The exhibition Notations on Time showcases the works of 20 contemporary artists from South Asia and its diaspora, exploring the philosophical and political aspects of time. Curated by Sandhini Poddar and Sabih Ahmed, the exhibition creates a dialogue between different generations of artists, emphasizing the interconnections between the past, present, and future.
“Notations on Time is an experiment in conjuring an eco-system of time where dreams intersect with history, and seasonal cycles with the measure of each breath. This exhibition is an attempt to read time against an urge to measure it, where works of art serve as fragments, haikus and ciphers,” said Sabih Ahmed, Associate Director and Curator at Ishara Art Foundation.
The exhibition invites us to consider the various ways in which time is perceived and interpreted – whether through the human body, technology, natural landscapes, or celestial bodies. It draws on diverse sources, including archaeological research, oral traditions, science fiction, and more, to explore the intersections of past, present, and future. The exhibition raises thought-provoking questions, such as the implications of resurrecting elements of the past in the future, the limits of the present moment, and the potential for exhibitions to facilitate deeper reflections on these themes.
“Time experienced while incarcerated in jail is time that has been taken out of any classificatory system. How long does it take for photosynthesis to take place on a leaf’s surface? Can we ‘hear’ this time pass as the leaf moves towards the sun? Time exists in innumerable, simultaneous registers,” said Sandhini Poddar, Curator, Art Historian and Adjunct Curator at the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi Project.
About the artists
Soumya Sankar Bose (b. 1990) is an artist based in Kolkata, India. He reconstructs archival material and oral histories into photography, films, alternative archives and artist books. Bose’s hybrid mode of practice interweaves long-term research and engagement with local communities including his own family history.
Sheba Chhachhi (b. 1958) is an artist, photographer and thinker based in New Delhi, India. Her practice investigates questions of gender, eco-philosophy, violence and visual cultures, with an emphasis on the recuperation of cultural memory. An activist/photographer in the women’s movement in the 1980s, Chhachhi is known for creating intimate, sensorial encounters through large-scale multimedia installations.
Shezad Dawood (b. 1974) is an artist based in London, United Kingdom. He works across various media and much of his practice involves collaboration, frequently working with other artists to create unique networks around a given project or site. These networks span across different geographic locations and communities and are particularly concerned with acts of translation and restaging.
Ladhki Devi (b.1955) is based in Sakhre in Maharashtra, India, and is a practitioner of Warli art.
Gauri Gill (b. 1970) is an artist and photographer based in New Delhi, India. Working in both black and white, and colour, Gill addresses the Indian identity markers of caste, class and community as determinants of mobility and social behaviour.
Rajesh Vangad (b.1975) was born and lives in Ganjad in Maharashtra, India. He is a bearer of the Warli style of painting, which is a traditional form of painting belonging to the indigenous people of Warli.
Aziz Hazara (b.1992) lives and works between Berlin, Germany, and Kabul, Afghanistan. He is currently a KFW Residency artist hosted by Künstlerhaus Bethanien (Berlin).
Amar Kanwar (b. 1964) was born in New Delhi, India. He has distinguished himself through films and multi-media works that explore the politics of power, violence and justice.
Ali Kazim (b. 1979) was born in Pakistan and currently lives and works in Lahore, Pakistan. His work has exhibited widely in solo and group shows internationally
Mariah Lookman (b.1973) is an artist based between Galle, Sri Lanka, and Karachi, Pakistan. Specialising in process-centred and research-based practice, she also teaches and curates.
Haroon Mirza (b. 1977) was born in London, United Kingdom, where he lives and works. He has won international acclaim for installations that test the interplay and friction between sound and light waves, and electric current. He describes his role as a composer who manipulates electricity, working with the invisible and volatile phenomenon to make it dance to different tunes while calling on instruments as varied as household electronics, vinyl, turntables, LEDs, furniture, video footage and existing artworks. His process is left exposed where sounds occupy space in an unruly way, testing codes of conduct and charging the atmosphere.
Anoli Perera (b. 1962) is a painter, sculptor and installation artist based between Colombo, Sri Lanka, and New Delhi, India. As a writer, she has contributed consistently to bring visibility to contemporary art in Sri Lanka. Perera has deployed her work to present contradictory as well as complex narratives that emerge when living in contemporary society.
Raqs Media Collective (est. 1992). The word ‘raqs’ in several languages denotes an intensification of awareness and presence attained by whirling, turning, being in a state of revolution. Raqs take this sense to mean ‘kinetic contemplation’ and a restless and energetic entanglement with the world and with time. Based in New Delhi, India, Raqs Media Collective’s practice spans across several media, making installation, sculpture, video, performance, text, lexica, and curation.
Lala Rukh (1948 – 2017) She taught for 30 years at Punjab University, Department of Fine Art and the National College of Arts where she set up the M.A. (Hons) Visual Art Programme in the year 2000. She was among the foremost feminist activist artists of South Asia.
Jangarh Singh Shyam (1962 – 2001) belonged to the Gond community of Mandla district in Madhya Pradesh. His works reflect the vision of tribal art practices that have been passed on from generations.
Dayanita Singh (b. 1961) is an artist based in Delhi, India. She uses photography to reflect and expand on the ways in which we relate to images. Her recent works, drawn from her extensive photographic oeuvre, are a series of mobile museums that allow her images to be edited, sequenced, archived and displayed. Stemming from Singh’s interest in the archive, she presents her photographs as interconnected bodies of work that are replete with both poetic and narrative possibilities.
Ayesha Sultana (b. 1984) was born in Jashore, Bangladesh, and lives and works between Dhaka, Bangladesh and Atlanta, USA. You might be also interested in visiting her solo show at Jameel Arts Centre.
Jagdish Swaminathan (1928 – 1994) was born in Shimla, India. In the late 1950s, Swaminathan decided to become a full-time artist, and with his contemporaries he founded Group 1890. In the 1990s, he broke away from his earlier geometric brush paintings to explore the use of symbols in tribal art.
Chandraguptha Thenuwara (b. 1960) is an artist, activist, curator and educator based in Colombo. His wider body of work includes sculpture, painting, drawings, public monuments, lectures, curatorial and collaborative projects, all of which are informed directly by his activism.
Zarina (1937 – 2020) was born in Aligarh, India, and after years of itinerant moving, she settled in New York where she lived and worked for over four decades.
Notations on Time will be on view till 20th May 2023 at the Ishara Art Foundation, Alserkal Avenue in Dubai, UAE. To learn more, please visit the show’s official web page.
