Medium and message

By Rana Siddiqui Zaman | Front Line

Gulam Mohammed Sheikh's exhibition in Delhi attempts to look back at Gujarat's troubled past.

THERE are very few art exhibitions that send shivers down the spine, make one restless or melancholic, or leave an unsavoury taste in the mouth yet provoke contemplation they are the kind that goads you to revisit the past, recall moments in history described as tragic and irreparable, or feel miserable about not having been able to do anything about them.

The Vadodara-based artist Gulam Mohammed Sheikh's art show City, Kaavad and other works, at the Lalit Kala Akademi's Rabindra Bhawan in New Delhi from October 12 to 24, did exactly that. The retrospective series, reflective in nature, meditative in style and grand in display, overwhelmed visitors; they presented the disturbing events witnessed especially over the past two decades in Vadodara (Baroda) and other parts of Gujarat as well as in Ayodhya (Uttar Pradesh).

 

18 November 2011