Students' Biennale 2021: Khushboo Ajit Kumar: Visual Expressions of Migration

Curated by Vasudha Thozhur

There’s no soul left in my city There’s no soul left in my city (detail-1) by Khushboo Ajit KumarKochi-Muziris Biennale

Mapping the fragility of migration

A student of Maharaja Sayajirao University in Vadodara, Khushboo's work is a visual expression of migration. In her mid-teens, she moved to India for a safer life.

Uninhabited Uninhabited (Front) by Khushboo Ajit KumarKochi-Muziris Biennale

Her work is influenced by her experience of living in two worlds..

..a world of memory and a world of reality.

Uninhabited Uninhabited (Back) by Khushboo Ajit KumarKochi-Muziris Biennale

It is personal for the artist, but the imagery is created to transcend the self and connect with others.

This is expressed through pattern-making, topographical maps/routes, and various everyday objects or elements.

The call of the birds The call of the birds (Front) by Khushboo Ajit KumarKochi-Muziris Biennale

She enjoys creating layers of paint on handmade paper using natural colours and vegetable dyes.

She uses techniques of dyeing, staining, block printing, tearing and burning, drawing and painting.

A neighbourhood in the cloud A neighbourhood in the cloud by Khushboo Ajit KumarKochi-Muziris Biennale

These various processes culminate in stitching the pieces together..

..and sometimes tying them with thread and stick..

..to transform a two-dimensional entity into a three-dimensional form.

The Students’ Biennale seeks to complement and strengthen the fine arts education system in India and is the largest educational initiative of the Kochi Biennale Foundation. The fourth edition was led by a team of five artists and art educators – Adip Dutta, Archana Hande, Manoj Vyloor, Suresh K Nair and Vasudha Thozhur, and featured 314 student artists from over 62 education institutions across India to produce approximately 45 projects.

Credits: Story

Compiled and Edited by Mala Yamey

https://art.snu.edu.in/people/faculty/vasudha-thozhur
https://www.instagram.com/khushiia7/

Credits: All media
The story featured may in some cases have been created by an independent third party and may not always represent the views of the institutions, listed below, who have supplied the content.

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