EDUCATION KIT | ARTIST FOLIOS
WITNESS TO PARADISE
2016
INDIA
NILIMA SHEIKH
PRANEET SOI
ABEER GUPTA
SANJAY KAK
WITNESS TO PARADISE 2016
NILIMA SHEIKH | PRANEET SOI | ABEER GUPTA | SANJAY KAK
EDUCATION KIT
ARTIST FOLIOS
THE ARTISTS
THE IDEA
Nilima Sheikh’s (b. 1945, New Delhi, India) art practice
Witness to Paradise 2016 is a curatorial project that
of more than five decades includes works on paper,
reveals impressions of a landscape that was once and
installations, large scrolls and screens, paintings,
is now Kashmir, through the work of two artists, an
illustrations for children’s books, and theatre set designs.
anthropologist, and a filmmaker: respectively, Nilima
She lives and works in Vadodara, India.
Sheikh, Praneet Soi, Abeer Gupta and Sanjay Kak.
Praneet Soi (b. 1971, Kolkata, India) has exhibited his work
Artist Nilima Sheikh draws inspiration from texts,
all over the world, including at the Gwangju Biennale
stories and craft traditions of the region for her
(2008), Centro Cultural Montehermoso Kulturunea
paintings. Artist Praneet Soi’s multimedia installation
(Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain, 2010), Venice Biennale (2011),
explores the diversity of influences in Kashmir and the
Museo Experimental El Eco (Mexico City, 2011), Martin van
migratory nature of forms and images. His installation
Zomeren (Amsterdam, 2012) and Istanbul Biennial (2013).
consists of papier-mâché tiles, a slideshow and wall
He works out of Kolkata, Amsterdam and Srinagar.
drawings. Anthropologist Abeer Gupta explores the
material culture of Kashmir through the garment of the
Abeer Gupta (b. 1980, Kolkata, India) is a filmmaker and
pheran1 which he sees as a symbol of Kashmiri identity
visual anthropologist, and currently works as assistant
that has witnessed the political, social, cultural and
professor at the school of design at Ambedkar University
aesthetic changes that have taken place in the area.
Delhi. He lives and works in New Delhi.
Filmmaker Sanjay Kak curates 30 photographs by five
photojournalists to reveal photography as a key artistic
Sanjay Kak (b. 1958, Pune, India) is an independent
practice that has emerged from 25 years of mindless
documentary filmmaker and writer whose work reflects
violence and conflict in the Kashmir valley.
his interests in ecology, alternatives and resistance
politics. He lives and works in New Delhi.
1
Pheran: a piece of clothing used widely by men, women, and
children across class and religion in Kashmir
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WITNESS TO PARADISE 2016
NILIMA SHEIKH • PRANEET SOI • ABEER GUPTA • SANJAY KAK
THE ARTWORK
NILIMA SHEIKH
Another Chronicle of Loss, 2009
Tempera on Sanganer paper, 198 × 59 cm
Collection of Tarun Kataria
Sarhad 3, 2014
Tempera on Sanganer paper, 54.6 × 157.5 cm
Collection of the Artist
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Shadows, Stains, 2009
Tempera on Sanganer paper, 185 × 59 cm
Collection of Tarun Kataria
ARTIST FOLIOS
Testimony, 2008
Tempera on Sanganer paper, 185 × 59 cm
Collection of Mamta Singha
PRANEET SOI
Srinagar II, 2016
24 papier-mâché tiles, acrylic & gouache,
UV matt varnish, slideshow and 5 wall drawings
Dimensions variable
Collections of Kiran Nadar Museum of Art
and Experimenter, Kolkata
Image courtesy of Singapore Art Museum
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WITNESS TO PARADISE 2016
NILIMA SHEIKH • PRANEET SOI • ABEER GUPTA • SANJAY KAK
THE ARTWORK
ABEER GUPTA
The Pheran, 2016
Garments in wool, silk & cotton, with embroidery
in silk, wool & zari; metal wire; and photographs
Various dimensions
Collection of the Artist
Singapore Biennale 2016 commission
EDUCATION KIT
SANJAY KAK
ARTIST FOLIOS
Witness to Paradise, 2016
30 photographs by Meraj ud-Din,
Javeed Shah, Altaf Qadri, Showkat Nanda
and Syed Shahriyar Hussainy
Various dimensions
Collection of the Artist
Image courtesy of Singapore Art Museum
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OBSERVE AND DISCOVER
GUIDING QUESTIONS
1. Take your time to look at the variety of artworks
6. Observe the different artworks that make up the
that make up the Witness to Paradise 2016 project.
Witness to Paradise 2016 project that seek to
What is your first impression? What do you think
translate the many reflections of Kashmir, such as
this project is about? How did you come up with
the garments, archival photographs, craft traditions
that explanation?
etc. Is the selection of materials presented here
important? Will the meaning change if other
2. Observe the photographs in the installations of
materials are used?
Abeer Gupta and Sanjay Kak. What are some
similarities and differences between them? What
WITNESS TO
PARADISE 2016
NILIMA SHEIKH
PRANEET SOI
ABEER GUPTA
SANJAY KAK
do you think is the main subject in the photos?
think is the project’s intended audience? Why?
3. What interests you most about these photographs?
8. Imagine you would like to tell a friend about this
Think of at least 2 to 3 words that immediately come
project over the phone. How would you describe
to mind when you look at the photos. Are there any
the Witness to Paradise 2016 project?
photographs that stood out for you? Why so?
9. Kashmir, once a land of great beauty, is now a
4. Observe the pherans hanging in the middle of
valley beset by conflict, death and destruction. It is
the gallery and survey their colours, texture and
considered “the unfinished business of the end of
embroidery. How do you feel about the artwork?
Empire” and remains one of the oldest unresolved
What is the work about? What social and historical
disputes in the world today. Can you explain in 2 – 3
events are the garments referring to?
sentences what this observation means?
5. Explore Praneet Soi’s installation which consists of
papier-mâché tiles, a slideshow and wall drawings.
Why do you think the artist has chosen to use this
method and materials for his installation? What do
you think he is hoping to achieve?
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7. After learning more about the project, who do you
OBSERVE AND DISCOVER
SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES
A. Witness to Paradise 2016 is a curatorial project that
B. Witness to Paradise 2016 includes work by two
brings together work by four different individuals.
artists, an anthropologist, and a filmmaker. As a
Imagine you are a curator and you would like to
class, have a debate on the definition of what an
curate a project about an issue that concerns you.
‘artist’ is. Should there be a distinction between the
Write a proposal for your project. Identify the
practitioners of folk art and fine art? What are the
subject of your project. What type of artists would
criteria to define what an artist is?
you like to propose? (think of a sculptor, a graphic
designer, a fashion designer, a visual artist etc.)
WITNESS TO
PARADISE 2016
NILIMA SHEIKH
PRANEET SOI
ABEER GUPTA
SANJAY KAK
Other elements to consider for your proposal are
the location, how the works should be displayed,
wall text, etc. Don’t forget to take into account
colours, lighting and materials that may contribute
to the way your issue of concern will be displayed
and the type of mood you would like to create
with your design. How would you ensure that your
proposal really does happen?
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FIND OUT MORE
UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL
Van Abbe Museum. PRANEET SOI – SRINAGAR
new installation in the Van Abbemuseum collection.
The Arts Trust. Capturing the nuances of artist Nilima
Retrieved November 1, 2016, from
Sheikh’s practice. Retrieved November 1, 2016, from
https://vanabbemuseum.nl/en/programme/
http://www.theartstrust.com/Magazine_article.
programme/praneet-soi-srinagar
aspx?articleid=363
Vadehra Art Gallery. Praneet Soi.
WITNESS TO
PARADISE 2016
NILIMA SHEIKH
PRANEET SOI
ABEER GUPTA
SANJAY KAK
Praneet Soi. Retrieved November 1, 2016, from
Retrieved November 1, 2016, from
http://www.praneetsoi.info
http://www.vadehraart.com/praeet-soi-1
Break Away. Abeer Gupta.
The Indian Express. Colours of Concern.
Retrieved November 1, 2016, from
Retrieved November 1, 2016, from
http://www.break-away.in/show.team.asp?id=abeer
http://indianexpress.com/article/lifestyle/art-andculture/delhi-vadehra-art-gallery-exhibition-paintings-
ARTWORK
praneet-soi-3075879
Deccan Chronicle. The Discovery of Kashmir.
Saffron Art. Nilima Sheikh. Retrieved November 1, 2016,
Retrieved November 1, 2016, from
from https://www.saffronart.com/artists/nilima-sheikh
http://www.deccanchronicle.com/lifestyle/viral-andtrending/130616/the-discovery-of-kashmir.html
Art Institute Chicago. Nilima Sheikh: Each Night Put
Kashmir in Your Dreams. Retrieved November 1, 2016,
India Foundation for the Arts. Abeer Gupta.
from http://www.artic.edu/exhibition/nilima-sheikh-
Retrieved November 1, 2016, from
each-night-put-kashmir-your-dreams
http://www.indiaifa.org/grants-projects/
abeer-gupta.html
Mojarto. Nilima Sheikh. Retrieved November 1, 2016,
from https://www.mojarto.com/artists/nilima-sheikh
India Foundation for the Arts. Sanjay Kak.
Retrieved November 1, 2016, from
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Praneet Soi. Retrieved November 1, 2016, from
http://www.indiaifa.org/grants-projects/
http://www.praneetsoi.info/projects/2014-srinagar
sanjay-kak.html
FIND OUT MORE
INTERVIEW
VIDEO
Vogue. From Kashmir to Kolkata: Artist Praneet Soi’s
YouTube. An Exclusive Story From The 90’s on Mojarto
exhibition ‘Srinagar’. Retrieved November 1, 2016,
Artist Nilima Sheikh. Retrieved November 1, 2016, from
from http://www.vogue.in/content/artist-praneet-soi-
https://youtu.be/JCGmn8_JaZU
exhibition-gallery-experimenter
YouTube. Praneet Soi - Srinagar.
Kashmir Lit. Q & A with Sanjay Kak.
Retrieved November 1, 2016, from
Retrieved November 1, 2016, from
https://youtu.be/eCligS9v2lg
http://www.kashmirlit.org/q-a-with-sanjay-kak-2
WITNESS TO
PARADISE 2016
NILIMA SHEIKH
PRANEET SOI
ABEER GUPTA
SANJAY KAK
YouTube. Trailer: Old routes new journeys.
Frontlines of Revolutionary Struggle. Documentary
Retrieved November 1, 2016, from
filmmaker Sanjay Kak talks about his new film,
https://youtu.be/osD0uigVhYE
Red Ant Dream, and the architecture of revolutionary
desire. Retrieved November 1, 2016, from
YouTube. 100 years of Cinema: Sanjay Kak.
https://revolutionaryfrontlines.wordpress.com/2013/
Retrieved November 1, 2016, from
05/16/documentary-filmmaker-sanjay-kak-talks-about-
https://youtu.be/Z0ZJfO_rdrw
his-new-film-red-ant-dream-and-the-architecture-ofrevolutionary-desire
YouTube. Interview with Filmmaker Sanjay Kak on
Armed Resistance Movements in India and Women
Democracy Now! A New Intifada in Kashmir? Arundhati
in the Struggle. Retrieved November 1, 2016, from
Roy & Sanjay Kak on the World’s Most Densely
https://youtu.be/LzVYAVxjzQU
Militarized Area. Retrieved November 1, 2016, from
http://www.democracynow.org/2013/3/18/a_new_
intifada_in_kashmir_arundhati
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ABOUT SINGAPORE BIENNALE 2016
AN ATLAS OF MIRRORS
AT ONCE, MANY WORLDS
EDUCATION KIT
ARTIST FOLIOS
FROM WHERE WE ARE,
HOW DO WE PICTURE THE WORLD ­—
AND OURSELVES?
Humankind has always devised ways of seeing
beyond sight. Two such instruments are the map
and the mirror, which make visible more than
just physical terrains. While the atlas – a book of
maps – locates where we are and charts where
we want to go, the mirror shows us to ourselves,
sometimes unreliably, and in curious ways.
Through an exploration of the literal and
metaphorical characteristics of atlas and mirror,
An Atlas of Mirrors reveals artistic perspectives
that arise from our migratory, intertwining
histories and cultures, particularly in Southeast,
East and South Asia.
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ABOUT THE ZONES
NINE
CONCEPTUAL
ZONES
The main title of the Biennale is woven through nine
• NATION & GEOPOLITICS
‘conceptual zones’, or subthemes, which locate each
• CULTURAL BOUNDARIES
artwork in particular curatorial contexts. These zones
• SHARED HISTORIES
shape the flow of the Biennale experience, like chapters
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ARTIST FOLIOS
in a book or sections in a poem. Like the title – ‘An Atlas
To whom does our ‘one world’ belong, when so much
of Mirrors’ – which is built on the relationship between
is intertwined? As organised terrorism, xenophobia
a collective noun (“an atlas” as the collective noun) and
and fear of the loss of identity crescendo, ephemeral
what is being thought of ‘collectively’ (“mirrors”), these
lines in the sand are marked in stark black-and-white
zones are conceptually themed along specific collective
photographs, evocative images and stunning cultural
nouns and what they hold together for contemplation
artefacts conjure much-contested Kashmir, and sonic
and experience. Artworks located within each zone
sculptures ‘reflect’ imprints off Singapore pavements.
resonate on many levels, and at the same time, all nine
Everywhere, ‘walls’ keep in as much as keep out; right
zones coincide, intertwine and reflect each other along
on the region’s doorstep, tense encounters escalate out
the conceptual continuum of ‘An Atlas of Mirrors’ as
at sea, where borders are writ on water.
a whole.
Walls and boundaries bear witness that overlapping
Each zone represents concepts, ideas and ways of seeing
territories are strategically and ideologically mapped
as explored in the 58 artworks and projects.
and staked; yet is there common ground, belonging to
neither party on either side of the drawn line?
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