How this Mumbaikar uses art to document the food of the Dawoodi Bohra community

The German poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe called it the lsquodim vastness spread upon our soulrsquo It might be an obscure way to describe memory but it is relatable At the Strangerrsquos House Gallery cocurator Shamooda Amrelia agrees noting ldquoAs a concept it is a very broad one To make it more concise and resonant to an individual requires objects more tactile and experientialrdquo These objects find shape in the artworks on display at the gallery as part of their ongoing exhibition Beyond Belonging that features six women artistsCity of storiesAmong the six artists is Fatema Halvadwala The 25yearold is a fifthgeneration member of the Dawoodi Bohra community in the city and a recent graduate of the Master of Fine Arts MFA programme from the New York Academy of Art ldquoArt is all I knew since childhood There was a long veranda to our house at Bhendi Bazaar that was my first canvasrdquo she revealsThe Halvadwala store at Bhendi Bazaar right Since 1919 intaglio on paperHalvadwala traces her roots to the city of Halvad in Gujarat from where her greatgreatgreat grandfather arrived in the neighbourhood of Bhendi Bazaar where he set up a provisional store in 1919 An upgraded iteration of the original store now titled Ismailji Hakimji Halvadwala and Co still functions out of Pakmodia Street Today they are best known for their kaari mdash a spice mix that is a must in every kitchen of the community ldquoIt is a Dawoodi Bohra masala used in our curries that has cashew as the main ingredientrdquo she revealsTouch of flavourNaturally Halvadwalarsquos memories are defined by the food and its communal experience The paintings began in her final year at New York Halvadwala shares adding ldquoOne of my defining memories is during Ashara Mubarak where the entire community gathers eats and serves food together There is one team that cooks one team that handles the logistics and another that serves I used to be the Balti Ben serving dal in baltisrdquo she laughsFatema HalvadwalaFor the artist in her it was not just the food but also the aesthetics that stood out ldquoThere is a geometry and dynamic to the thaal that stands out With salt placed at the centre two salads at equal distance on the plate a sweet a gravy with roti or naan Then there are bowls for soup or drink glasses on the siderdquo she goes on Place these alongside the colours of people and their dresses the conversations and stories and the lifestyle of a community emerges When she moved to New York in 2022 the distance enhanced the intensity of these memories and fuelled her workFrom left Severed and Untitled 1 by Sahiba DohadwalaShaping memories into artIt is these memories that the curators sought to shape through the many different mediums Cocurator Alessia Riva shares ldquoWe intended to create an exhibition that starts from the roots and then goes beyond to change It reflects an idea of performativity that originates from the past from onersquos own situated personal experiences but then also travels from body to bodyrdquoBe Our Guest oil on canvas by Fatema HalvadwalaAnother Mumbai resident Sahiba Dohadwala turns to textile and prints to explore the fading memory of facades and architecture From her textiles tactile and physical carvings and architectural forms emerge Or Mohanjeet Grewalrsquos archival photographic reels that unearth the memories of India from the 1960s decadeFor the artists mainly women identity was an unconscious presence Halvadwala admits ldquoAlthough I never felt the pressure of being unable to do something because I was a woman there was a touch of rebellion to choosing food as my mode of storytellingrdquo It is for this reason that she went heavy on the girlypop style of her artworks she says Amrelia notes ldquoAs we encountered the artworks all of them the missing blocks fell into place You have to look at the works in a nonlinear form to find parts of the whole conversationrdquoShamooda Amrelia and Alessia RivaTill September 30 11 am to 6 pmAT Strangerrsquos House Gallery ground floor Clark HouseWodehouse Road Colaba