PIDGIN: A Visual Interplay

Pidgin: A Visual Interplay took place between the 12th and 14th July at NIV Arts Center in New Delhi, and was the result of a residency by artist Khandakar Ohida. Her thought process leading up to this event began when she was a second year student, and perceiving a lack of opportunity to express and discuss her work and the works of others. She initiated that her and her peers take it upon themselves to organize and arrange events where they could do so, independent of the structure of the education system.

Initially the art center proposed an open day event where she could show her work, but realizing this wasn’t enough time to have a meaningful discourse and interaction she proposed this group exhibition. The exhibition is a collection of the works of young upcoming artists; Vikrant, Mustafa Khanbhai, Dhrubajit Sarma, Muskaan Singh, Suryakanta Swain, Rahul Kamalasan, Ritika Mittal, Ritika Sharma, Avik Debdas, Pramod Jaiswal, Santanu Chatterjee and Khandakar Ohida.

The standout feature of the show was the way that the works, not only were displayed in the space, but became installational elements of the space itself where the distinction between the work and the space was largely eliminated. For example the work of Vikrant, an artist whose practice largely involves the use and manipulation of paper in its various forms, used the wall space to directly draw onto, as well as found items and photographs to explore the sociopolitical notion of migration and settlement. Muskaan Singh’s installation piece also seamlessly breaks the convention of the ‘elevated artwork’ and connects with the show’s title ‘Pidgin’ in relation to politics of language and poetry, and also using specific references to her village and culture.