Issues of identity, boundaries, political and social concerns abound in the works of artists from neighbouring countries of Sri Lanka, Nepal, Pakistan and Bangladesh at the India Art Fair here.
The 8th edition of the four-day long fair, which opened to the public today with a VIP preview last evening, features art from about 70 galleries across the world, tightly curated by Fair's international director Zain Masud, who attempts to "provide a reference point for the subcontinent."
Displayed under 'Platform', a new initiative at the Fair, are artworks by four emerging artists from Pakistan -- Saba Khan, Farida Batool, Mohsin Shafi and Humaira Abid, all represented by the Lahore-based Taseer Art Gallery.
High up on the white walls of the gallery's booth are images of 550 pairs of eyes, which blink and change directions as the viewer walks past. Titled "Why are you looking at me" the images are a creation of Farida Batool whose other work is "Eik Shahar Jo Udaas hai" (A city that is in mourning).
The work presents a series of lenticular photos on scenes from Lahore city seen as a continous red brick wall when viewed from an angle.
"This one is based in the year 2009 when extremism was at a high and Lahore was targetted. Schools were shut down and walls of the houses were raised for security reasons. Since walls were erected,I took to potraying the life on the streets on the walls," she said.
Shafi, whose collages are personal potraits of his life and family using impersonal recycled images. " I'd rather pose more questions than provide answers, and hopefully, in turn create a deper dialogue," he says in a note.
Abid showcases two sculpture series using mahogany wood and bronze. "There are two series that the artist has done. Her style is miniature and through her wood sculptures of tifins she looks at roles of women and social taboos," says Sanam Taseer who is representing the Gallery.
Saba's work is a satire on the elite in Lahore where she lives. Her works bear titles like "Halal Dreams," "Feeling Pious Today," among others.
Seven artists from the recently earthquake-ravaged Nepal are presenting their works at the booth by Nepal Art Council.
One of the "most powerful works", says gallerist Dina Bangdel is by Hitman Gurung who did interviews with different people during the blockade of goods from India by Madheshi community protestors.
Hitman which in Nepali means, a wise man has in his work "This is My Home, My Land and My Country" potrayed women with their faces covered holding their identity cards. There are also bronze mini gas cylinders that he has created.
One of the Nepali artists captured death and destruction in the country. An impromptu image she created at the booth was a red swish of paint, depicting blood, trickling down to the floor of the booth gallery.
"Her work has been stuck at customs and is expected to arrive tomorrow. Till then this will have to do," said Bangel of the Nepal Art Council, which is participating in the Fair for the first time.
Through her artwork Sheelasha Rajbhandari talks about the Thulo Bhyasi community in Bhaktapur, Nepal, which was among the worst hit in the quake. The artist conducted workshops and psychotherapy sessions to help them cope with the disaster.
"The workshops not only helped to heal them but also make them into strong craftsmen." When asked to choose from colours they liked most, almost all women artisans with whom the artist worked, picked black colour except one who chose blue.
"When I asked her about the choice, the woman told me that immediately after the quake she was surrounded by death and devastation all around she had lost everything she possessed but she looked up and the sky was blue. That gave her peace and calm," Rajbhandari said.
Pala Pothupitye, from Sri Lanka has reworked official maps of South Asia and inscribed them with symbols in his attempt to look at the colonial past with contemporary times.
"The map is a colonial object and I use them not only for physical mapping but I also do conceptual mapping and try to address the issues of boundaries and identities right from the colonial times to when we had war to now," says the artist who hails from a family which practices a dying traditional ritual dance.
Besides Pothupitye, Anoli Perera and Bandu Manamperi are other Sri Lankan artists whose works comment on their politically charged country.
Apart from the 'Platform' other artworks at the Fair also touch upon issues of social concern.
An infinity sign made through bowls filled with grains by Michelangelo Pistoletto titled 'Terzo Paradise' (Third Paradise) signifiying the polarities between nature and humanity greet Art Fair visitors inside the entrance.
"I See a Cobbler" by Subodh Gupta that he finished just ahead of the Fair is a take on identity of the nameless and faceless people like cobblers.
Bangladeshi artist Tayeba Begum Lipi titled "Miles after Miles," showcased three pairs of footwear crafted by steel razor blades to represent the issues of labourers "who have been walking towards that something for years."
Mumbai-based Anita Dube's "Portrait" displays a copy of Annihilation of Caste by B R Ambedkar, smeared with red ink to signify blood, a work which the artist said was created to focus on the caste issue especially after the suicide of dalit scholar of Rohith Vemula in Hyderabad.
Another work by the artist made up of PVC pipes and other material has been titled "Beef or Mutton".
