Why you need to experience these 4 unique art exhibitions in Mumbai right now

Stories from old crafts and new designWhen Srila Chatterjee curator and founder at Baro Market and cofounder of 47A was on a textile trail to Kachchh last year her guide Shabri introduced her to Satish Reddy The former systems analyst had quit his job to relocate to Kachchh in 2012 and eventually formed Sancharimdasha virtual design school that opens doors to fresh ideas Sanchari enables local artisans to become selfaware of their own reservations about design and innovation while initiating a dialogue to enrich the discourse on their craft ldquoI knew we had to showcase this right awaymdashhere was someone who had taken these handicrafts to a level no one had tried before The artisans were being inspired to become their own designers and artistsrdquo says ChatterjeeSatish ReddyFor Karim Mansuri whose traditional craft is Namda a woolfelting craft the exhibition titled Kachchh Born Again made him look at his own pieces with admiration ldquoI got to spend so much time with the audience and answer questions about my creative process My inspirations were varied from artworks found in graphic novels to Rothkorsquos colour fields till we looked for inspiration closer to home the gaze of a goat the shadowsilhouette of a tree and old coins from Bhuj marketrdquoWHAT Kachchh Born AgainWHERE 47A Kotachi Wadi Ambewadi GirgaonWHEN June 10 to July 9 from 11 AM to 7 PM except MondaysCONTACT 91371 16810Capturing the residue of timeWhile the art landscape in the city is bursting with new and innovative curations and immersive spaces it is rare and exciting to see two galleries collaborating on a show together For Joe Cyril director at Gallery XXL it was conversations and a realisation that the artists at his gallery and Tarqrsquos had multiple crossovers and ldquoa collaborative group exhibition seemed like an organic and exciting way forwardrdquoAfter Party 2016 by Philippe Calia one of the artworks on display at the collaborative exhibition PIC COURTESYTARQ AND GALLERY XXLEphemeroptera Time After Time features artists Amitabh Kumar Daku Nibha Sikander Philippe Calia Sajid Wajid Shaikh and Vishwa Shroff It is a meditation on memory permanence and transience with each work a memorial to lost buildings species and ways of life ldquoOnce we decided to work together it was an organic process of selecting the artists and a seamless integration of the two gallery programmes Wersquove always wanted to widen our audiences and be a warm welcoming inclusive spacerdquo says Tarqrsquos founder and director Hena KapadiaWHAT Ephemeroptera Time After TimeWHERE TARQ KK Navsari Chambers ground floor 39B AK Nayak Marg FortWHEN June 22 to July 29 from 11 AM to 630 PM between Tuesday to SaturdayCONTACT 66150424A place called home for Zarina HashmiWhile Indianborn American artist Zarina Hashmi lived a fascinating lifemdashmoving from one country to another with her husband Saad Hashmi a diplomat in the Indian Foreign Servicemdashher works constantly betray a sense of longing and quiet emotion Unlike some of her contemporaries she graduated in mathematicsmdasha discipline that echoes through the geometry in all her compositions During her travels to Bangkok she discovered and studied woodblock printing and furthered these skills in Tokyo Paris Bonn and Rajasthan where she also learned paper making before settling down by herself in New York in the 1980sZarina Hashmirsquos works reflect her sense of loss and yearning PIC COURTESYAKARA MODERNldquoZarina made a mark for herself as an artist of reckoning Her works between the rsquo80s and 2000 cover a larger part of her genre where she used a range of mediums and techniques shersquod learnt through her careerrdquo says Puneet Shah founder and director at Akara Modern Colaba While the gallery has displayed Hashmirsquos work in a few curated exhibitions over the yearsmdashsuch as a collage by her juxtaposed against one by her contemporary Nasreen Mohamedi in 2022 highlighting how female artists born in the 1930s and rsquo40s stood alongside their male counterpartsmdashthe city hasnrsquot seen a solo presentation dedicated to her since 2010 lsquoZarina 19802000 The Nostalgic Decadesrsquo displays nine of Hashmirsquos works reflecting her profound emotions toward the idea of a home a resounding sense of loss displacement and yearningIn the 1980s Hashmi also began using cast paper a crafting technique where paper fibre or pulp is formed using a mould as a medium for a number of monochromatic sculptures Four of these are on display at the exhibition including the gridlike lsquoPoolsrsquo inspired by the red sandstone of Fatehpur Sikri whose architecture she loved and lsquoPhoolrsquo which alludes to a flower from her fatherrsquos gardenmdasha fragrance that lingered in her mindZarina HashmiThe most remarkable and insightful of Hashmirsquos works however is the opening piece titled lsquoHomes I Made A Life in Nine Linesrsquo The portfolio of nine etchings and one cover plate printed in black on handmade Nepalese paper created in 1997 takes us to the spaces she lived inldquoEach of these works gives the viewer an insight into the artistrsquos mind Even as a prominent printmaker and member of the feminist artist group The Heresies Collective in New York Hashmi struggled with feelings of being uprooted and felt adrift But her homesickness was empowering rather than cripplingrdquo says ShahWHAT Zarina 19802000 The Nostalgic DecadesWHERE Akara Modern 1st floor 45 Churchill Chambers 32 Merewether Road ColabaWHEN June 8 to August 26 from 11 AM to 630 PM between Tuesday to SaturdayCONTACT 7777096686A sorority of artistsIn a fascinating exhibition featuring the works of 22 women artists associated with the Faculty of Fine Arts at Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda the Jehangir Nicholson Gallery highlights the many modes media and concepts of artmaking from the institutionThe Mycelial Legacies II brings together the work of 22 women artists in an institutional legacy mostly dominated by men PIC COURTESY JEHANGIR NICHOLSON ART FOUNDATION MUMBAIThe exhibitionrsquos inclusive approach brings together paintings sculptures ceramics photographs installations and videos to codify the contribution of women artists to the development of the universityrsquos faculty shaping its influences and broadening an institutional legacy that has traditionally been signposted mostly to its male stalwartsCurated by Genevabased curator critic and educator Deeksha Nath the show looks through six decades of innovative and interconnected artistic production by the artists showcasing the key characteristics of the Baroda SchoolWHAT Mycelial Legacies IIWHERE Jehangir Nicholson Gallery second floor east wing Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya FortWHEN June 9 to September 3 from 1015 AM to 6 PMCONTACT connectjnaforg