"FRIN/GE was conceived as a space in which to unpack the ideas and feelings that govern norms, behaviours and actions leading to the creation of an exclusion or periphery, which serve as foundational undercurrents for contemporary realities. The artistic dialogue and the impetus of my curatorial concept widened to incorporate the developing realities of 2020 as the world rearticulates it's responses to this ongoing global pandemic. So, we circle back to where we started: how, who, and what constitutes ‘fringe’ for you? How do communities on the fringe thrive, survive, and keep going? Whose ideas and stories are not being consigned to history? Who is not at the table? What actions, thoughts, and feelings are we unwilling to accept?"
- Shaleen Wadhwana
FRIN/GE is a group show curated by Shaleen Wadhwana, an independent arts educator and cultural heritage professional, whose curatorial practice explores meta-narratives in global history and artistic responses to contemporary social issues.
Featuring a total of 25 artworks across a wide range of all-encompassing media, from paintings, textile, programming code and data, to photographs and videos, by artists Afrah Shafiq, Ruby Chishti, Anju Dodiya, Atul Dodiya, Sharbendu De, Renuka Rajiv and Avril Stormy Unger, Juul Kraijer, Ashim Purkayastha and Mithu Sen, FRIN/GE was conceived as a space in which to unpack the ideas and feelings that govern norms, behaviours and actions leading to the creation of an exclusion or periphery, which serve as foundational undercurrents for contemporary realities.
"In FRIN/GE, Chishti highlights the disparate impact of the pandemic in the USA, which is coupled with Rajiv and Unger’s documentation of a changing Bangalore in India. They mirror the same concern— that receiving healthcare is not an equal human right. With the intersection of technology and art, Sen builds a lasting relationship with the viewer through her never-ending QR code artwork, while Shafiq uses custom code to create a simulated Marian figure that is multiple and diverse, allowing for various narratives to co-exist. These are in tandem with intrapersonal ecosystems depicted through Purkayastha’s recognition that inner demons are common to us all and the inward, self-explorative journey by Anju Dodiya is crucial in understanding the unseen, unknown parts of ourselves. In trying to contextualise the marginalised ‘other’, Atul Dodiya showcases the historical imprints of social discrimination against the Indian–Muslim identity, as does De through his meditative homage to the Lisu tribal identity. The final contemplation is through Kraijer’s melodious intersection of nature and humanity, wondering: who is this world being built for?
