Colours of the World

Text by Huzan Tata

A delightful show by a Polish artist traces folk art and craft forms of various countries

If in school the only class you ever looked forward to was art and craft, then this show is for you. Encounters, an exhibition by Polish artist Alicja Dobrucka, presented in collaboration with The Polish Institute New Delhi and with support from Adam Mickiewicz Institute, Warsaw, is a cross-cultural dialogue between traditional art and craft forms from across the globe.

In the show, Dobrucka takes a traditional Polish paper cut-out of roosters on a journey to different countries including India, Palestine and Turkey. Collaborating with local craftsmen, she then produces and reproduces the original design using techniques that are unique to the various regions – and the result is a series of colourful artworks, with each piece telling its own story. With this interesting project, the young artist attempts to uncover traditional art forms, and studies where one culture ends and another starts.

5 Questions with the artist, Alicja Dobrucka

Artistic Motivations “I travel a lot and I’m often inspired by the immediate environment of the places I visit. When I first came to India what made an impression on me was the richness and the variety of crafts all across the country. India is incredibly rich and varied, a mixture of many nations, religions, languages.”
Inspirations “Well, there are a number of artists that I have looked out of for years like Amikam Toren, Laure Provost, Sarah Jones, Rut Blees-Luxembourg, Gillian Wearing and Susan Hiller. I’m always curious as to what Janek Simon is up to.”
On the wall at home “So far I have got one of the photographs of Olivier Richon form the Anima(l) series and one of the London clock drawings from Tim Mitchell. What’s about to come is one of the images of Joanna Piotrowska from the ‘Frowst’ series as well as one of the photographic pieces of Amikam Toren. From the big names, Sigmar Polke is definitely on the list!”
Concerns that find a place in your art? “I guess the thread that runs through all my work is my interest in history, current affairs, cultural identity and intercultural transfer. When one culture is implanted in another and creates something new out of such encounters.”
If you weren’t an artist, you would be… “A spy or a stock market speculator.”

Encounters is on display at Tarq, Mumbai (F35/36, Dhanraj Mahal, C.S.M. Marg, Apollo Bunder, Colaba) until May 28, 2015.