Firstpost
  • Home
  • Video Shows
    Vantage Firstpost America Firstpost Africa First Sports
  • World
    US News
  • Explainers
  • News
    India Opinion Cricket Tech Entertainment Sports Health Photostories
  • Asia Cup 2025
Apple Incorporated Modi ji Justin Trudeau Trending

Sections

  • Home
  • Live TV
  • Videos
  • Shows
  • World
  • India
  • Explainers
  • Opinion
  • Sports
  • Cricket
  • Health
  • Tech/Auto
  • Entertainment
  • Web Stories
  • Business
  • Impact Shorts

Shows

  • Vantage
  • Firstpost America
  • Firstpost Africa
  • First Sports
  • Fast and Factual
  • Between The Lines
  • Flashback
  • Live TV

Events

  • Raisina Dialogue
  • Independence Day
  • Champions Trophy
  • Delhi Elections 2025
  • Budget 2025
  • US Elections 2024
  • Firstpost Defence Summit
Trending:
  • Charlie Kirk shot dead
  • Nepal protests
  • Russia-Poland tension
  • Israeli strikes in Qatar
  • Larry Ellison
  • Apple event
  • Sunjay Kapur inheritance row
fp-logo
An exhibition in Srinagar hopes to heal fractured Valley and revive its forgotten culture and art
Whatsapp Facebook Twitter
Whatsapp Facebook Twitter
Apple Incorporated Modi ji Justin Trudeau Trending

Sections

  • Home
  • Live TV
  • Videos
  • Shows
  • World
  • India
  • Explainers
  • Opinion
  • Sports
  • Cricket
  • Health
  • Tech/Auto
  • Entertainment
  • Web Stories
  • Business
  • Impact Shorts

Shows

  • Vantage
  • Firstpost America
  • Firstpost Africa
  • First Sports
  • Fast and Factual
  • Between The Lines
  • Flashback
  • Live TV

Events

  • Raisina Dialogue
  • Independence Day
  • Champions Trophy
  • Delhi Elections 2025
  • Budget 2025
  • US Elections 2024
  • Firstpost Defence Summit

An exhibition in Srinagar hopes to heal fractured Valley and revive its forgotten culture and art

Vandana Shukla • June 23, 2018, 12:59:43 IST
Whatsapp Facebook Twitter

The Valley, at one time, was home to a thriving cultural space; it is this space that the organisers of Concourse — an exhibition held in Srinagar — are trying to revive.

Advertisement
Subscribe Join Us
Choose
Firstpost on Google
Choose
Firstpost on Google
An exhibition in Srinagar hopes to heal fractured Valley and revive its forgotten culture and art

More than 1,100 people turned up to see an art show titled Concourse in Srinagar, on its opening — which happened to be just four days after Shujaat Bukhari was killed in broad daylight in a city now known mainly for its political volatility. The Valley, at one time, had an uninterrupted flow of art, music and literature, that made its culture space thrive and evolve; it is this culture that the organisers of Concourse are trying to revive. True to the meaning of “concourse”, the exhibition aimed at filling the void of the last few decades in the art space by an act of bringing together 60 artists from the Valley. Most of these artists had left the Valley, before or around 1990, during the mass exodus of the Pandits. The political turmoil interrupted the cultural growth of the Valley. Way back in 1951, Sikh, Pundit and Muslim Kashmiri artists — about 24 of them — had held a group show at the iconic Hotel Reviera. Thereafter, there was a long lull. “The curatorial objective was built around that event from 1951, around the artists whose ideas wove the fabric of Kashmir,” says Syed Mujtaba Rizvi, a young artist and co-curator of the show. The work of identifying Kashmiri artists settled across the globe began in February. A tour of 14 cities across India produced several leads. All the artists were keen to return to the Valley, without a trace of doubt or reservation. A few came from Lahore, Dubai and London. The oldest artist participating in this group show is Ratan Parimoo, 90, a painter and art historian from Baroda. The youngest, Mamon (23) and Numer Kazi (21), are art students. The age span of the participating artists turns this exhibition into a study in changing styles, approaches and responses to the socio-political stimulus of the volatile times. [caption id=“attachment_4574711” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] ![From the Concourse exhibition at Srinagar](https://images.firstpost.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/20180621_115833.jpg) From the Concourse exhibition at Srinagar[/caption]

20180621_115858

20180621_120053

Close to 120 art works — specifically curated for the theme — including sculptures, canvases, photographs and relief works merge with contemporary art practices in the oldest silk factory of the Valley, built in 1917. The 101-year-old building of the Silk Factory Solina, in Rambagh, Srinagar, resonates with the history of the Valley and of the artists, who were forced to migrate from their homeland. Solina lay abandoned for decades. The bridging of the gap — of the time and cultural void, the coming together of the artists — is in a way, a revival of sorts for the iconic building. The art works and the space, both, conceptualise the idea of a new beginning. For senior artists like AK Raina, whose canvas expressed the pain and loss of a forced exile for decades, there was a feeling of “bitterness”, but there was also a new merging, a melting, that the exiled artists had missed and desired. Curator Veer Munshi, whose art practice has expressed the theme of exile across genres, is showing his work for the first time in the Valley in decades. His interactive, participatory installation creates a moving spiral, made of the old machine parts of the silk factory. The spiral moves with threads, with a bird in the centre. Another installation has a shikara , suspended from the ceiling, turned upside down. In Rizvi’s installation, light incorporates the materials found in and around the silk factory space. The range and quality of the works on display makes all the risks the organisers and the 60-odd artists took for this endeavour of creating a space for harmony, worthwhile. A wall is dedicated to the memory of the iconic artists of the Valley, with their names and pictures displayed. Concourse turns out to be not just a merging of artists and their creative ideas, the people of the Valley too have reciprocated with their gestures of hospitality and kindness. The art residency space was provided free of cost for the entire duration, for all 60 artists, by a leading businessman. The visiting artists were taken to their lost homes and temples by drivers who refused to take money from the “neighbours we lost”. The response to the exhibition is encouraging for organisers Kashmir Art Quest, who are trying to revive the lost cultural space in the Valley — a place that had the honour of hosting the first All India Painters Camp in 1961. Concourse ends on 24 June.

Tags
Kashmir art Srinagar Art Exhibition FWeekend ArtAndCulture Kashmir Art Quest
  • Home
  • Lifestyle
  • An exhibition in Srinagar hopes to heal fractured Valley and revive its forgotten culture and art
End of Article
Latest News
Find us on YouTube
Subscribe
  • Home
  • Lifestyle
  • An exhibition in Srinagar hopes to heal fractured Valley and revive its forgotten culture and art
End of Article

Top Stories

US ready to ‘impose costs’ on Russia if war in Ukraine drags on, says Hegseth

US ready to ‘impose costs’ on Russia if war in Ukraine drags on, says Hegseth

US tells Hamas to stop violence against Gaza civilians and disarm 'without delay'

US tells Hamas to stop violence against Gaza civilians and disarm 'without delay'

China seizes 60,000 maps mislabelling Taiwan, omitting South China Sea islands

China seizes 60,000 maps mislabelling Taiwan, omitting South China Sea islands

Syria’s Sharaa pledges to honor Russia ties, seeks economic and military support in Kremlin visit

Syria’s Sharaa pledges to honor Russia ties, seeks economic and military support in Kremlin visit

US ready to ‘impose costs’ on Russia if war in Ukraine drags on, says Hegseth

US ready to ‘impose costs’ on Russia if war in Ukraine drags on, says Hegseth

US tells Hamas to stop violence against Gaza civilians and disarm 'without delay'

US tells Hamas to stop violence against Gaza civilians and disarm 'without delay'

China seizes 60,000 maps mislabelling Taiwan, omitting South China Sea islands

China seizes 60,000 maps mislabelling Taiwan, omitting South China Sea islands

Syria’s Sharaa pledges to honor Russia ties, seeks economic and military support in Kremlin visit

Syria’s Sharaa pledges to honor Russia ties, seeks economic and military support in Kremlin visit

Top Shows

Vantage Firstpost America Firstpost Africa First Sports
Enjoying the news?

Get the latest stories delivered straight to your inbox.

Subscribe
Latest News About Firstpost
Most Searched Categories
  • Web Stories
  • World
  • India
  • Explainers
  • Opinion
  • Sports
  • Cricket
  • Tech/Auto
  • Entertainment
  • IPL 2025
NETWORK18 SITES
  • News18
  • Money Control
  • CNBC TV18
  • Forbes India
  • Advertise with us
  • Sitemap
Firstpost Logo

is on YouTube

Subscribe Now

Copyright @ 2024. Firstpost - All Rights Reserved

About Us Contact Us Privacy Policy Cookie Policy Terms Of Use
Home Video Shorts Live TV