'We have been created to give without expectation'

Through the medium of photographs, screen printing, collage and drawings displayed at her exhibition titled Ever After, artist Ichha Bhojani hopes to get people to question the spiritual aspect of life

Through the medium of photographs, screen printing, collage and drawings displayed at her exhibition titled Ever After, artist Ichha Bhojani hopes to get people to question the spiritual aspect of life

"All of us, at some point, question the meaning of our existence. Irrespective of what we have, many of us feel a certain discontent.



This lack of contentment is related to a spiritual quest, which I have tried to portray in my work," says Ichha Bhojani, who for the first time is exhibiting paintings that highlight the spiritual aspect of the Bahai faith she follows.

The mixed media works, which include photographs, screen-printing, collage and drawings are part of an exhibition titled Ever After, on display at The Viewing Room.

Born in a Hindu family, Ichha grew up witnessing pujas and rituals. The artist soon started finding the rituals meaningless. She went to London to study art and learnt about the Bahai faith. "I started reading copiously about it and it appealed to me. God is a spiritual entity.

As Bahais we believe the soul moves from one world to another. We do not believe in life after death. To move forward in the next world, the only thing we can do is service. We have been created to give," Ichha says, adding that studying the Bahai faith brought her closer to the act of service.



Ichha adopted the Bahai faith in 2005. "We go through our mundane routines day after day without thinking. I felt that God surely created us for better things.

We are capable of so much more. We have been created to give without expectation. If you look at children, you will realise, they just give because they want you to have it and it makes them so happy," says the 32-year old artist with a smile.

One of the artworks at the exhibition portrays a green chair in the middle of a black and white setting and there are four silver lines beaming out of the chair. Two of the lines are directed towards the ground and two are directed upwards.

"The chair portrays our attachment to position, to our area, our space. The two lines directed upwards lead to the unknown, while the other two are attached to our physical world," explains Ichha, adding, "We all have a spiritual aspect and through my work I wanted people to question their spiritual aspect.

Whether they satisfy it by adhering to the Bahai faith or otherwise does not really matter. We all belong to the same category of people," she states.

Ichha took a year off to work on these pieces and 70 of the works are being displayed at this exhibition. "This was the best way I knew to communicate what I wanted to," she signs off.

Till: December 19, 11 am to 7 pm
At: The Viewing Room, Elysium Mansion, fourth floor, opposite Cusrow Bagh, Walton Road, Colaba Causeway.
Call: 22830026 / 27

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