Go art-hopping over the long weekend

Nine contemporary photographers from India, China and Iran are showcasing 50 photographs at the Sakshi art gallery in an exhibition titled Staging Selves: Power, Performativity & Portraiture, each of the works offering a socio-political perspective on those countries through the stories of those photographed.

Nine contemporary photographers from India, China and Iran are showcasing 50 photographs at the Sakshi art gallery in an exhibition titled Staging Selves: Power, Performativity & Portraiture, each of the works offering a socio-political perspective on those countries through the stories of those photographed.

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Artist Samar Singh Jodha has documented the lives of labourers who worked on the Commonwealth Games venues in Delhi last year. “The scams, gloss and glamour got all the attention, but many faceless people suffered directly in the making of that event,” says Jodha.

Iranian artist Malekeh Nayiniy, who left her country in 1973 for the UK and later the US, is displaying a large portrait of her parents’ wedding and paintings of her parents’ special effects — watches, wallets, passports etc — signifying her grief and her memories, and the fact that she could not return to the country before they died because of the political unrest.

Chinese artist Zhang O is showing pictures of youngsters wearing T-shirts with Chinglish (Chinese-English) slogans printed on them, signifying the growing prestige of English and influence of the US in the country.

At the Jehangir Art Gallery, Kolkattan master artist Ganesh Haloi is exhibiting 18 abstract, untitled landscapes and innerscapes in an ongoing solo show.

His works are painted using earth tones in gouache — a powdered, soluble form of colour that was used in the paintings and murals at the Ajanta caves in Aurangabad. “Isolation is the most important factor in the paintings,” says Haloi. “You are alone with nature, and then you become part of it, you participate in it.”