Raw Mango’s 15th Anniversary Exhibition, Common Nouns, explores culture, identity, and materiality through contemporary art

As Raw Mango celebrates its 15th anniversary, the brand marks this milestone with a powerful new exhibition that explores the evolving nature of culture, identity, and materiality. Common Nouns, in collaboration its long-term partner, Squadron 14 — A New Delhi-based multidisciplinary design studio — brings together 15 contemporary artists to examine how the ancient and the modern coexist and inform one another in the visual arts today. The exhibition, which opens at the Chennai Photo Biennale today, invites visitors to rethink their relationship with everyday objects, symbols, and traditions.

For Raw Mango, a brand known for its seamless fusion of traditional Indian textiles and contemporary design, this exhibition is a celebration of the past, present, and future. The event is more than just a visual display—it’s a meditation on the role of material culture in shaping our shared histories and identities.

Heritage and innovation

Sanjay Garg, the visionary behind Raw Mango, sheds light on the exhibition’s core theme and its alignment with the brand’s philosophy. “Raw Mango has always been rooted in craft and community, elements that are deeply intertwined with our cultural heritage. Common Nouns exists as a collaboration of craft and skill, materiality and the digital world, blending the physical and the virtual in ways that reflect the diverse, evolving realms of art,” Sanjay explains.

The exhibition takes its name, Common Nouns, from the idea that certain cultural symbols and objects—whether a copper vessel, a traditional sari weave, or a historical script—are universally recognised, yet their meanings are constantly shifting. Through the eyes of 15 artists, the exhibition explores these familiar cultural elements through fresh, digital lenses, offering new interpretations of the most everyday of objects.

Material culture in the digital age

One of the exhibition’s key themes is how material culture—once tied to physicality and craftsmanship—can be reimagined through digital mediums. Sanjay highlights, “The artists have explored how physical materials—be it textiles, artefacts, or spaces—can be communicated digitally. Some have focused on the texture of fabrics, like the Ilkal sari weaves from Karnataka, while others have looked at the evolution of language scripts or the symbolism of copper vessels, which are omnipresent in Indian households.”

This cross-disciplinary exploration brings to light the versatility of digital art in portraying and preserving cultural heritage. It also speaks to the growing importance of technology in contemporary art, where the lines between traditional craftsmanship and digital innovation blur. The exhibition challenges viewers to see these objects not just as relics of the past, but as evolving symbols that continue to shape cultural identity in the modern world.

Recontextualising the familiar

What makes Common Nouns particularly captivating is how it navigates the dualities of the familiar and the unfamiliar. As Sanjay explains, “Everyday symbols and objects are recontextualised in these digital works, evoking nostalgia while simultaneously offering new ways of thinking about culture and identity.” These reimaginings invite the viewer to confront the way culture and identity are constantly evolving—never static, always in flux.

The artists featured in the exhibition—ranging from the likes of Anisha Katoch, Nikhil Kapoor, Sharan Adka, and Aishwarya Shree—approach these themes from diverse perspectives. Their works encompass a variety of styles and media, from texture-focused explorations to inquiries into the evolution of meaning and symbolism. Each piece adds another layer to the conversation around ownership, meaning, and status in contemporary culture.

A dialogue on culture and identity

Reflecting on Raw Mango’s journey over the past 15 years, Sanjay notes that the brand has been driven by a curiosity to understand the cultural movements that shape society’s values. “We’ve explored what it means to create and own cultural narratives in today’s world. Common Nouns continues that dialogue, reflecting on how everyday objects and traditions are imbued with layers of meaning that shift with time,” he shares.

The exhibition serves as both a celebration of the fashion label’s legacy and a reflection on the brand’s ongoing conversation about the intersection of tradition, modernity, and technology. “I hope the audience takes away a greater awareness of how intertwined history, language, and art are in shaping cultural consciousness. Visual art, in this sense, is not just a medium for preservation—it’s a way to reinterpret and give new life to our shared histories,” says Sanjay.

December 20 to 31, 2024. From 11 am to 7 pm. At Raw Mango, Ganapathy Colony Main Road, Teynampet.

Email: manuvipin@newindianexpress.com

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