Versatile and provocative painter Nilima Sheikh has become the first artist to be selected for the fourth edition of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale, which begins exactly a year later -- December 12, 2018, the organisers said here today.
Anita Dube, curator of the upcoming KMB hosted by Kochi Biennale Foundation, announced Sheikh's name today, formally setting in motion the process of selection of her artists for the high-profile contemporary art event, they said in a release.
Sheikh's illustrious body of works is a scorching portrayal of the turmoil in Kashmir valley and a mystical depiction of women-centric issues.
During her over five-decade career, the 72-year-old Vadodara-based painter has produced an incredibly magnificent oeuvre, wielding her brush to make an intense depiction of subjects, with particular emphasis on Kashmir, Partition and displacement, the release said.
Her strength also lies in the portrayal of grimness of contemporary life like oppressive patriarchy and the silent suffering of women that crack social fabric and she does it through use of traditional idioms and motifs, the organisers said.
A historian by training before she focused attention on the canvas, Sheikh delved into the history of Kashmir, and believes that the valleys turmoil "is owing to our lack of understanding (of the place and people there) as IndiansThe artists role is to bear witness - to both the past and present."
Hailing the selection of Sheikh, KBF President Bose Krishnamanchari said the Kochi Biennale Foundation is thrilled that they were able to make this announcement today, exactly a year to the day the next edition of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale will start.
Heavily inspired by the literary works of Rabindranath Tagore, Sheikh became interested at an early age in the connection between stories and images, between murals and ancient manuscripts.
Her works are rooted in Eastern painting traditions such as miniature painting and oral traditions of vernacular folk songs.
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