Artists Alka Raghuvanshi and Manisha Gawade take some time out after their exhibition and share what drove them to create a whole new form of art, which is alive and has a soul of its own, with A Paljor
When one thinks about art, it is generally associated with decorative exhibits, or linked with music, dance and theatre. But the singularity of Ehsaas was a holistic approach towards Indian art, including paintings, dance, literature, film and handlooms, and making them flow together. Impresario Alka Raghuvanshi brought to the stage a unique form of wearable fabric presented through mobile installations.
“All the Indian art forms have a shared heritage which needs to be highlighted and explored on a larger scale. No art form can survive in isolation. It has to work with the others. How can there be dance without musicIJ How can there be art without pictures,” asked Raghuvanshi who started this initiative by designing a sari from one of her paintings.
When she witnessed the beauty of her new creation, she started digging into more of her work and the idea grew. She browsed through almost 1500 paintings which included works of other artists that could be translated on fabrics. However, this entire process was very challenging as a lot of things had to be kept in mind. “The existing art works had to gel with the fabrics, the colour schemes had to have a contrast and the printing had to maintain the same,” she told us.
“Alka not only combined two different works, but even made a sari which was a combination of six of her artistic pieces with different forms and dimensions,” shared Manisha Gawade, one of the artists who has been witnessing the whole process from its very beginning.
It was Raghuvanshi’s belief that artists should look beyond their personal recognition as “there is a larger canvas to art” and that made the whole initiative a success. The idea was to give a new definition to the paintings which are considered as decorative pieces – something living, something with a voice of their own.
However, she made sure that her new clothing line fashioned from the works of various artists, including Shridhar Iyer, Niren Sengupta, Manisha Gawade and Sanjay Bhattacharya, be displayed in a more artistic manner. “We wanted something more than just models, people who would add onto the value of the garments. So we brought people who not only carried with them their own history but also a pool of personal experience,” said Raghuvanshi who also feels a need to create an interactive atmosphere as both art and the artist share the nature of interdependence with the audience.
Thirty-one top classical dancers, musicians and painters participated in the multimedia presentation of wearable art that included sarees, unisex stoles and ties, which were especially designed from scratch for the occasion. Adding further charm, Pandit Birju Maharaj made a special appearance with a beautiful stole along with renowned dancers Uma Sharma, Madhvi Mudgal, Shaswati Sen, Shovana Narayan, Sharon lowen and Prathibha Prahlad.
The musicians, who were part of this exhibition, were vocalist Madhup Mudgal, santoor exponent Bhajan Sopori, Dhrupad maestro Wasifuddin Dagar, singer Radhika Chopra, classical vocalists Meeta Pandit and Savani Mudgal, santoor player Abhay Sopori, theatre and television artiste Suneet Tandon. “I wanted to bring as many artists from all walks of life together to be a part of one movement and it has come out beautifully together,” she said.
Theatre artist Rajesh Tailang has also made a film on Ehsaas, which has added another aspect to the show, thus, fulfilling its very essence – creating an experience of its own. The film will be shown at various places including the National Gallery of Modern Art and in Bengaluru and Chennai over the next few months.