Kala Hai – Jaane do, bataa bhi do, kya rakha hai chupane mein – rang hai yeh, yeh auzaar hai, na rok hai na tok hai, na koi Sarkar hai.
This is Art – Let it go, please let us know, there is nothing in hiding it all – this is colour, these are the tools, there is no interlude or disturbance, nor any Governance.
Humid air, an empty mass of air-conditioner, air bubbles and a warm bath, a pair of yellow bath slippers, slippery monsoon streets, vivid dashes of street art, an unfinished art work, complete conversations about art, incomplete conversations of a broken heart, splatter of wine and broken glass, glass houses and mini bars, tiny feet in empty houses, feet on wet green grass, feet on tables and ladders, ladders near walls reaching for the stars – all these thoughts and revelations, people and places, all through the day in our mind, around us, as we walk, talk, stammer, splutter– these make us crazy, eccentric souls, and we try to get a grasp of the world – that is crude, dirty, cold.
Art is constantly trying to report what life has to say – from moments of joy, ecstasy, to those of pain and bane. From lone pieces of art to collaborative art pieces, art could be part of a neighbourhood, a personal space or a world which is rebelling against hate, prejudice and intolerance.
Moments of joy seek their way onto art pieces, and subsequently into the viewer’s every day. One can catch an hour of laughter, poetry and satire by renowned kavis (poets) – Surendra Sharma and Sunil Jogi through the show, Komedy & Kavis at the India Habitat Centre. It is their wacky and comical take on marriage, politics, Bollywood and social media.
A vivid story, a complex photograph, devious theatrics, quaint paintings – art pieces are sometimes quiet and many a times blaring accounts of what an artist observed, sensed or imagined. These fictional-factual pieces of life often become co-op snippets when shared with several people – through workshops and ateliers. Woodpecker Masterclass- “Photography, Myth and Magic,” is a workshop by contemporary photographer and academic- Sharbendu De. The workshop will explore communities though his work- Imagined Homeland, and through works of other contemporary lens artists – and will talk about how photography can help transcend barriers in pursuit of magic and poetry.
Unlike love, or hate, art is a community of sentiments – rawness, refinement, ache. Canadian Cinema takes centre stage in Delhi, telling stories of freedom, suffering and anguish – through films like Meditation Park- story of a woman’s journey to personal independence, Hello Destroyer- about how a junior hockey player’s life is shattered by in-game act of violence, Closet Monster- story of tragic gay bashing faced by a youngster, and Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World.
She painted verses of her complex mind, he wrote about his heartless allies, she danced to tunes of aggression, he sculpted moulds of anarchy, she recited lines of agony. We all live among showgrounds of expressions, realities of aloneness, thoughts of fear and mayhem, delusions and daydreams. Art is the communicator of life, white lies, and an intoxicated voice of fearlessness –trippy pieces of paint being splashed, dribbled on surfaces, sometimes performed on concrete – over tipples.
Events
Komedy & Kavis at the Stein Auditorium, India Habitat Centre, Lodi Road, New Delhi, on July 15, 7:00pm.
Woodpecker Masterclass - "Photography, Myth and Magic" will be conducted by Photographer & Academic -Sharbendu De, at Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, Saket, New Delhi, on July 14, 11 am.
The Reel Canada: Celebration of Canadian Cinema in Delhi, at the Stein Auditorium, India Habitat Centre, Lodi Road, New Delhi, July 18 - 21, 7:00pm.