Gallery D at the Durbar Hall Art Gallery has something very curious within it. A black stuffed dog, a pretty woman holding a hen’s claw observed by another stuffed dog, a huge wall that hosts a collage, cloth pieces sewn together to form frames and a few self-portraits. As observers and art enthusiasts walk in, what welcomes them is not an artwork that one would usually associate with ‘art gallery display’. Unconventional, bright, colourful pieces of clothes thrown in together with images that speak an everyday story of two people — Amjum and Hima.
Art work by Amjum and Hima
There is something about their work which is simple, relatable yet intense. But they decided to call it ‘Mundane’. For them, although it might be painstakingly long hours of work, it just another ‘mundane’ mix of their life.
They are from two different parts of the state; Amjum Rizve who is from Kannur learnt art from the College of Fine Arts, Thiruvananthapuram and Hima Hari from Thrissur is an alumni of Thrissur Fine Arts College. Their love for art brought them together. “We met at the Biennale students’ camp and worked together from there. Since then we have been working together,” says Hima. Their views might be similar but they are worlds apart when it comes to the medium they work with. “I work with cloth and he works with painting,” she says.
“Forty of our works from over two years are displayed here. It is just a peek into our day to day life,” says Amjum. However, there is a surreal dimension to the ‘mundaness’ on display which is inspired from real life.
About how they came up with each of their displays, the duo explains, “It was a daily process. We used to make sketches whenever possible, sometimes even in a scrap book. All the clothes used here were collected or given to us after people came to know our style of work.”
Amjum points to one huge art work hanging on the wall with bright coloured cloth as frames. “Those frames are from an old used lungi,”
Hima joins him to explain about another piece of work: “This painting is stuck on a piece torn part from a nighty.” It may be stretching things a bit but their works do have a Frida Kahlo-esque feel to it. ‘Mundane’ display by Amjum and Hima will be open till July 5.
