I wonder what it is about Art that automatically puts a blanket of silence on people. As you step out of the bustling city and into a gallery, the silence envelopes you and muffles everything else out. We automatically reduce our decibels, stop our chatter, use our whispering voices - if we use them at all - and glide through the space. It affects everyone, and a singular loud noise or even a heavy footstep seems like a thunderclap. Most people view the artwork alone or in duos even if they entered as a group. I don’t think anyone ever explained any social norms on how to act in art galleries. I’ve never seen a big board describing the dos and don’ts unless it was a big museum. Even then, the rules are regarding destruction, damage and possessions. The “Maintain Silence” signs are exclusive to libraries. And that’s a whole other type of silence.
On May 9th, Thursday I went to Art Night Thursday - my first ever. For those unfamiliar with the concept (like I was), on every second Thursday of the month galleries around Mumbai stay open after hours until 9 pm. The idea is that people who can’t attend during the usual gallery timings can come after-hours on this specific Thursday and meet like-minded people. There are no fees and no registration, people can just walk in. On their Instagram page, the Mumbai Gallery Association shares the names of the different participating galleries and the artists they have on show. We went to 6 galleries throughout the evening and we developed favourites so let me walk you through mine!
First, was Chemould Prescott Road. They were displaying the work of Gulammohammed Sheikh called Kaarawan and Other Works. Unfortunately for the other galleries, this one set a very high bar. The artist was also a writer and a historian, and his art reflected the depth of his knowledge of history. All his artwork had symbolism from the Mughals, stories from different mythology, and the modern history of India including Sant Kabir and Mahatma Gandhi, as well as famous artists from the West. I spent almost 30 mins at this gallery alone and photographed some of the elements I was attracted to. Next came Tarq and Akara Modern, where the only things interesting were that we met random ladies who guided us to the correct gallery when we ended up at the wrong one. I’m being far too critical perhaps, but art be like that! One of you might find them extremely interesting, and I’d love to compare notes.
Next were DAG 1 and DAG 2, inside the famous Taj Mahal Palace hotel. These were perhaps the best curations and it helped that the topics the exhibit covered were of personal interest to me. The exhibit at DAG 1 was titled Masters: Indian Art from the 19th and 20th Century, and at DAG 2 was The Babu & The Bazaar: Art from 19th and 20th Century Bengal. The latter was especially interesting and the pieces depicted scenes from Hindu mythology such as Shakuntala being cursed by Sage Durvasa, different episodes from Krishna’s life, and Vishnu giving birth to 14 material worlds. There were also more paintings of religious deities like the trio of Shubhadra, Balaram and Jagannath, and a gender-reversed painting of the trio of Vishnu, Shiva and Brahma depicted as women. The curator did a great job explaining the social context, artistic style and the mythical story in the description cards next to the paintings. A separate section was assigned to the Sundari paintings - a form of erotic art depicting women in scant clothes in the middle of different activities - like playing music or cards or offering paan.
The last on our gallery-hopping route was Jhaveri Contemporary and we mostly enjoyed having the gallery to ourselves before it closed. As a bonus, we managed to get into Experimenter Colaba which was open a little past 9 pm. This was in my top 3, after DAG 2 and Chemould. The exhibit was of prints by Krishna Reddy and it reminded me of everything I know about printmaking by my friend Manasi, a printmaker herself. Not only were the prints amazingly intricate and beautifully coloured, but the zinc plates used were also on display at the gallery. A fun element for me was to also look at the title of the artworks, especially the abstract pieces like one called Butterfly and then try to see what the artist saw while naming it.
Each art gallery had a different quality of silence to it too. Chemould had an openness to it, like a feather drifting through the window. Tarq felt strict, like a parent making you do math homework but Akara felt like a maze you need to navigate with a time limit. Dag 1 and 2 felt like the wardrobe from the Chronicles of Narnia - made of dark wood with heavy coats hanging inside muffling the sounds of everything outside. A little heavy, but mostly cosy. Jhaveri had the silence of an old abandoned building, whereas Experimenter didn’t have a strong silence at all - just the fleeting pause between a sentence when you’re trying to figure out what word fits correctly.
Studying English as a major in my IB program meant I was writing 18-page essays answering questions like - What role does silence play in… creating the right environment? enabling the audience that were consuming the art? enhancing the experience of the viewers in the gallery? Is it even enhancing or is it taking away from the experience? Who said art is best consumed in silence? What narrative does it further? Very cool questions to think about when we see Silence as a character in and of itself.
And if, instead of a particular book or story or poem, if Silence were a character on my Art Night Thursday - what role did Silence play in enhancing my experience of gallery-hopping with friends for an evening? It gave us solo time to peruse the art at our pace and rendezvous at the entrance again. It enabled us to talk about the artwork on our walk between the galleries, and ask each other - what did you like about that exhibit? It enhanced our experience because we could be with our thoughts at the gallery itself and then share those thoughts later. Ah, perhaps that’s what it is about art that puts a blanket of silence on people. At the very least, it inspired me to make this collage about the evening and so, art inspires art.
Maybe see you at another Art Night Thursday,
Vedi
We must go together someday!!!!!
Love how you described all the different silences!!!! 💜💜