‘Silent Echo’ by Ravikumar Kashi
Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai
Tanishka D’lyma

You cannot stroll by the pieces in ‘Silent Echo’, the solo exhibition by Ravikumar Kashi, you stop at each of them and listen to what they tell you. It is, however, ironic that most of the story from these pieces will be developed by you yourself.


Kashi explores the mechanics of meaning making, using the ‘object’ – the core of the show – and the meaning associated to it to reflect the margins that define our lives like media, politics, education. None stand alone under the spotlight; they come together, far from a random combination, to reinforce a thought, one that is triggered by the conscious and subconscious mind on observation. Each piece is interrelated to the other and is made with a range of objects that were either given to Kashi as second-hand items or found
by him upon being discarded or lost.

If you present an object to a person, they will derive some understanding from it, they will derive memories, and they will associate it with meaning. Put more objects together and present it as a whole and it will point in the direction of an idea. There is no reading between the lines here, there is only interpretation of the line itself, and with the pieces together slowly spilling secrets, each guide you on the path the artist has made. In ‘Between Two Lives’, one of the pieces in the show, there is encased a golden staircase that leads to the blackest of houses with what seems like oil flowing from it. We all have similar dreams, Kashi explains, owning a house with things is most common among the lot. It is a dream that has been pushed upon us.

Perhaps a measurement of success – owning something. Together, the struggle of the upward climb symbolized by the staircase, the black house, the cemented foundation of the piece and the imprint upon it – “My Dream My Home” – communicates what Kashi wants. “Proximity”, he says, the close placement of these objects, along with the meaning associated with it will define the idea intended, and nothing works in isolation.

Objects have an echo to them, reverberating the personality of its owner or reflecting an image she or he portrays. “Shelf Life” is a collection of photographs from Kashi’s travels of showcases in shops and homes. The ‘showcase’, an archive of memories, of items deemed important or beautiful is a peek into the homes of middle class lives or shops. Kashi himself will tell you, you go to somebody’s house and they say to you wait for five minutes, what do you do? You start looking around, and you have ready for you, this display of memorabilia.