Rethinking social practice as art

By N. Lothungbeni Humtsoe

New Delhi, Oct 29 (SocialNews.XYZ) 'Threading the Horizon: Propositions on Worldmaking through Socially Engaged Art Practice,' a new exhibition from Khoj, brings together socially engaged creative practitioners to reflect on quotidian experiences of gender-based violence and thread together propositions on and imaginings of equitable futures across social and cultural horizons.

The show, which is a collaboration of fourteen community-based projects from around India, highlights acts of resilience that develop through artistic techniques of placemaking, creating voice, bearing witness, negotiating visibility and leisure, healing, and catharsis. The practices suggest worldmaking inside itself, where encounters, engagements, acts, and actions build new cosmologies. Restitution, tranquility, and the vigor of collective effort all point to a brighter future.

Featuring works by Aravani Art Project, Aryakrishnan R, Baaraan Ijlal, Divya Chopra and Rwitee Mandal, Jasmeen Patheja, Padmini Ray Murray, Princess Pea, Saleha Sapra and Riddhi Batra, Sanyukta Saha, Shweta Bhattad, Sumedha Garg and Nitin Bathla, Sumona Chakravarty and Nilanjan Das, Swati Janu and Stuti Pradhan, the projects pry open the everydayness of gender-based violence to make way for an alternate framing of this experience through an artist's lens in the public realm.

The opening event will include a performance by the 'Gram Art Project' from 6.30 pm onwards. The women of Gram Art Project will be showcasing a collection of clothes made from organic cotton, sourced in part from their own fields. The individual iterations of clothing will unpack the stories of violence and unjust practices faced by the women.

Threading the Horizon exhibition opens on November 5, 2022 (6 pm onwards) and will be on view until December 30 from 11 am to 7 pm | Monday to Saturday at Khoj Studios, S-17 Khirkee Extension, New Delhi.

(N. Lothungbeni Humtsoe can be contacted at lothungbeni.h@ians.in)

Source: IANS