Amsterdam-based artist Praneet Soi's 'Srinagar' takes you from the Kashmir valley to Kolkata's Gallery Experimenter, one tile at a time, in his first solo show for the gallery. He returns to Kolkata—where he sometimes works from—taking a route that moves away from the mainstream media's representation of perhaps India's most conflict-ridden region in recent times.
Soi first visited Srinagar during the post-protest period of 2010 (where he returned in the last two years) and documented several Sufi shrines on what first began as a personal journey—and later turned political. For this series, he has collaborated with local craftsmen in the valley to create geometrically-patterned papier-mâché tiles that are symbolic of Srinagar's rich cultural-history. "Often the tiles transform into vignettes of the valley, often the valley becomes the patterns," says the exhibition note.
Vogue talks to the Smithsonian scholarship-winning artist about his instincts and inspirations—and his personal compass in a political context.
What compelled you to portray Kashmir in a different light? Given the sensitive nature of representing conflict zones in general, what about Kashmir in particular called out to you?
The work in Kashmir grew intuitively. I had not intended to represent the problems at all, it would have been incorrect for me to do so as an outsider. But yes, I was drawn to it due to its contested history. My father's side of the family migrated from Lahore to Kolkata post independence and partition. A punjabi family, their memories of Kashmir were strong. Once there, I began to understand how strongly this part of the world allied itself to central Asia, to the Middle East and parts of North Africa. A doctor from Kashmir had recently been shot in Libya by Al Qaeda and his body was being flown back for burial.
Did you feel a sense of burden or obligation to represent the valley in the "right" light? What is the "right" light?
I did feel the need to trust my instinct. Srinagar is a sublimely beautiful landscape with the mountains looking down on a city and its people, scarred by years of unrest. The history of the city is itself pervasive, so many criss-crossings over millennia. The right light that you ask of I would say is a personal compass. Mine steered me away from the media narrative. I decided to stay within the city of Srinagar and familiarise myself with it. The ancient architecture, the motifs in the ancient Sufi tombs, the craftsmen who I could identify with, being a painter myself.
Why the choice of collaborating with traditional craftsmen in Kashmir to create papier-mâché tiles? Tell us about the process and your experience.
We have traditionally been seeing Kashmiri motifs worked upon paper mache boxes, vases etc. While in Srinagar I was made aware of the fact that papier-mâché itself was an import, that travelled from Iran into Kashmir through the route of Sufi Culture. Shah Hamden, to whom the Khanqah shrine is dedicated, is said to have spread this technology over the time he spent in Srinagar. So the symbolic aspect of this material interested me. I asked the artisans to make me squared tiles, a seemingly simple task that proved difficult! Speed matters to them. The fluidity of the brush is important in the painting of patterns. I decided on tiles because of the connection to pattern making. Patterns are tiled.
I was also curious to learn the stories they had to tell. The folklore is rich. There is a beautiful story they told me. Someone asks a stork, "O Stork, why is your beak so crooked?" to which the stork replies, "But I'm crooked all over. There's not a bone that's straight".
Your work seeks to understand connections in the art forms of India, China and Iran. Would you say that there's an underlying sense of universality about art?
I was recently at the Sackler Gallery, on a Smithsonian scholarship. I began to understand that these patterns and forms migrate across the Asian continent, across the Middle East and into Europe before reaching India. Over the course of this journey, there is a cross-fertilisation of thoughts and ideas that creates a space for change, of narrative or of form. I would rather look at art by uncovering the traditions that are embedded within them. Every movement has a history and contextualizing this history creates a landscape. A heterogeneity of form.
The exhibition also includes a projection of a sequence of images which look closer into the wall-embedded patterns at the Sufi shrines. Tell us about the range of texts you've used for this series.
The diagram was taken from Da Vinci's explanation of 'Anamorphosis,' which is a way of distorting and image in such a way that it can only be seen from a particular angle. Two texts that I used were abbreviated tracings of the Instrument of Accession signed by Maharaja Hari Singh and Lord Mountbatten in 1947 and the United Nations Security Council Article 47 which lays out a framework to restore peace and order in the state leading towards a plebiscite.
Can you elaborate on the concept of 'Anamorphosis' and how it informs your initiative of perceiving the Kashmir crisis from a different vantage point?
An anamorphically distorted image appears elongated and stretched out longitudinally. This distortion stretches as you walk away or towards it. The eye is constantly disturbed. This device, while largely used visually, seemed to me an appropriate metaphor for the political troubles of Kashmir.
Are you working on something new?
I think I am working towards unfolding these subjects further through my practice. As I'm not an academic, my trajectory is formed through instinct, through the information and advice I receive through friends and through the making of work.
'Srinagar' by Praneet Soi is on display at Gallery Experimenter, 2/1 Hindustan road, Kolkata 29 until May 30.
All artwork by Praneet Soi. Image courtesy: Gallery Experimenter
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