Hyderabad: The second installment of the creative geniuses graduating out of Sarojini Naidu School of Arts and Communication came in the form of another awe-inspiring art show at Salar Jung Museum. The show that was inaugurated on Sunday by the legend, K.G. Balasubramanyan, also left him impressed with the “craftsmanship”.
Afza Tamkanat, who had two water colour works of 5 feet x 3 feet and 4.5 feet x 3 feet, says, “Since it was to be held here, we brought out the best of our works. This is more polished. Some of the students even made new works for this show.”
Salar Jung Museum as the venue was perfect for young artist Afza, who is inspired by her immediate surroundings. Her work Chaiwala, for instance, “is very Hyderabadi and what better place than to exhibit it than at Salar Jung”. Her other sepia tone work is untitled. “It is coffee and tea wash with little use of water colour,” she says.
The art resembles a pictorial diary. The Urdu text seems to knit personal anecdotes into a single thought. “The rhythm and flow of the picture are a reflection of memories of my friends and family,” adds Afza.
The first edition of the exhibition of the batch had been held at the university in May. And the multimedia delight that the summer show was, repeated here even with fresh pieces. Monica Bijlani, who had experimented with a public art project last time, made a new installation for this show. The traditional Blue Window calls to viewers with its aesthetic pull. Inside the frame is a digital print of all her memories from the university.
“I have always been inspired by architecture. And when I found this window frame discarded in the university, I saw aesthetic potential,” she says.
Like Afza, Chandan Roy, a student from the Sculpture department, was also inspired by the venue. He worked on a site-specific sculpture that he built right at the Museum for two days before the show. There are no dimensions for this installation. “There is no glue keeping it together. So when people touch it there is a change,” says Chandan. “The change is also a reflection of how things, people etc change over time,” he adds.
