An Emotional Symphony Unveiled in Gurugram’s Museo Camera
In the sprawling exhibition hall of Museo Camera, Gurugram, an array of scrolls hangs, adorned with powerful images and tales that penetrate the heart. These scrolls transcend temporal and geographical boundaries, offering a poignant glimpse into lives that thrived before the historic demarcation between India and Pakistan.
Manisha Gera Baswani’s Artistic Ode: Postcards from Home
Delving into a symphony of emotions, artist Manisha Gera Baswani orchestrates an exhibition titled Postcards from Home to mark the 75th anniversary of Partition. This unique installation resonates with the voices of 47 artists from Pakistan and India, each recounting personal narratives from a time preceding the Radcliffe Line.
A Journey of Connection and Belonging
Based in Delhi, Manisha Gera Baswani has been a chronicler of Indian artists since 2001. However, her artistic odyssey took a transformative turn in 2015 when she participated in the Lahore Biennale. Inspired by her familial ties and stories of love and loss, she embarked on a journey to connect with Pakistani artists across the border. “My parents hail from that side of the border,” Manisha reflects, “I grew up immersed in tales of love and a sense of belonging. The echoes of a home left behind and the resonance of Lahorian Punjabi were always a part of me.”
The Heart of the Project: Capturing Memories
Manisha’s project is a tapestry woven with threads of personal connection. She meticulously documented 22 Pakistani artists, including luminaries such as Amin Gulgee, Muhammad Imran Qureshi, Adeela Suleman, and Riffat Alvi. On the Indian side, 25 artists, including Gopi Gajwani, Krishen Khanna, Paramjit Singh, Nilima Sheikh, and Bharti Kher, added their voices to the narrative. Manisha’s approach involved sending WhatsApp messages to artists bearing Sindhi and Punjabi surnames, unraveling family histories to uncover links to the Partition.
Shifting Perspectives: Love and Longing Transcend Bitterness
Engaging with these artists, Manisha discovered narratives filled with love and longing, standing in stark contrast to the prevailing bitterness often associated with Partition. These stories ignited a creative fervor within her, compelling her to reshape the narrative. “Growing up with tales of affection and camaraderie,” Manisha explains, “I felt a powerful artistic urge to alter the discourse surrounding Partition.”
Capturing the Essence: A Fusion of Painting and Photography
With a Canon camera as her steadfast companion, Manisha Gera Baswani embarked on her mission. While she identifies as a serious photographer, this project saw the convergence of her twin passions: painting and photography. The unscripted moments captured within the artists’ studios added an extra layer of authenticity to the project.
A Transformative Journey Across Artistic Platforms
Postcards from Home unfurls in diverse forms across various platforms. At the 2019 India Art Fair, the postcards, bearing the artist’s portrait on one side and their narrative on the other, were tucked into wheat sacks, invoking historical symbolism. The Kochi Biennale witnessed the metamorphosis of these postcards into elegant scrolls, a design echoed in the ongoing exhibition. The journey of these postcards extended beyond Indian borders, gracing the Ashmolean Museum in the UK earlier this year. At Museo Camera, the culmination of these visual and textual elements takes shape in the form of 25 captivating scrolls.
A Time-Traveler’s Delight: Embracing Shared Heritage
As visitors traverse the exhibition, they transcend the role of passive observers. They become time-travelers, transported to an era untainted by divisions, where friendships blossomed across borders and hearts beat as one. Postcards from Home extends a heartfelt invitation, imploring observers to embrace the shared heritage of India and Pakistan, rekindling the enduring flames of kinship that time failed to extinguish.
In a world often scarred by strife, Postcards from Home stands as an evidence to art’s extraordinary power to heal, unite, and rewrite narratives. Manisha Gera Baswani’s visionary endeavor commemorates the 75th anniversary of Partition through a tapestry woven with threads of unity, love, and the indomitable human spirit.
Feature Image: All 47 postcards in the ‘Postcards from Home’ exhibition. Images Courtesy: Manisha Gera Baswani.
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