An installation made of rubber stamps by artist Reena Kallat captures the past and present of the city.
If you’re passing by the Byculla zoo, don’t be surprised to see a cobweb-like creation across the facade of the Dr Bhau Daji Lad Museum. A ZegnArt initiative organised by Ermenegildo Zegna, and co-developed with the museum, artist Reena Kallat has designed an installation that “weaves the history of the city”.
This artwork — Untitled (Cobweb/Crossings) — is the beginning of the India edition of the ZegnArt Project, that will have similar initiatives in Turkey, and Brazil with local artists and museums there. “Since the Museum is located in the natural environment of the zoo, I wanted the sculpture to have an organic form, one that has some sort of a relationship to its surroundings.
That’s where the idea of a spider’s web originated from,” says Reena, adding “The Museum was conceived at the time of the British rule. Its collection narrates some of the earliest moments of the city’s history so I got interested in thinking about its transforming relationship to the city. One of the things that struck me was the change of name from the Victoria & Albert Museum to its current name, so I brought in the elements of past and present.”
The artist has used the change of street names in the city — from their colonial to indigenous names in this exhibit, with each rubber stamp imprinted with a name. “Each one bears the colonial name of a city street that has now been replaced by an indigenous one, referring to the de-colonisation process through the renaming of cities and other locations.
The rubber stamps, part of the bureaucratic apparatus metaphorically either endorse or stamp histories out of existence. Also, while the web is a home, it is also evocative of time and appears to hold dust from the past,” explains Reena who spent a good two-three months producing the installation. She says the entire process was tedious not just in constructing but also hoisting the work, measuring 45 by 55 feet, on the museum building which is a heritage structure.
When & Where: Till March 15, Dr Bhau Daji Lad Museum, Byculla
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