Kolkata Queer Arts Month debuts with a powerful second art exhibit at KCC
Twenty bring their creativity to ‘heavy, in your arms’ at the Kolkata Centre for Creativity for the first queer arts month of the city
By
Vedant Karia |
Published 27.12.23, 04:04 PM
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Kolkata Centre for Creativity will be a beacon of love, inclusivity and artistic expression till January 3, courtesy ‘heavy, in your arms’, the second exhibition for Kolkata Queer Arts Month 2023 (KOQAM), the first edition of Kolkata Pride’s art initiative. ‘This exhibition isn’t just about rainbow keychains or naked forms writhing in pleasure. That is a valid, but limited look. We wanted to show the limitless creativity of 20 queer artists, many of whom do not have gallery representation,’ said (left) Kallol Datta, curator of KOQAM
Rusha Bose (left), All photos by Arnab Dutta
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‘Happy Marriage’ (top) and ‘You and Me’ (bottom) are both by Jammu-bred and Delhi-based artist Jugal Kumar. Made with acrylic on acid-free paper, they showcase the beauty of queer relationships and challenge the binaries enforced by society
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‘Afterparty trash (a study)’, a mixed-media artwork on wood and plastic, was created on site by Kolkata-based Sumantra Mukherjee. ‘This art piece is helmed by Sumantra’s interactions with people, and their lives across social strata. His works lay emphasis on the temporal, fragile and common-place objects considered unconventional,’ said Datta.
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Five panels from Reya Ahmed’s ‘Nur and the Nightmare’ have been presented, with text by Maniza Khalid. A resident of Kolkata and London, her artwork represents her Bengali-Muslim heritage and queerness. Women in Reya’s art are supernatural beings, building communities while dreaming of the absurd
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Interdisciplinary artist Rahee Punyashloka from Delhi illuminated the underrepresented artistic history of anti-caste struggles and Dalit identity through ‘Forster 1799: 265’
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‘Vicariously Icarus’ by Goa-based Kadamboor Neeraj derives aesthetic inspiration from traditional Indian paintings, and depicts people’s interpretation of and their responses to their environment
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Kolkata-based visual artist Biboswan Bose uses ink on paper to create portraits and abstract figurations
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Adil Writer is a ceramist based in Auroville who uses clay in his acrylic painting. ‘We featured established and emerging artists at this exhibition, and even selected people from our Open Call program. The goal was to tap into the rage simmering within them, or give voice to acts of radical care,’ said Datta.
