This visual artist is always on her toes- exploring, experimenting and creating something novel all the time. Charuvi Agrawal, a practising visual artist who specialises in large-scale interactive instalments alongside making animated content through her own firm Charuvi Design Labs, has organised an art exhibition in collaboration with the Indira Gandhi National Center for Arts (IGNCA), New Delhi. Titled as “Hanuman: Images Beyond Imagination”, the exhibition is between 10 April and 30 April, from 10:30 am to 7 pm at IGNCA.
The artist, whose work is an amalgamation of technology and art, will exhibit paintings, a short award-winning film, painted cabinets and the 26,000 Bells of Light sculpture. It is a solo exhibition where Agrawal will showcase her project – The Hanuman Chalisa.
The inauguration ceremony took place on 10 April, with the Ministry of Women and Child Development and the IGNCA organisation members present. Minister of State, Krishna Raj was taken aback on seeing the set-up and presented her own take on the concept of the exhibition. The Member Secretary and Joint Secretary of IGNCA also gave their views.
The artwork is centered on Agrawal’s animated short film Shri Hanuman Chalisa, of which the largest one is a 25 feet sculpture titled 26,000 Bells of Light. The entire structure took four days to install, along with the touch mechanics that lead to the ringing of all the bells. It is installed outside the exhibition hall, and in a location from where it can be easily seen.
Painted Kavads, paintings and the film are on display with each piece made using mixed media in a contemporary avatar. Kavads, which are “based on the storytelling boxes of Rajasthan” are like cabinets or rectangular boxes. Traditionally, the cabinets are about four to six inches in height. “I enlarged them into a life-size shrine, more on the lines of cabinet of curiosity,” Agrawal explains. The Kavads too are hand-painted. Each kavad depicts an essence from Hanuman’s life – objects related to the Ramayana epic, like the ring which Ram asks Hanuman to deliver to Sita, the Ram Setu rock, the Sanjeevani booti, Hanuman’s jewellery, necklace etc. These physical objects give an interesting aspect to experiencing the story of the mythological character. About 47 colour keys of Shri Hanuman Chalisa movie, hand-painted on canvas, are displayed.
“The film is the germination point of all these off-shoots, so it was more the reason to display all this,” Agrawal shares. The film is screened all day long and will be done for all the 20 days of the exhibition. Charuvi will be present there to answer the questions people have regarding the film.
“Indians connect more to an artwork like this because of its basis of mythology, but I’ve seen foreigners too drawn and moved by the theme. They are so inquisitive, and curious to know everything,” she says. And this was just the first day. Charuvi Agrawal seems positive that the exhibition and artwork will be very well received and there are talks about acquiring the installation as well.
We only have to now wait for what next big is going to come from this young and dynamic artist!