Turning Back time

A part from their commercial work, artists often work on many personal projects, and are at times unable to get an opportunity to put these out for public viewing. Some of these artworks also have elements of the past involved in them, be it in the inspiration behind the creation or the materials used in this. And it was this that gave young graphic designer and illustrator Shusha Oliveira the out-of-box idea of having an exhibition around the theme 'Anticlockwise' which will provide a peek into the past while connecting it to the present.

Shusha, however, acknowledges that at first she had no clue about who she would invite to join her and who would agree. "The idea to have an exhibit was sudden. I woke up one morning and thought of doing something fun. I shared it with a couple of people. From then on it was my parents, sister and a couple of my childhood friends, all of whom encouraged me and helped me with little things that made a big difference," she says. She was however sure of one thing. "Right from the beginning I wanted to do this show with a group of artists rather than go solo," she says, adding that she just kept asking artists and the response she received was phenomenal.

In all 30 young artists will now be displaying their works at the two day exhibition 'Ånticlockwise, which will be held on May12 and 13 at Carpe Diem, Majorda. These participating artists come from various cities and different cultural backgrounds in India. All of them have their own unique styles and their own way of looking at a subject. While most of them are illustrators, a few are calligraphers and photographers too.

Most of the artists have never met each other nor have they met Shusha, who agrees, "We have never met at one place at the same time. We just coordinated through email and over the phone. More so, because it was next to impossible for us to meet as we come from different cities in India -Mumbai, Bangalore and Goa and all of us are never free at the same time.

Their mediums of expression differ too and I am anxiously waiting to see it all under a single roof in a beautiful ambience at Carpe Diem."

The exhibition will have self-initiated and/or personal projects produced over the years and those inspired by elements from the past. It will include framed paintings and prints (+ postcards, bookmarks, stickers), hand-crafted products, clothing, painted bottles and the like.

One of the participants of ‘Anticlockwise', Girjesh Jaiswar maintains, "An artist requires more opportunities like this. It's a nice to meet other artists and discuss about art that we have produced over a period of time."

Mayur Mengle also expresses, "From my perspective this is a great platform to express my fascination about old things as a kid. Like collecting bottles, old tins, tiles and so on...I'm really waiting to see the rest of the artworks too and meet the artists, of course!"

Another artist Poorva Shingre who will also be doing a workshop at Anticlockwise', admits, "I was really excited about this exhibit, the moment Shusha asked me if I was interested in being part of it. More than anything it has given me an opportunity to display the work I have done in the past and also meet a lot of other artists, I may not have crossed paths with."

For Prateek Vatash it seemed fun working on a fresh piece for this exhibition as he quips, “I went with the theme and worked around nostalgia, creating a dream-like space, containing a handful of objects, elements and words that I personally connected with."

Apart from the exhibition, there will be three workshops to keep the visitors engaged and involved. A stamp making workshop with linocut printing will be conducted by Poorva Shingre who will also teach participants on how to create one's own gift wrapping paper. The second workshop will be 'azulejos' tile painting with Ramdas Gadekar who creates his own tillable design and is an expert in etching and print making, pencil sketching, acrylic on canvasand clay murals. In the third workshop on basic vitreous enamelling Meghan Salgaonkar will teach participants how to make their own pendants using liquid flux and jewellery enamel on copper surface. The technical focus will be on wet enamel applications, sgraffito technique, firing strategies and creating patterns on copper surfaces. The participants will be carrying home a lasting memory in the form of a pendant they created with their own hands. There will also be some light music by a couple of musicians from Mumbai and Goa.