One of the artworks at the exhibition. (Express Photo)Covid-19 has changed us, forever. The lockdown in 2020 alienated us from the life we knew and lived. Visual diaries became the most intimate objects for artists, to record their own unique and personal vocabulary processes, time, space, experiences, and challenges of this trying and testing period. of their daily lives and the development of their creative engagements.
On the occasion of its 54th Foundation Day of the museum, Government Museum and Art Gallery has organised Lockdown Diaries, an exhibition of serigraphy prints of 80 Indian artists. The exhibition is brought by Kaladham Projects Team, and features the works of 80 artists who participated in the workshop organised by Kaladham Projects Team from November 17 to 19, 2020. Sadly, for artists like Jai Zharotia, Aditi Chakrabarty, and Ravinder Verma, it was their last entry in the diary.
The idea of a serigraphy workshop in times of the pandemic was conceptualised at Kaladham Artists’ Studios, Greater Noida (an initiative of the residing artists’ fraternity of the Kaladham Complex) by a small group of artists Tejinder Kanda, Prashant Kalita, Avinash Aggarwal, and Dattatreya Apte. The artists emailed their works and helped to make this collective project successful. The technical team took over and began the work of scanning, creating halftones, and transferring drawings on OHP sheets. Another team worked on exposing screens and paintings.
In such grim times, says Anita Dube, a renowned contemporary artist, working collectively (with social distancing), without hierarchies, in a spirit of camaraderie became the driving force. And that was when the idea of Kaladham Projects was born – a cultural space with an open-ended art activity. Some of the notable artists who participated in the workshop were Ranbir Kaleka, Anita Dube, Arpana Caur, Ved Nayar, Prem Singh, Rajeev Lochan, Ravinder Reddy, Jai Zharotia, Gogi Saroj Pal, Shail Choyal, and Viren Tanwar.
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“No one could have imagined that the unexpected death on November 4, of Ravindra Verma, fellow resident, and eminent artist would become the catalyst for the unique serigraphy workshop event at Kaladham. At the time of registration closing, 80 drawings were received from across the country; young practitioners and eminent artists had emailed images and a production fee. This overwhelming response, reflecting the goodwill generated by Ravindra Verma within the art fraternity, also energized the young and old within Kaladham,” says Dube, in Chandigarh for the inauguration of the show.
This voluntary participation without hierarchies, adds Dube, was a special experience, reminiscent of an older era of camaraderie among artists; a significant first step towards collective work and community re-building within Kaladham. “This possibility embedded within the idea of Kaladham itself lay dormant despite the best efforts of many since its inception. The Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown further dragged the community into an estranged virtual existence. The workshop was able to breach this impasse, and therein its value,” adds Dube.
The exhibition, adds Dr Vishal Bhatnagar, curator of the exhibition, will give a unique opportunity for the people of Chandigarh to see the complete output of the workshop and the reflections of the artists of these times.
The exhibition will be on view till May 20, at the Government Museum and Art College, Sector 10, Chandigarh.
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