Anant Joshi b. 1969
Speed breaker at Howrah, 2023
Bronze, copper and ceramic colours at 300 degrees
8.75 x 36.5 x 4.5 in
22.2 x 92.7 x 11.4 cm
22.2 x 92.7 x 11.4 cm
Copyright The Artist
Anant Joshi weaves in serendipity with the gaps we encountered in Chemould Archives. A humorous misstep occurred in 1948 when Kekoo Gandhy was travelling from Calcutta to Delhi with a...
Anant Joshi weaves in serendipity with the gaps we encountered in Chemould Archives. A humorous misstep occurred in 1948 when Kekoo Gandhy was travelling from Calcutta to Delhi with a petition with 250+ signatures from across India to urge the creation of a multi-city arts association body instead of one housed just in Delhi. Before he could arrive in Delhi to make his case, his luggage along with his petition were stolen in the overnight train as it crossed Howrah Bridge!
This particular instance comes to life with Joshi’s sculptures where he alludes to sacred rituals, like evoking the spirit of chess pieces before starting a game or Chinese legends of how painting-in the eyes of dragon murals makes them come alive and fly away leaving gaps behind. What you see here are the signatures and pages of this petition come 'alive' to remind us that gaps in memories, histories, and archives are ever-present and how we remember them defines our capacity to look at our past with grace and humour.
This particular instance comes to life with Joshi’s sculptures where he alludes to sacred rituals, like evoking the spirit of chess pieces before starting a game or Chinese legends of how painting-in the eyes of dragon murals makes them come alive and fly away leaving gaps behind. What you see here are the signatures and pages of this petition come 'alive' to remind us that gaps in memories, histories, and archives are ever-present and how we remember them defines our capacity to look at our past with grace and humour.