LAHORE: The Zahoorul Akhlaq Gallery at the National College of Arts (NCA) hosted an exhibition titled ‘The Sindhu Project: Enigma of Roots’, by contemporary artists Mahwish Chishty and Gunjan Kumar on Tuesday.

Chishty and Kumar re-imagined ancient landscapes of the Indus Valley in the exhibition showcased at NCA.

‘The Sindhu Project: Enigma of Roots’ is a multi-site exhibition that debuted at the South Asia Institute, Chicago, in June 2021 and then reconfigured and split into two exhibitions, one at the NCA and the other will be showcased at Exhibit320, New Delhi, in January 2022.

The Sindhu Project embodies the responses of artists Chishty and Kumar to explorations of archaeological sites and artefacts in the expansive Sindhu (Indus) watershed, a geographical region stretching across northwest India and much of Pakistan. Through parallel journeys involving familial roots and enigmas of inhabited places across time, Chishty and Kumar bring contemporary art-making into dialogue with excavated forms that contribute to imagining this ancient riverine landscape.

Chishty combines new media and conceptual work with materials and techniques of South Asian art and craft traditions. She holds a BFA with a concentration on miniature painting from the NCA, and an MFA in Studio Arts from the University of Maryland in College Park. Kumar is a process-based artist whose work involves ground earth and oyster shells, clay, calcium carbonate, and turmeric as core media applied on mulberry paper, wood, and other materials. Kumar has a degree in textiles from the National Institute of Design and Technology, New Delhi.

This exhibition juxtaposes the rhythmic energy of Chishty’s suspended etched acrylic installations with the subtle dimensionality of Kumar’s organic works. Chishty focuses her investigation on Dharmarajika and the surrounding sites of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Taxila in Pakistan. Kumar’s work references her visits to Dholavira and Sanghol, archaeological sites in India associated with Harappan (Indus Valley) Civilization. Her works respond to textures, colours, and materials associated with the Harappan sites.

The NCA exhibition aims to cultivate the art and culture of South Asia and its diaspora while projecting the cultural heritage in a diverse manner where the audience can engage with the visuals and appreciate the shared history of the Indus civilization.

The exhibition received a great number of guests not only from academic institutions but also from all walks of life. NCA Principal Prof Dr Murtaza Jaffri praised the depth of research that the artists have put into producing the works.

He added that it was of prime importance to talk about our South Asian heritage in contemporary times through non-eurocentric terms, which has been done in the past. The show continues till Nov 26, 2021.

Published in Dawn, November 17th, 2021