On a new ground

What happens when two artists get together and proceed to work on one project? Is the creative expression born out of a sense of tension, resistance, happy state of mind or does it speak of friendship? This and several other threads were explored by two pairs of artists working in different mediums, as a part of the Kalagoshthi Collective, a forum created by Art Lane in order to give a platform to artists of different creative fields. 

In recent years, Art Lane has hosted several exhibitions, representing a wide range of interests, media, and subject matter. This year, it has come up with the idea of helping visual artists and poets to collaborate with each other. “Typically, creative people work in isolation, but conversations during this alliance have taken both the artists into new shared territory. The poet and the artist have collaborated to make two pieces of art each. And, these art pieces are being displayed as a part of ‘Kalagoshthi 2018’ exhibition at Raja Ravi Varma Art Gallery,” says Smita Raje Deshpande, who has curated the exhibition. 

Abir Patwardhan and Siddharth Dasgupta 
Noted poet and novelist Siddharth Dasgupta will be collaborating with sculptor Abir Patwardhan for the art collective. Dasgupta’s short story collection, The Sacred Sorrow of Sparrows and poetry collection, The Wanderlust Conspiracy were published in 2017.
 
When asked how the collaboration happened, Dasgupta said, “Smita Deshpande, the organiser of Kalagoshthi got in touch with me, as she did with Abir. Both of us first wanted to see a few examples of the other artist’s work, so she also sent those across. I think both Abir and I ended up connecting with what the other had created.” 

“I feel Abir is one of the strongest, most conceptual young sculptors in the land. Some of the things he does are far above what most artists in the city are able to conceive. I like the fact that often, there’s an unspoken spiritual undercurrent that anchors his pieces,” adds Dasgupta. 

Talking about their joint project, the novelist and poet says, “One of the joint pieces traverses the narrative of a life, even as it is being lived — its triumphs, regrets, hopes and spiritual wealth. The other creation examines the gifts of wisdom and compassion in a manner that has proven to be strangely compelling.” 

Does friendship have a bigger role to play in such collaborations? Dasgupta replies, “It isn’t important to be friends, is the short answer. Much of creative expression usually erupts out of a sense of tension and creative resistance. In this case, though, it was a happy state of mind to be, with two friends being in agreement with what the other is scripting and conceiving, open and alive to what detours and journeys the other’s vision might be taking.”

Sharmishtha Banerjee and Pragati Adhikari
A pianist, Sharmistha Banerjee expresses her musical feelings through her paintings in a moving human form. She is collaborating with Pragati Adhikari, a Bengaluru based poetess, in the art collective. Talking about the collaboration, Banerjee says, “I was to work with a poetess who was known to me, but she had to opt out because of some emergency. So Smita then suggested Pragati Adhikari’s name. Initially, we conversed over phone and exchanged poetry and paintings electronically.  I really liked her poetry. We realised that we were on the same page and decided to go ahead together.”
 
Adds Adhikari, “We shared our previous work to get an idea about how comfortable we would be and if there was a common ground of connection in terms of expressing ourselves.”

Talking about the project, Banerjee says, “Our work here encompasses in visual and word form, a woman’s life in one set, and that of her unbridled inner freedom in the other. I find the combination quite apt as I feel a work of art can be considered poetry on canvas and vice versa.” 
 
Adhikari echoes her thoughts and says, “Being an artist myself, I feel I have the best of both worlds. Art and poetry are two very powerful mediums of expressions and their reach is worldwide.” 

 ST Reader Service 
‘Kalagoshthi 2018’ will be held from December 8 - 11 at Raja Ravi Varma Art Gallery, Ghole Road, 10 am - 8 pm