A selection of works by Nalani Malani

Chemould Prescott Road along with Chatterjee & Lal in Mumbai present a selection of most significant works by celebrated artist Nalini Malani done over the last five years.

Her work has constantly reflected on the state of the nation. For her the nightmare of history and the dream of redemption are encapsulated in her practice of working with installations, video and painting. The most notable instance was the ‘Medea’ project (1993-95) that took up the theme of the Greek myth as retold with a contemporary political edge by German playwright Heiner Mueller.

A curatorial essay elaborates on her practice to state: “For Nalini Malani to be born in the midnight hour both literally and metaphorically has constantly played a dual role in her life – growing up in the utopian Nehruvian era, as well as living through the trauma of the family’s migration from Karachi to her twin city, Bombay in India during partition in 1948. The duality of these events in her life linked to more recent political happenings since 1992 post Babri Masjid has constantly drawn her to the work of Heiner Muller, Brecht and Greek tragedies.

“As a woman who has existed in a world of ‘man’-made disasters, Nalini has often referred to the stories of women, such as Aka, Medea, and Mad Meg. The work ‘Remembering Mad Meg’ thus refers to the woman from Flemish folklore who leads an army of pillage to invade hell and comes back to recount the stories as depicted by Pieter Breughel in his painting ‘Mad Meg’.”

The new exhibition is split into two parts. At Chatterjee & Lal, there will be an elaborate video/shadow-play called ‘Remembering Mad Meg’. Between the two galleries there will be paintings and two video installations, both having their premier viewings in India. At Chemould Prescott Road the works are built around the seminal 50 feet multi-panel painting, ‘Splitting the Other’ being the title of the show. This has a direct reference to the pogrom in Gujarat of the most horrific divide between the Hindus and Muslims post-partition.