), Trash (2008), GAGAWAKA: Making Strange (2011), Black Gold (2012), and Postmortem (2013), among others.