When Rene Descartes toyed with the idea of Cogito ergo sum — meaning, “I think, therefore I am” — he would scarcely have conceived of ‘I Am’ — a tad different proposition where 25 female artists conjured up an ensemble show on International Women’s Day in Kolkata to help the City of Joy absorb the myriad colours of womanhood.
Thanks to Ushmita Sahu a busy artist who curated the show which was ‘conceived as a talking point about the diversity of womanhood.’ More than the uniqueness of woman, the show twirled the invisible threads inimitability that makes the woman unique.
Though it would have foolhardy challenged the world’s greatest dramatist frailty, it is not always and rather not at all synonymous to woman. ‘I Am’ proved it stoutly to say. And hence in the words of Sahu “like life itself, a woman encompasses multitudes and exits beyond pre-determined
stereotypes.”
‘I Am’ tended to highlight this diversity obviously with a celebratory tribute to the indomitable spirit of women through the works of twenty-five generational artists, which included names fresh from art school to groundbreaking luminaries such as Mithu Sen, Jayashree Chakravarty, Anita Roy Chowdhury.
Apart from the show, a community workshop, a performative art piece by a young artist and other programmes were also organised. True as the going iterates, “Je randhe she chulo bandhe (one who cooks, does up the hair too.”