Roots and wings: An exhibition by artists from the Bohra Muslim community

Artworks by 53 artists from the Dawoodi Bohra Muslim community have formed an exhibition titled, ‘Roots and Wings’, at Bohri Mahal Exhibition Hall (Old Favre Leuba), Fort, Mumbai. On display till March 12, it includes 150 paintings, few sculptures, utility and décor products, and even a live calligraphy painting corner.

This initiative by RadiantArts – an arts platform to propel artistic talent from the community – for the second consecutive year now, has drawn artists from US, Canada, UK, Dubai, France, Gulf, East Africa and parts of India. Only seven are professional artists, as the others are upcoming, budding and hobbyists – a move by the organisers to encourage artist endeavours in the community. “Two-thirds are women artists from lower-income families. The earnings they make from the show is what their family survives on. We hope the sales benefit them monetarily, as it did last year because the show was a sellout,” notes Tarifa Barma, co-coordinator, RadiantArts.

The artists have interpreted the ‘Roots and Wings’ through acrylic, oil, resin, water-colours, stippling, silk-screen, and even stained-glass paintings. “‘Roots’ are not only that of a plant, but the ones that inherently go deeper in our lives. ‘Wings’ signify the winds to fly and achieve your goals,” explains Barma.

(Clockwise) Shireen Gandhy of Chemould Prescott gallery visits Roots and Wings; a Calligraphic exhibit; Pheroza Godrej inaugurates Roots and Wings

Horses seems to be the majority’s favourite theme with over 50 equine interpretations on display that symbolise ‘wings’. For example, Nagpur artist Maria Shakir’s two portraits of galloping horses in the dot-technique – stippling, took her 172 and 115 hours each to complete. Also noteworthy is a two-feet high light installation of a horse made entirely from steel and copper cutlery. The display is largely figurative – flora, animals, swatches of forest life, urban built sights on the streets. Notable are the Islamic calligraphic paintings and engravings in diverse scripts that pronounce Allah and couplets from the Quran, written on landscape paintings or to form an object – like feathers of a peacock. Resin koi ponds take the centrestage. So does a Fatimi grill replicated from Aljamea-tus-Saifiyah, an educational academy, Nairobi, that uses mirrors to produce light and shadow to explain how we are all rooted to the divine. A Yemani artist’s depicts how the capital city Sana‘a is still remains rooted to its culture despite being a war zone.

Artworks on sale from Roots and Wings art exhibition

Well-known patron of the arts, Pheroza Godrej, inaugurated the show.

Bohri Mahal Exhibition Hall (Old Favre Leuba), Fort, Mumbai 
Roots and Wings 
On till March 12