New Delhi [India], September 15 (ANI): The ‘Paradise Promised’ exhibition at Delhi’s Bikaner House is turning a reflective lens on landscapes, memory, ecology, displacement, and the rhythms of everyday life.
The showcase marks the debut exhibition of Teesta Bhandare’s Knowledge Convergence Foundation (TKCF) and represents the culmination of its inaugural multidisciplinary residency held in Salogra, Himachal Pradesh.
The program has successfully brought together artists for workshops and discussions exploring different interpretations of paradise and the gap between idealised promises and reality, featuring their works created during the residency.
The participating artists took a walkthrough, sharing details about their showcases and inspiration.
Teesta Bhandare, director of the Knowledge Convergence Foundation, also reflected on the inaugural exhibition.
“This is our inaugural exhibition, which is based on our debut residency programme that we held in Himachal Pradesh earlier this year. There are almost 40 artworks here today, created by nine artists across different mediums. We have machine, textile work, photography, paperwork, and canvases. So, we’ve really covered the full gamut of mediums, and that was something that was really special about our residency as well: that it was multidisciplinary. I think the response has been really well received, both critically and by viewers and collectors. So, we’re really happy to have this kind of support for our first year. We’re such a young organisation, and our initiative is so new, so we’re really happy to see the industry come out and support us like this. Yes, this will be an annual thing for us. We will have annual programming where we do our residency in April and an exhibition in September. We’re also working towards a book, which we’re releasing in February of next year. So, we’ll have these three things, these three pillars of our organisation, that we’ll come out with every year,” she told ANI.
Artist Digbijayee Khatua from Odisha spoke about his traditional practice and shared, “My practice is very traditional. My work is very detailed… I work with paper and watercolour. That’s why I play with nature, landscape, and cityscape.”
Kodanda Rao Teppala, an artist, shared working for over the past 25 years.
“I am working for 25 years. These are daily life reflections. I am talking about life, human life, nature, animals, and daily life dialogues. During the residency program, they gave the theme of ‘Paradise Promise’,” he said.
Goa-based artist Dhiraj Pednekar spoke about creating art from a very young age.
“I’ve been creating art since I was a child, and I took a formal practice in Fine Arts in Goa. These works were part of the residency, and the works were created in response to the residency. The theme of the residency was Paradise Promised. I just took a very simple approach to respond to it. I felt all of these plants and shrubs and grasses and even the fungi co-exist together. I see that as a paradise. When you take off these things from that particular paradise, what you see is the lost paradise,” he explained.
Shailesh BR from Shivamogga, Karnataka reflected on his interest in kinetic art.
“There was no electricity in my village. I was then interested in how machines would work. I also like mythologies. This entire piece is called a philosopher. This one is something like death and birth. When you are creating art, it can tell a lot of different kinds of stories,” he said.
The exhibition is on view at Bikaner House from September 14 to 16. The residency brought together artists and practitioners from different generations and disciplines, with thematic workshops and conversations forming an integral part of the programme.
Among those who interacted with the residents were historian Sohail Hashmi, author and festival director Namita Gokhale, Anahita Batra, and singer-composer-filmmaker Madan Gopal Singh, accompanied by Pritam Ghosal.
The exhibition features works created during the residency alongside works by artists whose practices resonate with its central theme.
The inaugural residents include Rekha Hebbar Rao, Veer Munshi, Kodanda Rao Teppala, Sheena Maria Piedade, Digbijayee Khatua, Dhiraj Pednekar and Lina Vincent. Works by Shailesh B R, Akshata Mokashi and Dhiraj Rabha are also part of the exhibition, aligned with the curatorial theme. (ANI)
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