The Takshila Educational Society proudly inaugurated its new space in Delhi yesterday, expanding its artistic footprint under the banner of Arthshila. Founded by Sanjiv Kumar, Takshila and Arthshila aim to foster a rich cultural exchange across various locations in India.
The newly opened space in Delhi boasts three art galleries, providing a platform for performance art and workshops as well. The inauguration event witnessed the presence of numerous eminent figures from the art world, celebrating the expansion of Arthshila. The organisation currently operates three centres, including Ahmedabad, Santiniketan, and the recently inaugurated space in Delhi. Furthermore, Arthshila is set to extend its reach to Patna and Goa with upcoming centres.
The inaugural exhibition at the new Delhi space marks the opening of the Indian Ceramics Triennale 2024, titled “Common Ground: where Our Truths Meet.” The exhibition, curated by prominent individuals such as Anjani Khanna, Kanika Anand, Madhvi Subrahmanian, Neha Kudchadkar, Sangeeta Kapila, Sharbani Das Gupta, Reyaz Badaruddin, and Vineet Kacker, explores the diverse aspects of art creation with a focus on ceramics.
Vineet Kacker, also a curator of the Indian Ceramics Triennale, delivered the vote of thanks during the inauguration event. Common Ground, the centrepiece exhibition, seeks to investigate the shared humanity, heritage, and future that bind us all.
In addition to the main exhibition, the Indian Ceramics Triennale is hosting parallel exhibitions. “In Transit,” presented by Gallerie Nvya at Shridharani Gallery, showcases ceramic art by over 60 members of the International Academy of Ceramics. Another noteworthy project is “Clay in Common” at the India Art Fair, featuring a community project involving over 100 ceramic artists.
Several collateral exhibitions, such as “Fresh Off the Wheel Between the Functional and the Aesthetic,” “From a Home in the Hills,” “Earth and Sea,” and “By the Phoenix: Through the Fire,” provide additional opportunities for art enthusiasts to engage with diverse ceramic art forms.
Common Ground proposes an exploration of the ground – metaphorically and literally – on which we meet. The ground on which we walk is uneven. We are separated by privilege, politics, motivation, experience and access to knowledge, but we remain bound by a common humanity, a common heritage, a common future. We are all – every one of us – keepers of this earth. The curatorial note follows as:
In this second iteration of the Indian Ceramics Triennale we seek an emergence from the restrictions of silos, to create a space for dialogue, to investigate our multiple realities, and generate ideas and possibilities for our material. In a free ranging conversation, art crosses between different mediums and disciplines, between the hand-made and the technological, between ancient traditions and modern expressions. Common Ground investigates what it means to make with clay, today.
Common Ground is also a space for compassion, for humanity – a circle of strength in a time of fraught intensity; a space where confrontation is re-figured, where one does not ‘speak for but allows for each voice a space. We invite you to look both at and beyond the physical, and through its materiality engage in a dialogue with each project As much a journey for the curators as the artists, we hope you, the audience, will explore with us, take a chance on the unknown, celebrate the exuberance and generosity of each artist’s vision, and share your own insights towards imagining and building a common ground.
As Arthshila and the Indian Ceramics Triennale 2024 unfold this artistic odyssey, they invite audiences not only to witness but to actively participate, to celebrate the exuberance and generosity of each artist’s vision, and to contribute their own insights toward imagining and building a common ground for all. It is an open invitation to engage, appreciate, and be inspired by the rich patchwork of artistic expression that unites us in our shared journey as keepers of this earth.
Feature Image: Vineet Kacker delivered the vote of thanks during the inauguration event | Courtesy: Abir Pothi
Iftikar Ahmed is a New Delhi-based art writer, researcher and curator.
