Go Beyond Boundaries With Stretched Terrains Of Art

Text by Huzan Tata. All images courtesy of the KNMA Collection.

Discover a monumental initiative comprising seven interrelated shows that bring art and architecture together on one platform

(Click on any image to view in larger gallery.)

Historically speaking, all forms of creative expression say something of the time in which they were made – be it a soaring tower, a sculpture or a painting. Rewinding to the early days of independent India, curator Roobina Karode strings together seven exhibitions at the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, aiming to encourage discourse on modernism, with art and architecture as the focus. Commenting on the significance of the title Stretched Terrains, Karode says, “Architecture is about space, about a terrain. It started from there, and I weaved the whole show around it…. The title refers to the boundaries of art, memories, and even physical borders. It’s important to know, across disciplines, why and how things happen.”

The seven independent but correlated exhibitions include shows of India’s masters FN Souza, SH Raza and MF Husain, whose works will be juxtaposed against those of five architects and seminal architectural buildings in Delhi. While another exhibit Interpositions: Replaying The Inventory displays art by contemporary names including Atul Dodiya and Mithu Sen, the Vision Exchange Workshop includes films and documents from a workshop held in Bombay between 1969 and 1972, featuring Nasreen Mohammedi and Akbar Padamsee. Parthiv Shah’s photographs of painting maestro Husain complete the septuple. “Most times, we try to build boxes around artists and creations – like Progressives and so on. I wanted to make this exhibition fluid and open, and push the edges rather than stick within the box. I found the connection between art and architecture, and how they show us how time has changed intriguing,” explains Karode about the confluence of both genres.

“Why do we always see architecture in isolation from other art forms? Many artists have been inspired by architects. I see common ground between the two professions – Husain worked on his murals at the same time that Kuldip Singh worked on buildings. The aim is to have viewers think about new directions that art is headed in today,” concludes the curator.

Stretched Terrains is on display at Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, New Delhi (145 DLF, South Court Mall, Saket District Centre, Saket) until July 31, 2017.