Debasish Mukherjee employs the archaeologist’s quest as a means to resist the ‘ruin’ that claims many historical sites today. His solo exhibition attempted to create a social awakening, so that communities take pride in the architecture that stands as testimony of the past. BySaritha Saraswathy Balan
As a child he would go to Varanasi every summer to spend his vacation with maternal relatives. The big old houses, some as old as a thousand years, carved out of stone and endowed with small windows, the stairs that take you right to the footstep of the Ganges, the narrow lanes, everything in Varanasi entwine into lasting memories for Debasish Mukherjee.
He named his debut solo exhibition The Museum Within. “Everyone has memories embedded deep within them. What’s important is just how we relate to these. For me, a museum signifies memories and therefore the name,” he says. His works lend their voice for the conservation of sites of historical and archeological values. Mukherjee employs the archeologist’s quest as a means of resisting the “ruin” that claims many historical sites today. His works attempt to create a social awakening, so that communities take pride in the architecture that stand as relics of the past.
One of the most poignant works on exhibit is titled Benares. Created using stacked newspapers, acrylic paint, terracotta and wood, the said art installation is a series of blocks. “It’s a city of commonality. The work showcases step-wells and narrow, very narrow, bylanes of the city, small windows and constricted staircases of the old houses, apart from the other usual common features — all the elements that I have gathered from my memories”, the artist shares. In the work Benares, sindhoor (vermillion) too figures, which according to him, is symbolic of the life of the city. “The work comprising twenty sculpted tablets mounted in two rows represents the architecture of the city,” explains curator of the show, Kanika Anand. “Symmetry punctuates his works and textures are pronounced,” she adds.
The works on display at the Akar Prakar Art Advisory in Hauz Khas give the viewer an aerial perspective, which the artist believes is the real one. “When I see you -standing in front of me- I see only you. But when I watch from the top, I can see the things around as well,” he says.
One of the works on display hence captures a landscape from air. Made with paper, terracotta and acrylic, it depicts the very little archeological excavation that has so far been done, as compared to the major part that is yet to be done. “The big surface is not just a frame, but part of the work that shows what remains to be done,” Mukherjee elaborates. Why did he choose to dabble in whiteIJ “The colour has to help me. There is nothing left unsaid in white. I use colours as ornaments, you can decide what you need to wear. You won’t get lost in white. It will directly take you to the subject. At first, the thought occurs to me, then the concept, the medium. Colour is way down the line, it comes naturally to me,” he avers.
He has also made use of base mud colour for one of the pieces that seeks to epitomize archeological sites per se. Its layers are made of paper, and these are dotted with miniscule pots and balanced right at the top of the work. “There are more than hundred layers that represent culture and time. Each element incorporated in this piece has a reason. If you got to any archeological site, you are bound to stumble onto pots. The colour scheme too is one that relates to history or archeology,” he adds.
All the exhibited works of art also serve as a pointer to the sad truth that excavation projects undertaken so far has been of a very abstract nature, and naturally triggers calls for deeper archeological digs. “In Harappa, just ten percent has been excavated till date. History is now a mere subject taught in schools. Children know nothing about the Indus Valley civilization. We can’t blame authorities for this glaring lacuna, we ourselves are to be blamed,” he opines. His works are inspired largely by the sites of Indus Valley Civilisation. A graduate in Painting, who has built a career in fashion, he prefers not to limit himself when creative urges come calling. “This is my first solo exhibition, and now, you will get to see more,” he smiles.
The show is on till November 5.