The Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, in collaboration with the Birla Academy of Art and Culture, is exhibiting the first-ever large-scale showcase of artist Ganesh Haloi’s selected artworks spanning six decades of painting, curated by Roobina Karode. In his illustrious journey as an artist, Haloi has time and again reimagined his childhood in Jamalpur, the trauma of displacement due to partition, and put an imaginary shape of the ‘absence’ in ‘presence’. We speak with the veteran artist.
The exhibition showcases different styles of art. Can you take us through them?
The figurative drawings are mostly from my stay in Ajanta, some line drawings, and personal copies of the figurines in the temples. But that is only for 7-10 years. The later ones are abstract and form the soul of my painting style. It may look distorted to others, but that’s how my thoughts flow. A little later in life, I realised I could draw everything around me that I could see, but then, what to draw? I rather focus on things that I cannot see, or that have no form or name — fear, sorrow, excitement, and other such feelings.
You resort to painting everything that you have seen in your childhood. Why’s that?
My life has been encircled by my village in Jamalpur, home, the Brahmaputra River, and all the vivid details of my childhood. The formative years of a person determine how he will be, and how he will think and behave. My roots are there in my native place and have been inspiring me to date.
What is your favourite medium to paint?
I love using gouache.
Are you working on any pieces?
Not right now. My retrospective pieces need some time to think about because they talk about my existence. In each piece, I will have to make sure that I can keep up with my philosophy towards life and my existence.
The exhibition is on until April 13.