Three art practitioners come together in Kolkata with strikingly different visual languages but with one objective in frame

Despite varied practices such as paper-making, metalwork, wood, ink on paper, and photography, the works of Ruma Choudhury, Soma Das, and Kushal Ray point towards sustainability and nostalgia. Taken together, these exhibitions at Emami Art converse with the viewer about a time that is constantly changing. Whether you notice it in nature, everyday life, or disappearing intangible traditions, life is slowly making way for the new. However, even in the ‘new’, traces of the ‘old’ remain firmly attached in memory, identity, and practices that make it possible for the past and the present to co-exist.

Three creative dialogues converge to display one theme at Emami Art's recent exhibitions

Before the paper

Artist Ruma Choudhury, who practices in Santiniketan, works with nature and raw materials. When speaking about art, we most likely take it for granted that it is primarily made on paper. However, Ruma chose a unique medium for her art, before paper was used for the same. She works with fibres, and her exhibition titled Elemental Encounters, Practice as Ecological Archive, shows how she turns his raw material into her art.

Talking about her practice, she says, “I have been practising for almost 14 years since my time as a student in Santiniketan. Most students there are aware of the paper-making process, and that is where my practice was born. My research started with identifying materials in and around Santiniketan which can be used in the paper-making process or used as pulp or fibre. Today, I use around 32-34 fibres like banana, fig, sugarcane, tussar, taro, and more. Sometimes I dye the fibres with natural indigo colours.”

One prominent question that crossed our minds was regarding the rapidly changing landscape and the availability of raw materials. She answers, “The landscape has indeed changed a lot. Most importantly, earlier the waste materials were cut off manually, but now there are machines to do it. This has not only reduced access to raw materials but also introduced impurities in them, which hinders the boiling process.” Her works literally reflect the Pancha Bhuta and convey the close relationship between man and nature.

The canvas of paper, wood and metal

If you are looking for versatility and range, Soma Das’ display gives them all in Nitya Nutun, The New in the Everyday. Upon entering the gallery, you would be greeted by a vertical metal installation surrounded by paintings framed on recycled fabric. A little further into the gallery is a wooden hathpakha, one that reminds us of the gentle shade of the mother’s saree. Apart from that, a series of ink-on-paper sketches that voice a great deal about everyday life. Influenced by wood and fabric, which she holds close as reminders of her parents, Soma carefully constructs a narrative that reflects upon everyone’s daily life.

Talking to Indulge about the curation, she states, “The black-and-white body of works was made during the confined times of the pandemic, where the characters were shaped through memory or observing people nearby. The dark background reflected the claustrophobia-inducing concrete closeness. Stemming from a steel plant visit during her art residency, Soma fused the metal bars into an everyday morning picture depicting sights, sounds, and activities near community water taps. “An elderly woman is very particular about prayer water, or mothers bathing their children, or neighbours talking to each other as they stand to collect water” are common scenes depicted in the body of work. “With flat culture, most of this camaraderie is being lost. Moreover, having grown up amidst wood and woodwork, it is an emotional space for me. Just like a fan provides a peaceful cooling, similarly, a mother’s touch does the same for a child.” The work is a reminder of how the fast-paced life is probably erasing the quieter and calmer nuances that one truly deserves.

Disappearing scenes

For over two decades, Kushal Ray made the camera his medium and the City of Joy, his muse. Starting his journey as a sports journalist and stepping away from the newsroom in the early 1990s, he took to the streets and captured the soul of Calcutta, much of what ceases to exist today. Shohornama Calcutta 1990-1993 displays his black-and-white works with subjects like traditional Durga Puja, activities around the Ganges ghat, a normal day in the city, the morning hustle and bustle around the streets, and more.

Standing out and looking at the photographs, he says, “Change is inevitable. Back then there was a slow-paced life with no mobile phones and internet. Today we are connected online, but how connected we are at heart is questionable. Some of the photographs show people physically gathered in discussion together; that closeness is disappearing today. But I feel very happy that I was able to capture an era gone by through my lens.”

All three exhibitions are on display till September 18.

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