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Today's Paper | April 28, 2024

Published 15 Oct, 2012 06:11am

Indian artists provide their perspective on art

KARACHI: Art lovers gained insight into contemporary art trends in India by virtue of two interesting presentations given by visiting Indian artists, Manisha Parekh and Ashok Ahuja, at T2F

Manisha Parekh was the first one to give a visual presentation to introduce her work to the audience. She began by her on-foot journey to Pakistan from the Wagah border. She said being a Gujarati she was not directly affected by partition, therefore her crossing the border was without any (psychological) baggage. She termed the travel ‘bizarre’ because it was easy, so close and yet so far. She then showed slides of her work taken from different exhibitions.

Shefurther mentioned that she was fascinated more by the process of coming up with artworks in which the texture of material, such as paper, was used. She experimented with the material she used and got excited to see what form and shape they assumed, she said. The media of the works that the artist talked about included graphite paintings, gouache paintings and reliefs made from jute ropes.

Answering a question asked by a member of the audience, Parekh said while working, she sometimes developed a relationship with the material. On occasions it happened otherwise and the material drew her to itself. Responding to a query about her influences, she said she had initially learned from Nasreen Mohammedi and was also impressed with Zarina Hashmi.