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Sarika Sharma
As the lockdown swooped down upon the world, the concept of ‘home’ came to be redefined. It was the place for both leisure and work; it was the place to be together, and lonely too. For many, home was a faraway dream, and they walked thousands of kilometres towards it.
Sudhir Patwardhan, Afternoon
As the morbidity of initial days made way for a new way of life, Tunty Chauhan, director of Threshold art gallery in Delhi, wondered how to engage artists. A talk with art critic Prayag Shukla, and they soon got artists toying with the idea of ‘Nest: Gharonda, Basera, Nid, Ghar’, the exhibition taking its name from the many synonyms of home.
Curated by four leading galleries, On | Site returns us to the ‘corporeal’ experience of art
The last time I walked into Bikaner House was just before the lockdown was announced. I saw an exhibition featuring the works of Pooja Iranna and Natraj Sharma. Who knew it would take a whole year for me to come back?
As I walk into the yellow-lit courtyard, a large red banner reading ‘On | Site’ greets me, and I feel a mounting sense of excitement anticipation not only to see the artworks but also, hopefully, some of the art community.
It is no secret that in a post-pandemic scenario, holding physical exhibitions has been a challenge. This show which hosts four leading galleries: Vadehra Art Gallery (Delhi), Nature Morte (Delhi), Chemould Prescott Road (Mumbai) and Experimenter (Kolkata) marks a return to collaborative in-person exhibitions. Albeit with masks, hand sanitisers, and social distancing replacing air kisses with fist bumps.