Anil Kumar Goswami’s 14 ft installation at DlF Place Saket is adorned with motifs and paintings defining Diwali myths. The artist spoke to K Bhardwaj
Season of festivities has just begun and the artists in the city are coming with interesting ideas to deck up the public spaces. A 14 ft installation titled The Unified Saga in form of an anar is installed at DlF Place Saket. Well-known artist Anil Kumar Goswami and his team of 20 professionals have invested over two months to create this installation inside the mall. Taking inspiration from elements of Diwali, it depicts various myths and legends associated with the festival. The installation captures the regional variations of the festival through various motifs, cultural images and scriptures. The artwork describes the story behind five days of festival that is, Dhanteras, chhoti Diwali, lakshmi Puja, Gowardhan Puja and Bhaiya Dooj that constitutes the complete Diwali week. “To depict the entire week of Diwali, I had several elements in my mind to convert them into installation like coins, lotus and other effigies. But anar fits the bill since its structure resembles that of a temple and it is a fire cracker. There are many motifs and acrylic paint based on mythological tales associated with each festival,” said the 37-year-old artist.
For Dhanteras, he painted coins, Kuber, lakshmi, Ganesha and a treasure trunk. Chhoti Diwali’s represented with a Kali image with her feet over lord Shiva. Eight figures of lakshmi, and a panchmukhi Ganesha reflect Diwali. For Gowardhan puja, Krishna is holding the parvat and is also killing the Narkasur. Bhai Dooj is depicted with an image of Yamraj fed by Yamuna in order to save her brother. The artwork is influenced by the South Indian art form called talu bommalata. “It is very lyrical and ornamented. Hues comprised gold, orange and other bright shades. The base is made up of fabrics like brocade and silk from Benares and has lots of embroidery,” said Goswami, who became the head turner at recently-concluded United Art Fair with his ‘skull’ installation.
His next would be a bigger project that revolves around skulls. “It’s a surprise and I will update about it soon,” he said. Goswami completed his BFA from Shantiniketan in 1998 and has been painting since then.