THE SPEAKING IMAGE

An image is a vehicle of silent discourse. Images created by visual artists and designers reflect the times in which they live. ‘The Speaking Image’ is my attempt towards this goal. This journey is not just a dialogue with the self, but also with the images. Images have a lot to tell us. This project is an attempt to understand and create images that communicate visually.

The images are my response to the urban scene around me. Everything, from the clutter of the vehicles, to the chatter in the local trains, the immigrants much blended as the city-dwellers, & the cluster of the buildings; these are an impression of my urbanscape. There is unexpectedness & timelessness with the city of Mumbai. It is not an outer view, but the inner picture of the so-called ‘urban’ life. The city dwellers are present everywhere. There are innumerable life experiences & these make the city real. Under the constructions of concrete walls, are the eyes that dream and the hearts that dance. Happiness and sorrow, liveliness and tiredness, poverty and plenty; urban life is full of contradictions. My works reflect some of these contradictions.

These little patches of urbanscapes are my surroundings, the city I have loved passionately. The project led to re-visiting some of the past memories; it has also been a journey of evolution. A little emphasis on what the outcome of the project was; the display of the images was an exhibit with a set of works that suggested urbanscapes.

Copyrights of all the images belong to Reshal Shah and Industrial Design Centre, IIT Bombay.

To view more works, please visit www.behance.net/reshal

Gasha

Prithvi theatre, Mumbai always gives you the best of the experience where the audience becomes one with the play. Like usual, I picked up my favourite seat of the centre top, all set to watch the much acclaimed play 'Gasha'. The set looked interesting with a few baby boots, suitcases and blackboards on the stage, leaving us all eager to see what Gasha is going to show. Gasha has won the best play, best original script and best ensemble honours in META Awards.

Img Source: http://allevents.in/Mumbai/Gasha-Sep-5th-Prithvi,-Mumbai-6-00-and-9-00-PM/538697966185628

Gasha is more than a typical Kashmir story. It is the journey of two boys, their friendship and the world they built in a shed on an island in middle of the lake; a story about what made people leave Kashmir and what brings them back. The play captures interest in the way props are used, where actors write numbers on the black boards, keep moving the suitcases - suitcases which become people, seats, and what not. The two actors play multiple roles of various ages from a 2 month old baby to the oldest grand mom along with the central characters of Gasha, the Kashmiri Pandit and Nazir the Muslim lad. They change into various characters of the parents, relatives, teachers, priests and neighbours. People fall into memories, and come back to present. 

Img Source: http://www.buzzintown.com/delhi/events/meta-2013-gasha-play/segment--photos/id--749413.html

Gasha left Kashmir as a kid and returns as an adult, when he can no longer connect with the place. He has no idea as to what has happened after he left and returns back as an unwilling tourist forced by his maternal uncle. There is a humour when Gasha finds excuses for his refusal to visit Kheer Bhawani, the devotional holy place of Kashmiri Pandits. However, his boss and family are successful in bringing him to visit the sacred place. The story moves on with flashbacks to Gasha's childhood where one sees why many Pandits were forced to leave Kashmir, what the situation was then and how it has transformed now. It has the simplicity of the little moments spent by kids in the school with their favourite teacher, and their times while building a little home without the knowledge of others. The play progresses to political issues separating two best friends without giving them a reason. 

Of course, they meet as grown-ups when Gasha is about to leave after his three day short visit to Kashmir. It is a mixed feeling that the friends feel, yet a very formal conversation that the two friends have after several years.

The use of language makes the play quite interesting, making one feel Kashmir. Words cannot be enough to describe the experience of this play. It is not just a story, but a reflection of the journey of innocence in the history of Kashmir.

Between The Lines

24th August, 2013; the National Gallery of Modern Art was filled with visitors for the exhibition Between The Lines followed by a panel discussion. Between The Lines – Identity, Place and Power was an exhibition bringing the works of over eighty Indian print makers. The transformations of different eras and schools of art reflected in the content of the works. The initiation and development of printmaking in India is an interesting story. However, it has sometimes faced various difficulties and discrimination.

Subrat Behera Kumar, Untitled Lithograph

Soghra Khurasani, Garland Tribute, Woodcut

Kurma Nadham, Being and Nothing, Woodcut

Some of the words read at the exhibition would be worth sharing and pondering upon. (Ref: The writings put up at the exhibition).

Identity:
There is something compelling about creating an identity through visual means. With artists it seems almost a ritual, in some an obsession. Art becomes a channel through which fragments of identity – elements reflective of internal and external conditioning of the being – are revealed, explored and juxtaposed. Ideals of beauty and perfection, temples for the representant, sexuality, race, religion, culture and several other social categorizations enter into and thrive in the problematics of identity.

Place:
Artists mirror their environments, as much as they do their internal worlds. The fine lines between observed reality, imagined reality and fantasy mingle as contextual changes bring about diverse interpretations of place. The exhibition displays works of various artists from different schools of art and thought.

Bengal is where the story of Indian printmaking began. The era was one of the complex paradoxes; there was a gradual absorption of British systems into a society steeped in a strong local culture; conversely there was a steady growth of the nationalist movement and the urge to reject everything connected with the colonizers. Rabindranath Tagore’s Kala Bhavan in Shantiniketan was the first truly experimental art college.

Bombay was new for art after independence with collectors, film industry and critics making it lively. The Progressive Artists were a group formed by M. F. Hussain, F. N. Souza, S. H. Raza, Tyeb Mehta and S. K. Bakre. These artists worked in a diverse style but a common language that rejected the sentimental revivaling approach to show Indianness by Bengal school. The Progressives opened doors to expressionism that borrowed freely from European modernist movements at the same time deriving essences of Indian aesthetics.

M. F. Hussain, Kerela IV, Screenprinting

The Baroda School, from its inception has been a centre for some of the most experimental modernist practices in India. The atmosphere here was one of open interaction, coupled with intellectual discourse. An engagement with European and American art movements as well as folk art of Indian culture was preferred to the lingering post-colonial academic influences. Printmakers like Nasreen Mohamedi, Bhupen Khakkar, Jarem Patel, Jyoti Bhatt, KG Subramanium, Rini Dhumal, Laxma Goud and many others are associated with The Baroda School.

Jyoti Bhatt, Italia

Power:

Art makers have been spoken of in relation with the godly attribute of being able to ‘create’, representing reality, and also worlds beyond. Artists are granted the power to communicate visually. Artworks also become instruments to explore personal power – in which identities can be altered, fantasies can be depicted and new realities can be constructed through the act of making. The medium is the artist’s instrument; it channels the ability to project multiple or fragmented realities. The artwork becomes a reflection of what exists in the artist’s mind. Artists have the power to see beauty in ugliness, to find solace in trauma and redeem an equilibrium through the projection of the (un)truths.

Sanat Kar, Dreamers, Etching

{ Image Sources: https://www.facebook.com/TheWaswoXWaswoCollectionOfIndianPrintmaking/photos_stream

http://www.artcafe.in/Products/Artcafe-Prints-Serigraph/Kalakriti/Kerala---IV/pid-500964.aspx }

Panel Discussion:

The much interactive discussion at 6.30 p.m. in the gallery auditorium had a huge, enthusiastic audience full of print makers and print-lovers. The panelists were Mr. Palaniappan, Ms. Kavita Shah and Mr. Rajan Fularia, all of them practicing print makers and educators. The discussant, Lina Vincent Sunish brought forth various comments and questions, which were followed by interesting discussions, both from the panelists and the audience. The day concluded with the recognition of the need for educating people about the printmaking as an art form. Many a times, it does not receive the respect it deserves because of lacking awareness about the art form and the efforts that go into making a print.

I consider myself lucky for being introduced to printmaking and being aware of the art and efforts one puts in to get the desired result. Here are two plates that I had etched for the first time at Sophia Polytechnic.

The prints of these are no longer with me; however, the plates are very dear to me.

summer vacations WERE...

Copyrights belong to Reshal Shah. Please write to me for the using of this artwork.

The bright sunshine, blooming flowers, chirpy birds and lazy afternoons make it a perfect summer vacation. As a kid, all the summers were spent at my maternal grandparent's place. I feel blessed that I belonged to an era when all my time was not spent on an iPad or a psp. Instead, there was a close interaction with other elements of nature. Picking up fallen flowers, baby coconuts, making garlands out of these; was all a part of the innocence one enjoys as a child. A special bond exists even today, with the grandparents who fondly told stories, took us out for a walk, and made mouthwatering food with all the love. They were the times of physical activities of swimming, skating, gymnastics, rope climbing, rifle shooting, horse riding and what not. 

A palash tree becomes a strong imagery in my memory. Unfortunately, it no longer exists :( Kesuda naa paan (The red petals) I collected and put it in a bowl of water to see the water change into fiery red.

Copyrights belong to Reshal Shah. Please write to me for the using of this artwork.

I miss the times gone and often romanticise with those. These times have shaped to make me what I am today. Indeed, a phase of life most loved, now gone!

Lost and Found

Image Source: http://cdn.business2community.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Art-Gallery3.jpg

We admire art, often not knowing why! Art is indeed magical, pulling us towards itself, taking us to a new world. It opens its arms to new ideas, concepts, creations, interpretations and appreciation. We are no longer bothered by the outside world, but create our own tiny world. We talk to ourselves. Stories are created in mind and often emotions are evoked by the artwork. It is no longer an artist's work but the viewer makes it his own and understands and interprets the creators view. The rich painting with various layers often enriches the mind and brings out the layers of feelings. It is a spiritual journey, bringing calmness and satisfaction. It lets one forget the outside worries, to do lists, taking away all the weariness. 

Gazing at an artwork, one truly gets lost in our little world. It is just the 'me' and 'the work in front of me'. It is the time one gives to one own self  for self enrichment and rejuvenation. The viewer connects to the artwork, creates his thoughts, beliefs and viewpoints. No one contradicts or comes in way of that journey. It is makes him feel lifted and superior. This is the power of Art! Indeed, it is a joy of getting lost and being found :)