With new norms ruling the social behaviour around the world in this post-COVID-19 times, we are being forced to recast our lives in new moulds. And this new world with its new rules has also made intellectuals and artists don their thinking hats and ponder on the ways the human civilisation is going to shape up. This very thought has also provoked young artist and curator Ayan Mukherjee to come up with an interesting online exhibition Strides at Stake, that showcases works of various artists with face mask, the most prominent combative gear against coronavirus, as the subject.
"These are bewildering times that our civilization is going through. We have a job in hand in adapting ourselves with this grave situation, shielding one and all thus trying to protect the society from this deadly virus and assuring the durability of our existence. In order to defend ourselves, we resort to various ‘protective gears’ which are steadily becoming a part of our life, especially the face mask, which has become a constant companion in human being’s struggle for existence," feels Ayan Mukherjee, director of A.M. (Art Multi-disciplines).
The reasoning behind the usage of the protective gears may turn out to be subjective. The perspective may vary from person to person. And these understandings form the basis of conceptualising and conceiving a Visual Arts exhibition for Ayan. "I thought of creating a dialogue and discourse in the visual language with the help of the various dialects of practices of different visual artists. It may turn out to be an exotic experience for us to identify how the concerned art practitioners employ the face mask as a physical object in their works narrating in their preferred mediums of practices," tells Ayan.
To unearth how the face mask transforms itself from popular imagery into a metaphorical symbol of the current times when it gets nurtured in their metaphysical practice and associate itself in their works should really be captivating, feels Ayan.
Going by the subject of the show which talks about a social crisis and its possible effects on the present situation and future perspectives of our lives; our habits, pattern of social behaviours, Ayan felt that it was essential to mount and manifest this exhibition on a platform and territory which is much larger than the conventional gallery space. And hence he chose social media as a platform to enable a wide gamut of visitors to participate and appreciate art.
"I believe it would be a nice induction of sharing and showcasing art on social media and public domains, developing a much diverse landscape of viewers, building a community of audience around the globe who may not be previously exposed to art exhibitions or who haven’t yet comprehended art as an independent language of communication. To open up spaces for this considerable population by opting methods of insisting them to be a part of the visual arts scenario provoking their cultural psyche is necessary and the call of the hour," emphasises Ayan.
The artists who will display their work include Atin Basak, Aditya Basak, Asim paul, Mithun Das, Nobina Gupta, David Malaker, Debnath Basu, Manas Acharya, Smarak Roy and Sanjib Mondal among others.
Strides at Stake will be open for view from June 15 onwards on Facebook at amartstudio2016 and on Insta at @insta_amstudio