Nilofer Suleman’s works capture the essence of Purani Dilli and Mumbai’s dilapidated chawls. She chats with Karan Bhardwaj
There’s a sense of nostalgia, a bit of humour and life’s mundane yet inspiring moments that capture the essence of Nilofer Suleman’s artworks. They are being exhibited at gallery latitude 28 under title Jantar Mantar. The artist lives in Bangalore but is deeply inspired by the underbelly life of metros. Be it chawls of Mumbai or dilapidated walls and nooks of Purani Dilli, the artist paints a magical world from these lost lanes.
She calls it a contemporary setup as most of the things shown on the canvasses are “still existing”. Suleman’s each piece narrates multiple stories, entwined through characters that she imagines. like, there’s a scene from an old Delhi house, where a young female vocalist is holding her sitar, with a golden bird perching on it. She is surrounded by two old women who are hoping for the bright future of this prodigy so that their future can also be secured.
From distance, the vocalist’s lover is longing for her. “You can actually see diverse thoughts that are running in each mind. They have their own concerns and it shows how they carry on with routine life,” says the artist who is inspired by real life characters and scenes that she has come across while growing up. “Most of the images and protagonists reflect things that have been close to me, be it people or the scenes,” she says. like there’s a female flower seller near her house, who keeps her mobile phone close to her chest. “The phone is vibrating all the time. It’s sort of funny by real,” she tells us.
The artist reminisces good old days when she, along with her six siblings would go to the movies. “My father used to take us to a theatre called Milky Way in Indore. We would grab wooden benches and fold our legs as there would be rats crawling all over the place. The tickets were priced less than `1,” she says. like this, her memories spent in old Delhi were equally amusing. “Be it the goats who would wander in streets minutes before they are slaughtered at Eid or guys sitting with a cat in their lap and looking at curious foreigners roaming in the streets, the memories of Old Delhi are unforgettable,” she says.
However, Suleman laments that the old world charm is gradually disappearing as things are getting anglicised. “People are embracing Western culture and they are giving up on Indian elements. I hope we all introspect about the golden heritage we have,” she says. Suleman is also inspired by typography and street graphics. There are also lithographs of gods and goddesses hidden away on tin boxes, hilarious misspelt words and matchbox art.
Her next show will be based on Banaras. “It is called God Promise. It’s a very typical Indian saying in every sentence. I will be staying in Banaras for a month and will start working soon,” says the artist, who is also an art professor. Presently, she is independently training over 90 students in Bangalore.