Curatorial perspective on a new group show at The Guild

Among the participating artists in ‘Myth – Reality: Constructing Cult-u're’ are Johan Grimonprez, Charwei Tsai, Job Koelewijn, Prayas Abhinav, Mithu Sen, Neha Thakar, Riyas Komu, Vidya Kamat, Renata Poljak, and Vijayendra Sekhon.

The show at Mumbai based Guild Galleryis curated by Veeranganakumari Solanki. A curatorial note mentions: ‘Culture = Cult + you are = Culture is what you’re. It’s what you create, construct and also accept that becomes a culture. In most societies across the globe, culture and ideology do co-exist. They in turn create myths, which become beliefs. Beliefs then grow into facts. A fact, over a passage of time, tends to stir the curious who probe – there’s an awakening – as the fact is questioned. It grows into a belief to become a myth.”

Roland Barthes termed the notion of myth as constantly changing, with obvious implications of the original. In Mythologies, a collection of essays, the thinker revealed how myth was formed through the semiotics theory. When over an implied period of time something (signifier) is employed to denote an object (signified), it creates a sign that loses it denotations. It then becomes a connotation that implying a myth, in turn. There’s a constant creation as well as destruction of myths and cultures in the contemporary world. The former naturalizes situations and meanings created to make them appear real.

Among the participating artists, Riyas Komu says that his job as an artist is that of an activist – be it football or politics.” Formulating, conceptualising and employing Marxist symbols that underline his political awareness, his works not only “look like posthumous regrets but (are) also a propaganda that has the form of a protest.” Bringing to the forefront neglected sectors of society and the struggle for survival, his works pursue the viewers’ thoughts to go beyond a pre-constructed comfort zone with a sceptical, but compassionate humanistic approach.

His ‘Immortal Death-scapes’ - The Karachi Series – are a black & white images of cemeteries in Pakistan. They portray the marks of natural forces - time and weather - which, due to human neglect, have broken down the dignity of the burial grounds.