Indore: Art that travelled all the way to Germany to resist war

Indore: Art has beauty that communicates beyond borders. Travelling from Indore to Germany, painting ‘Missile, Submarine, Turbulent and Army’ is being showcased in an exhibition of mail project ‘Against War’ by German curator and artist Reiner Langer.

Mail art (also known as postal art and correspondence art) is a populist artistic movement centred on sending small scale works through the postal service. The artform promotes an egalitarian way of creating that frequently circumvents official art distribution and approval systems such as the art market, museums, and galleries.

Mail artists rely on their alternative ‘outsider’ network as the primary way of sharing their work, rather than being dependent on the ability to locate and secure exhibition space. Mail art can be seen as anticipating the cyber communities founded on the internet.

In one such attempt, artist Dr Vimmie Manoj from Indore sent her painting to Langer to be displayed in Germany. Working on the idea of ‘no war’, she painted a canvas hiding words that remind her of war.

“Human figures, chaos is depicted in the painting while the colour of peace, white forms the background as I intended to,” Vimmie said. She worked on this painting in September 2017 when she heard about the prestigious mail art event.

“It took a week for me to introspect on the theme and visualise the concept,” Vimmie said. She painted the picture in four days with textures and layers.

“I used paper, jute and thread to bring out the painting and now, it just feels great when it is on display for people in Germany,” Vimmie exclaimed. She explained that 80 artists from around the world have mailed their artwork and three were from India.

“It feels so great to be among those three,” jubilant Vimmie said.