An artistic journey through home, migration, and identity, where cinema and visual arts converge, writes SAKSHI PRIYA
Art and cinema are powerful forms of expression that capture human emotion, identity, and the stories we tell ourselves to make sense of the world. Walking into the ‘I View World Film Festival’ at Travancore Palace, curated by Myna Mukherjee, felt like entering a living canvas, where each frame, each brushstroke of storytelling, attempted to grasp the elusive, shifting meaning of home, migration, and belonging. This was part of something much larger: Desh Pardesh, a multidisciplinary art exposition exploring history, displacement, and identity.
Art exposition that explores notions of home, migration, gender, race, and memory across mediums and aesthetics. Bringing together several projects from micro solos by artists, designers, and architects to group shows, film festivals, and performances, in a range of mediums and scales, that respond to the complex notion of ‘home’ that occupies the central place in the imagination of both the local, global, and Diasporic deliberations in the global south today.
This series of parallel exhibitions allows a creative articulation of Diasporic self and space, desire, dilemmas, discontent, and delight. It uses the genre of creative representation and productions of Diaspora to ascertain the extent to which these representations and productions collapse the distinction of home and abroad and create a new global-local South Asia, highlighting that the history of modern art is a history of global turmoil, migration, and transnational exchange.
At home in the world
While the festival showcased cinematic brilliance, with auteurs like Imtiaz Ali, Kabir Khan, Onir, and Rima Das telling stories of the marginalised and misunderstood, it was the accompanying art exhibitions that gave the event its depth. Future-Past Continuous, a group show, featured paintings, installations, and visual provocations that whispered stories of migration and memory.
The connection between cinema and art was undeniable. Take The Shameless, the festival’s centrepiece, which unfolded like a haunting painting - dark, visceral, and poetic. Anasuya Sengupta’s award-winning performance pulled audiences into the story of Renuka, a woman navigating the violence of survival and the longing for freedom. It was a moving portrait of resilience, much like the evocative works displayed at Desh Pardesh, where the idea of ‘home’ was not just a place, but an aching question. The city premiere of Puratwan - The Ancient added another layer to this exploration of time and memory. With the legendary Sharmila Tagore marking her return to Bengali cinema, the film became an introspective mirror, reflecting how history, family, and unspoken truths shape us.
Desh Pardesh extended beyond paintings and film. Dance and performance became another medium of storytelling, none more powerful than, performed by Nrityagram. The piece captured the feeling of Hiraeth, a Welsh word for a deep, unfulfilled longing for something lost. It was a wordless narrative, told through movement, of memories fading and reappearing like ghosts.
At Bikaner House and Stir Gallery, micro solos and queer art shows expanded this dialogue. The exhibition questioned not just where we belong, but how identity is constructed in an ever-changing world. Do we carry home with us, or does it remain a distant echo?
The visual arts segment featured over 55 artists from across the country, each responding to the themes of migration and belonging through diverse artistic mediums. From painting and sculpture to new media art and interactive installations, the exhibition showcased how contemporary artists engage with the evolving landscapes of home and identity. The selection of artworks highlighted both personal narratives and broader socio-political concerns, reflecting the fluidity and fragmentation of cultural memory in a rapidly changing world.
