How artist Siddhartha Kararwal’s exhibit conveys the world's grim reality

Artist Siddartha Kararwal’s exhibition, Take on Fake, portrays news events like the recent wrestlers’ protests through a fantastical lens. Pics/Shadab Khan

At first glance, Birthday Bumps depicts five fantastical creatures with animal-like appearances dragging a sixth creature. It is only when we take a closer look at the set of two paintings that we realise the grim reality that the exhibit aims to convey - it is based on the female wrestlers' protests against BJP MP Brij Bhushan accused of serial sexual harassment.

Careful inspection reveals that one of the figures wears a police uniform and cap; the other - which sits perched on the back of an orange chair - has a television set for a head. The Powerpuff Girls motif, used to represent the wrestlers, significantly represents the fight against injustice, which anyone who has seen the cartoon will relate to.

The piece is just one of the many thought-provoking artworks that are part of artist Siddhartha Kararwal's exhibition, Take on Fake, which is on display at the Sakshi Gallery in Colaba till November 3. For Kararwal, news updates around the world are his biggest inspiration.

This installation, titled Shop Till You Drop, is a reference to luxury consumerism and purchasing goods without paying attention to where it is sourced from

"In this time when humanity has achieved so much, people are still trying to maintain false levels of hierarchy in society by killing voices, which really struck me," the artist says. "I try to present my pieces not in a political light, but in a visually subtle light. The idea is not to create violent pieces, but ones which still speak [softly] and convey the message."

Another of his paintings, titled Bonfire, has a grand piano with speakers, trumpets, mikes, flutes, and various other odds and ends piled on top of it, which was a response to the news he read of the Taliban burning musical instruments in the Herat province of Afghanistan. The piano seems alive, with human arms in place of wooden legs.

When he is not documenting world events, Kararwal presents his unique take on humanity and its tendencies. Case in point being Shop Till You Drop, a shaggy yellow figure holding up a crocodile by one arm that represents humanity's monstrous pursuit of excessive consumerism, at the cost of human and animal lives. "We have to produce goods, whether we need them or not, or else the capitalistic system won't survive. It is a relentless cycle of production and consumption that we are all victims of," the Jaipur-based artist says.

Kararwal says that whenever he works with fabrics, he delves into the history behind how it came to be. "You remove the tag, and then you ask where the fabric has come from, who stitched it, and where was it stitched," he says, talking about ripping apart the fabric, literally and metaphorically. "Take cotton for instance, which is a product of colonialisation, or the fabrics that are made in Bangladesh because they're cheaper to manufacture there."

Speaking about his style, Kararwal says that his art blends together influences across multiple periods of history, and combines very different elements and mixed-media to convey a subtle political message. "You can pick up historical elements and merge them with a contemporary idea, and people will pick up the references," he explains. "I aim to juggle imagery, and respond to the world around me."

WHAT: Take on Fake
WHEN: Till November 3
WHERE: Sakshi Gallery, Colaba