Do memories give comfort? Or do they offer meaning to feelings of nostalgia that we desperately try to hold on to in the face of the unknown future, a future that is so alien?" asks Sri Lankan artist Anoli Perera in the brief note accompanying her work Memory Cache. It is a question that resonates, especially in places like Bangalore, where people are fond of discussing (in a tone of regret) their city that was. Perera's work is a striking installation of, what appears to be, dozens of little pots wrapped in cloths of different shades and patterns and stuck together to form a giant, colourful mass. But take a peek inside the mouth of one of the pots, and you see black and white photographs. The pots double up as a bioscope, offering a glimpse into the years gone by.
'Memory Cache' is the first work that will grab your attention when you view 'Memorabilia', an exhibition of works in different media by ten artists that opened last week at Gallery Sumukha in Bangalore. "The show is about the way memory is stored, projected and represented by the photograph, and when I chose the artists, I knew that they would be looking at the subject and using the photographic objects in different ways to express notions of memory," says Lina Vincent Sunish, the curator.
The artists have explored the subject in different ways using diverse media, resulting in an interesting melange of works. Some, such as Priti Vadakkath, have chosen to interpret personal memories. Vadakkath has used old family photographs of her presumably Syrian Christian family in Kerala as the base for her watercolours, titled Fragmented Allegories. The artist seems to have deliberately chosen to give the figures in the work an ethereal halo, much as we might choose to remember a favourite memory, air-brushing anything uncomfortable.
Bangalore-based photographer Clare Arni has taken a more direct approach with her images. One is of two individuals in an old-style, single-screen cinema hall, sitting on dilapidated chairs. Others include an image of Victoria Hotel, an old Bangalore favourite replaced years ago by a glitzy mall, and Dewar's, the bar in the Cantonment neighbourhood, famous for dishing up "spare parts" (the local term for offal).
And then there is the subversive. Ravi Kumar Kashi has taken an entirely different path, through satire, by "creating" memories of himself in a "book". While the initial impression might be of humour and playfulness, Sunish says it goes much beyond that. "The works speak of the understanding of truth and falsity, or the complications arising from art historical compilation which can be biased by singular points of view, and the larger grey areas within the art industry in India, where favouritism and commercial success overpower notions of creativity and artistic brilliance, among other things."
'The personal' returns in visuals from Anusha Yadav's Indian Memory Project, which has been attempting to piece together the country's history through the photographs and accompanying text submitted by individuals across the country. Yadav, a photographer and archivist, began accepting photographs from 2010, that date before 1991. Venugopal VG has also taken the personal route, with unusual paintings of his old school, in watercolours, tea extracts and graphite on paper.
Through the various works, the exhibition poses questions about how we choose to remember, how history remembers, and how photographs are used in both. Photographs are probably the most obvious and well-used medium for preserving memory. But as Sunish critically points out, photography is also exclusion. "Looking at photography must be done with an awareness of that fact."
'Memorabilia' will be on view at Gallery Sumukha, Bangalore, till January 25. The gallery is closed on Sundays
'Memory Cache' is the first work that will grab your attention when you view 'Memorabilia', an exhibition of works in different media by ten artists that opened last week at Gallery Sumukha in Bangalore. "The show is about the way memory is stored, projected and represented by the photograph, and when I chose the artists, I knew that they would be looking at the subject and using the photographic objects in different ways to express notions of memory," says Lina Vincent Sunish, the curator.
The artists have explored the subject in different ways using diverse media, resulting in an interesting melange of works. Some, such as Priti Vadakkath, have chosen to interpret personal memories. Vadakkath has used old family photographs of her presumably Syrian Christian family in Kerala as the base for her watercolours, titled Fragmented Allegories. The artist seems to have deliberately chosen to give the figures in the work an ethereal halo, much as we might choose to remember a favourite memory, air-brushing anything uncomfortable.
Bangalore-based photographer Clare Arni has taken a more direct approach with her images. One is of two individuals in an old-style, single-screen cinema hall, sitting on dilapidated chairs. Others include an image of Victoria Hotel, an old Bangalore favourite replaced years ago by a glitzy mall, and Dewar's, the bar in the Cantonment neighbourhood, famous for dishing up "spare parts" (the local term for offal).
And then there is the subversive. Ravi Kumar Kashi has taken an entirely different path, through satire, by "creating" memories of himself in a "book". While the initial impression might be of humour and playfulness, Sunish says it goes much beyond that. "The works speak of the understanding of truth and falsity, or the complications arising from art historical compilation which can be biased by singular points of view, and the larger grey areas within the art industry in India, where favouritism and commercial success overpower notions of creativity and artistic brilliance, among other things."
'The personal' returns in visuals from Anusha Yadav's Indian Memory Project, which has been attempting to piece together the country's history through the photographs and accompanying text submitted by individuals across the country. Yadav, a photographer and archivist, began accepting photographs from 2010, that date before 1991. Venugopal VG has also taken the personal route, with unusual paintings of his old school, in watercolours, tea extracts and graphite on paper.
Through the various works, the exhibition poses questions about how we choose to remember, how history remembers, and how photographs are used in both. Photographs are probably the most obvious and well-used medium for preserving memory. But as Sunish critically points out, photography is also exclusion. "Looking at photography must be done with an awareness of that fact."
'Memorabilia' will be on view at Gallery Sumukha, Bangalore, till January 25. The gallery is closed on Sundays