The dazzling and the dilapidated

With physical art events back with a vengeance, the art scene in Kolkata is energetic, distinct and worth keeping an eye on.

Physical art events are back with a vengeance, in the form of exhibitions, panel discussions, camps and other related activities, which are taking place in galleries, cultural centres and resorts, across cities. Recently, I was in Kolkata at the invitation of the Kolkata Centre for Creativity (KCC), a multidisciplinary nonprofit art centre, with its spacious, multilevel and multifunctional space that has been active in its programming right since its inception about three years ago.

Kolkata, with its rich cultural and literary lineage, presents stark contrasts, a coexistence of the traditional and the dilapidated with the new and the contemporary, markedly evident in the urban landscape, its art and architecture and cultural spaces. The KCC, which was hosting ‘The Satyajit Ray Centenary Show (Volume 1)’ in collaboration with Gallery Rasa, at the time, keenly represents and simultaneously, attempts to reconcile this dichotomy.

The exhibition at KCC showcased Nemai Ghosh’s iconic photographs of Ray, along with artefacts associated with his films, such as lobby cards, synopses, posters, book covers and costumes and props that offered valuable insights into his creative process and his design sensibilities. A timeline infographic chronologically detailed the high points of his life, films and events. The show sought to bring out lesser-known aspects of Ray’s life and work through extensive programming, outreach activities and the use of a multi-mediatic approach.

Emami Art Gallery, which occupies the same building as KCC, was exhibiting 'Politics of Paper', a contemporary art show, curated in-house by Ushmita Sahu, featuring paper-based works by leading artists Adip Dutta, Anju Dodiya, Atul Dodiya, Chandra Bhattacharjee, Jagannath Panda, Jayashree Chakravarty, Mithu Sen, N S Harsha, Prasanta Sahu and T V Santhosh. The curatorial note points out, “The crux of the show highlights paper’s intrinsic relationship with our history, culture and politics for several millennia.” The exhibition presents a wide range of primarily new works that explore the materiality of the medium, and its gestural nature as well as locates topical and contextual frameworks through diverse artistic practices.

N S Harsha’s large installation 'Reclaiming The Inner Space' (a work created earlier), constructed from a series of hand-carved wooden elephants, unfolded cardboard packaging and an acrylic mirror, occupies an entire wall, while Jayashree Chakravarty’s 'Tropical Nature' made out of paper, cotton fabric, jute, and other organic materials are back-lit installations, and Prasanta Sahu’s 'Harvesting'- The Untold Story, A Conversation with the Land' made with cast paper from plaster mould, directly taken from the crops and ink, are some of the works that discuss modernisation and consumerism, life and death, and the politics of the land through the versatility and physicality of paper.

The 2022 edition of the highly coveted CIMA Awards, instituted in 2015, showcased more than 180 works of art — paintings, sculptures, graphics, installations, digital and new media art. These were displayed at two venues — the CIMA gallery premises and at Gem Cinema hall. The display at the old cinema hall, in particular, deserves a special mention — it was theatrically mounted to complement the remarkable character of the space. Dilapidated and in disrepair, the old-world charm of this unusual choice for an art exhibition, made for extraordinary viewing. To summarise, the art scene in the city is distinct, energetic and extremely articulate and worth keeping an eye on.

The author is a Bengaluru-based art consultant, curator and writer. She blogs at Art Scene India and can be reached on [e-mail]

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