LET ME TELL YOU A STORY… PART II, CURATED BY LUIZA TEIXEIRA DE FREITAS
July 01 - July 31 , 2023
“We are the opening verse of
the opening page of the chapter of endless possibilities.”
- Rudyard Kipling
As we turn the page to the second part of this
exhibition at Akara Contemporary, a sense of curiosity, surprise and most of
all as Kipling says, a number of ‘endless possibilities’ lie ahead of us. Yet,
much like the first part, the intrinsic nature of storytelling prevails through
the dialogue of art practices and artworks that interlace within themselves.
The space now holds within it the nuances of part
one and the stories it has woven together. Part two of the exhibition will not
only connect within itself but also to the works that were housed here before,
to the memory of what was.
As said in the first part of the show, it is the
weaving of such stories that enables history to be made and told. Inspired by
the writer and poet Rudyard Kipling, who born in Mumbai to a British India, was
deeply influenced by its culture and people, is the simple, yet deep context
and concept for this two-part exhibition.
Bearing artists from different nationalities and
backgrounds, Let Me Tell You A Story – Part II, in its whole, draws references
to the simplest of all opposites – night and day. Duly, this exhibition bears
witness to the later, works that allude to new beginnings, light, movement,
awakening and the passage of time.
While Buhlebezwe Siwani addresses forms of
spiritual knowledge in relation to place and land, Utkarsh Makwana questions
the everyday realities he comes across, employing geometric patterns as a tool
for storytelling. Sathi Guin’s detailed compositions of linear abstract forms
find their rhythm alongside Darren Almond’s grids, which draw attention to the
way time can structure, assemble, and apprise our understanding of the world.
Each of these works create a striking dialogue with Mexican artist Rodrigo
Hernandez’s utopian universes - the only artist to be in both exhibitions.
The foremost intention behind these exhibitions was
to use the interplay between art and storytelling to contextualize
international contemporary art to a larger audience while engaging with local
stories and practices. It is with the same avid curiosity that comes upon us
when we are eager to turn the page to keep reading a story, that Akara starts
this new chapter in its own hi(story).
Curated by
Luiza Teixeira De Freitas
Luiza Teixeira De Freitas
Images
Installation
