Drawing from the disciplines of cartography, archaeology and design, artist Debasish Mukherjee is holding his first solo art exhibition in the city. Called “The Museum Within”, it probes the position and function of museum and its role in conservation. A graduate from Banaras Hindu University in painting, Debashish models his thoughts in sculptural form using terracotta, wood, paper, fabric and mirror.
In an interaction, Debasish talks about his works and how they propose alternative forms of inquiry into the keeping of Indian heritage.
Edited excerpts:
Tell us about “The Museum Within”.
“The Museum Within” is a gathering of my personal observations of historical sites and museum collections in India having travelled widely to cities and villages, vast open spaces and obscure tribal areas.
The works in the exhibition, produced between 2015- 2016 are a result of all that I have seen in past and admired and wanted to conserve. Through the art, I ask why museums don’t play a more critical role toward preservation of these sites and objects, as well as why we don't have more respect and regard for our heritage. People have different ways of recording their memories and thoughts; for me, it is art.
How do the roles of archaeologist, museum curator and conservator come into play in your art works?
I employ the archaeologist's methodology of researching and mapping a site. I photograph and take notes of places that move me before meticulously modelling my emotions into a sculptural form. Be it a landscape, step-well or my vision of Banaras, each of these artworks resonates a specific style of historic architecture. Even the textured landscapes in indigo are grounded in a distinctly Indian topography. Each work replicates the way an object or historical ruin, once found, is preserved as collective memory and as museum artefact, as art and as design.
With technological innovations like the airplane came the possibility of viewing from above and with it came the possibility of a better view, where the part being studied could be seen within its larger context. I use the aerial perspective, and in doing so, see conservation as a larger issue as well.
In my series of small-boxed objects, I place tiny terracotta pots within what appears to be an excavated site with shadows and crop marks as if seen from a great distance. In many ways, this same distance is what we place between ourselves and our land. Protected behind the glass of vitrine, these objects speak of the past only for us to reference, and exist only so long as we house them in our curated collections of memorabilia.
Elaborate on the association of clay with humankind.
Clay pottery is an ancient craft in India. The art of clay pottery grew along with the civilisation. Thus, the history of clay pottery is as old as the history of human civilisation and the use of terracotta in my works here are both literal and metaphorical.
Your views onnegligence of our historical sites
There is an urgent need to address our negligence towards historical sites. The exhibition is a timely way to invite viewers to engage in a discourse on museum culture and protection of these sites. It does not seek to posit solutions or critique institutions, but simply to bring back into focus something we have distanced ourselves from too much — our land, our history and our traditions.
Tell us about your art work Benares.
I still remember when I was studying art in Banaras there were certain areas within the city where one could feel the simultaneous presence of history and mythology while being surrounded by teeming multitudes and garish billboards screaming of the inescapable present. This constant juxtaposition led to an internal state of flux, which finds an expression in this body of work titled “Benares”.
(Curated by Kanika Anand, the exhibition opens this Thursday at 7 p.m. at Akar Prakar Art Advisory, Hauz Khas Village)
