project with Sandeep Joshi at faculty of fine arts M.S.U Baroda.
Interpreting Vishwamitri
Sandeep Joshi, MVA II, Art History and Aesthetics
The initial
idea for the project came with the possibilities of representations of Vishwamitri River and Vishwamitri Riverfront Project. The cleaning of Vishwamitri
and the developing of the bank has been undertaken as a river front project for Vishwamitri in Baroda. While wandering
in the city we come across the river which is very obvious as it flows through
Vadodara, and has become the drainage of city’s dirt and impurities from nearby
industries. It is not only a
responsibility of civic body, but also a duty of citizens to take initiatives
to make it free from sewages. Though the declaration of Riverfront Project and
beautification of the banks was very pleasing for Barodians but its
implementation is still in question.
While
documenting and interviewing the citizens of different generations, it has been
found that there is nothing inspirational about the river for them. The river
was in the same situation as it is now except while floods. But inspiration can
never be the solitary factor for the artist or spectator for representation or
viewership, the curiosity can also stand for one of the reasons, for insistence
to enquire about the particular thing. While talking about the present river
without associating historical references, poetry and myths which is always
associated with the water body, what strip of water we are watching now is only
the ‘idea’ of river which is transformed from generation to generation, in
actuality that form does not possess any characteristic of the river. There is
the ‘trace’ of the river, the presence in its idea and absence in its physical
form.
Apart from all these Vishwamitri
is not merely a river but it has its roots in the well defined culture of
Baroda. It is not only a part of geography but a culture whether one notices or
ignores, it remains there till its impending death. Any artist as a resident of
Baroda has his/her own observation of his/her surroundings and expression for
every social and political happening and ecological evolutions around and their
art becomes a tool to react or to represent the subject; re-present the idea or
sensation through the depiction. Artists always have been individuals and
members of groups living in societies, who are involved in definite social
relations that enable, regulate, and limit their work in economic and political
terms. With the encouragement of all these artists this curatorial project is
an attempt to represent and interpret the Vishwamitri in varied possible dimensions without being
conclusive because of the possibilities of multiplicity of interpretations.
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