There is nothing better in the world to celebrate special occasions and human relationships than art and culture. This was amply evident at the one-day exhibition, “The Moving Mural”, held at Bikaner House recently.
Attracting people from all walks of life, at the core of the show was the objective of celebrating two monumental milestones — 150 years of Canada Confederation and 70 years of India’s Independence. “Wanting to make the Indian diaspora in Canada — the second biggest — a part of both historical moments we came up with the idea of creating a 150 feet long canvas with 70 panels. Each panel highlights similarities between Indians and Canadians, their long association, common history and significant contributions to the world of science, technology and inventions,” explained Anu Vittal, the curator and a participating artist. The two artists were Vishal Misra and Liv Babra. Underscoring the importance using mural in the theme, she specified, “Since ancient times, murals have been the most tangible way of depicting culture and telling stories. This is what our canvas does. Though a mural is stationary, ours are moving, since it travels across Toronto, Mumbai, Delhi and Ottawa.”
16dmc Liv Babra4
Diverse yet similar
What is amazing is that the 23 works of each artist, with a final panel consisting one work of each, though differing in style revolve around the same storyline, theme and ideology. Vishal, well known for figurative abstracts has juxtaposed contributions of India and Canada in education, diversity, sports, yoga and rituals. One panel shows Queen Victoria, who once ruled India and headed Canada, Jawaharlal Nehru, Mahatma Gandhi and finally Prime Ministers Justin Trudeau and Narendra Modi. “These depict the region’s histories and the common denominator between the two, namely, Britain,” explained Anu. Likewise Vishal celebrates the passion for cricket and ice hockey and love for tea and coffee among Indians and Canadians and heritage places like Himalayas and Bay of Fundy in his works. “Similar to Indian tea stalls, Horton Coffee shops in Canada are excellent places for catching up with friends much like the Indian addas ,” she says.
Panel made by Vishal Misra
The works of Kenya born Liv of Punjab origin are more realistic expressing the theme through innovations. From the Canadian side he depicts insulin, Pablum, telephone, Superman, the comic character, caulking gun, Canadian National Tower, while chess, pi, kabbadi, snake and ladder, represent India. “It points to the importance of the contribution of these nations in global scientific and technological advancement,” points out Anu.
16dmc Vishal Misra1
Being an abstract expressionist, Anu has showcased the two countries’ national flags through maple leaf, Indian Tricolour besides the reverence for the mother earth, air, water and fire among the Indians and Canadian Aboriginals. Maple leaf in abstract in red hue denotes Canada and fire at the same time, while blue, India’s national colour, represents water. “I explore the connection of human beings with the synchronicity of nature around us. What exists in us, exists in all elements in Nature,” states Anu.
16dmc Liv Babra5
The exhibition was not merely confined to artists but also engaged the audience by inspiring them to recollect their stories and share them. “Just like we dug back into our journey from childhood to present, the works moved many a viewer to go down memory lane. We have recorded them on video and these will form a part of a documentary on the show’s tour to the four cities,” informs Anu.
16dmc Anu Vittal
Depicting the two countries, the panels also helped making many aware about them. “Many Indians were unaware that insulin and telephone were invented by Canadians. Likewise many here did not know that chess is an Indian game. The planned documentary will have a historical value and being digitally etched, be a reference point for students and researchers alike,” observes Anu.
