Hyphenated Lives

19th century books from the Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Museum library prompted three of the most recent drawings from Reena Kallat’s series of works titled Hyphenated Lives. Displayed alongside the reference books are drawings titled Cob-ger, Lo-mine and Deo-yan, hybrids formed by the merger of species appropriated as national symbols by India and Pakistan. By combining one half from each side of the border, the artist creates a poignant narrative of convergence, uniting a subcontinent that was divided by an occupying colonial force.

The work was featured as part of the exhibition 'Asymmetrical Objects', curated by Tasneem Zakaria Mehta and co-curated by Himanshu Kadam. The exhibition presented the works of ten contemporary artists whose practice includes an interest in nature and science or consumption and degradation as process and product, to respond to these ideas and to explore the much-debated Age of the Anthropocene and its impact on the environment and the effects on biodiversity.