Photo Essay: 'Reminiscence of Home' by Dhiraj Rabha

/
Photo Essay: 'Reminiscence of Home' by Dhiraj Rabha

Dhiraj Rabha takes us into a former United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) detention camp in Goalpara, Assam, where he grew up. Through his lens, he captures the essence of his community's resilience, illustrating how they uphold their heritage with unwavering pride. These personal and intimate photographs show a community forging a sense of belonging within the confines of what was once a detention camp, transforming it into a sanctuary they proudly call home. Amidst this backdrop, Dhiraj's work navigates the complexities of identity and belonging as his community grapples with their place in the wider world.

Read More

'Thieves' Market' by Areez Katki

/
'Thieves' Market' by Areez Katki

A very special piece from the New Zealand-based artist Areez Katki's recent body of work is Thieves' Market, which we were lucky enough to see in person at TARQ's booth at the India Art Fair 2024 in New Delhi. Thieves Market is a tapestry or frieze made up of several fragments that reference lost, excavated, and even stolen, objects and artefacts that are now mostly housed in glass cases in European museums, such as the Louvre and the British Museum. Each fragment is handwoven in the traditional Zoroastrian toran beadwork technique using Czech glass beads that the artist inherited from his maternal great-grandmother.

Read More

Photo Essay: 'Meet me in the garden' by Farheen Fatima

/
Photo Essay: 'Meet me in the garden' by Farheen Fatima

Meet me in the garden is a series of staged portraits by Farheen Fatima, featuring the artist’s own friends. Taking its inspiration from their family albums and everyday scenes, the photographs have also been painted on. Together, the works are a portrait of the public park in North India, populated by people to whom it serves as a special space of leisure and intimacy.

Read More

Photo Essay: 'A factless autobiography' by Debmalya Roy Choudhuri

/
Photo Essay: 'A factless autobiography' by Debmalya Roy Choudhuri

New York-based photographer Debmalya Roy Choudhuri has been shortlisted for the prestigious Louis Roederer Discovery Award 2022, curated by Taous R. Dahmani. Choudhuri’s work will be exhibited at the 53rd edition of Rencontres d’Arles, to be held from 4th July to 25th September, 2022. Presented by the non-profit organisation, SPACE STUDIO in Baroda, Deb's shortlisted body of work— titled A factless autobiography— introduces three profiles based on a multitude of portraits illustrating the singularity of kaleidoscopic identities.

Read More

Photo Essay: 'Let Me Comb Your Hair' by Mika Sperling & Vasudhaa Narayanan

/
Photo Essay: 'Let Me Comb Your Hair' by Mika Sperling & Vasudhaa Narayanan

During the COVID-19 pandemic, artists Mika Sperling and Vasudhaa Narayanan engaged in a call and response exchange, between Hamburg, Germany and Bangalore, India. Consequently, the quarantine forced them to look inwards with their practice — focusing on the language of care, family, intimacy, and the solitude surrounding their homes and neighbourhoods. The exchange between them explores tonalities and emotions that are both happenstance and constructed.

Read More

In Conversation With Nibha Sikander

/
In Conversation With Nibha Sikander

Nibha Sikander's artistic practice involves using layer upon layer of intricately cut out, coloured card paper to create critters, birds and moths, in all their marbled and mottled glory. Her deconstructed renditions of real and imagined creatures have an almost lifelike quality to them and are an attempt to quietly engage with the larger question of preserving the wonders that nature offers. Nibha tells us about her current work, her detail-driven process, and her inspiration from the coastal town of Murud-Janjira in Maharashtra, where she lives.

Read More

In Conversation With Rajesh Soni

/
In Conversation With Rajesh Soni

Rajesh Soni is a third-generation artist from Mewar, Rajasthan, who specialises in hand-colouring and painting photographs. His grandfather, Prabhu Lal Soni (Verma), was an artist and the personal photographer of Maharana Bhopal Singh of Mewar. His skills of overpainting photographs were passed down to Rajesh through the intermediary of his father Lalit. Rajesh talks to us about his longstanding collaboration with Udaipur-based photographer Waswo X. Waswo, an outcome of a rather serendipitous meeting.

Read More

Photo Essay: 'Dear Nani' by Zinnia Naqvi

/
Photo Essay: 'Dear Nani' by Zinnia Naqvi

Dear Nani (2017 - ongoing) is a project that addresses issues of gender performance and colonial mimicry through the family archive. The photographs included in this project are of the artist’s maternal grandmother, Rhubab Tapal, who is performing the act of cross-dressing by wearing several different outfits that belong to her husband.

Read More

Samanta Batra Mehta and Nirupa Rao in Conversation From Isolation

/
Samanta Batra Mehta and Nirupa Rao in Conversation From Isolation

Samanta Batra Mehta and Nirupa Rao approach their artistic practice very differently, each with a unique voice and creative process. The work of both artists, however, is rooted in a love for botany. New York City-based Samanta works with illustration, text and photography to create multi-layered, mixed-media installations that draw connections between the environment and the human condition. Nirupa's botanical illustrations are inspired by her regular field visits into the wild–the most recent of which was to the forests of the Western Ghats. The Bangalore-based artist collaborates closely with botanists to achieve scientific accuracy.

Monsoon Malabar connected with Samantha and Nirupa via email to discuss their varied inspirations, love of books and how covid has changed the way they work in their respective cities.

Read More

8 Art Professionals on How They're Adapting to Isolation During the Coronavirus Pandemic

/
8 Art Professionals on How They're Adapting to Isolation During the Coronavirus Pandemic

When people are confined to their homes, and the machine of the global economy comes to all but a screeching halt, art becomes a rare form of solace. Art also becomes a means of sharing experiences—the pandemic does not affect us all equally. Art reminds those who are lucky enough to have homes to be quarantined in, to remain employed and be financially stable—that there are many who are less fortunate. Art allows communities to engage with the world at large—it allows people a window into a world they would otherwise have no access to.

Monsoon Malabar reached out to art professionals from India and overseas, to discuss how the pandemic has influenced, affected, or changed their work—and what they believe the future holds for the world of art.

Read More