Counterpoise: Nine Women Artists at KHOJ

MITHU SEN, NAVJOT ALTAF, PUSHPAMALA N, ROHINI DEVASHER, SHEBA CHHACHHI, SHILPA GUPTA, SONIA KHURANA, TEJAL SHAH AND ZULEIKHA CHAUDHARI

By KHOJ International Artists' Association

Khoj International Artists' Association

Mural Project from the 'Khirkee-ki-Khoj' community art programme (2005) by Rohini DevasherKHOJ International Artists' Association

As a part of Khoj's series on women in culture, this exhibit will follow the work of nine seminal artists -- Mithu Sen, Navjot Altaf, Pushpamala N, Rohini Devasher, Sheba Chhachhi, Shilpa Gupta, Sonia Khurana, Tejal Shah and Zuleikha Chaudhari -- charting their trajectory within Khoj itself.

'Free Mithu', a project by Mithu Sen (2009) by Mithu SenKHOJ International Artists' Association

Through Khoj's residencies, exhibitions and festivals, these artists have continued to challenge established ideas about gender and identity entrenched within the political and psychological fabric of our society-- be it through Tejal Shah’s performative work with gender-queer identity, Sonia Khurana’s interest in revealing the nature of relationships through a psychoanalytically-led therapeutic dialogue, or Navjot Altaf’s site-specific public art projects. Integral to the story of contemporary art in India over the last two decades, the concerns found in their work have become, most notably, a reflection of the programme at Khoj itself.

Mithu Sen at The Mrichhakatika Project performance residency (2015) by Mithu SenKHOJ International Artists' Association

Mithu Sen

Simultaneously provocative and attractive, Mithu Sen’s work is populated by representations of body parts, animals, plants and objects that come together to form witty commentaries on gender, sexuality and contemporary life and society. Sen’s artistic practice is dominated by the relational aesthetic of gift-giving; the process of which performatively brings the audience and the artist together as a part of the work.

Jimnah Kimani, Masooma Syed, Mithu Sen, Roslisham Ismail, Sumedh Rajendran at the International Residency (2003) by Mithu SenKHOJ International Artists' Association

International Residency (August 2003)

Sen’s relationship with Khoj began in 2003, when she joined Khoj as part of an international residency that brought together artists from across the subcontinent under one roof.

'Twilight Zone', produced by Mithu Sen at the International Residency, Mithu Sen, 2003, From the collection of: KHOJ International Artists' Association
Show lessRead more

At the residency, the artist referred to the haunting 1973 rape of Aruna Shaunbag in her work; referring to Shaunbaug’s erstwhile comatose state as a ‘twilight zone’. Sen’s finely embroidered work became Shaunbaug’s public testament, engaging the viewer in a dialogue about the self, identity, race, origin and gender.

Free Mithu (2009)

'Free Mithu' first began in 2007 when Mithu Sen advertised a summer dhamaka, inviting friends, colleagues, and acquaintances to send a letter of love in exchange for a free artwork by her in a medium of their choice. In 2009, Sen debuted an exhibition of the items collected over a period of two years at Khoj. Presented as a performative event, the exhibition included the letters received, and the distribution of individual gift-wrapped work made for each participant.

'For(e)play', part of Mithu Sen's work at the Ideas of Fashion Residency (2011) by Mithu SenKHOJ International Artists' Association

Ideas of Fashion (2011)

“Mithu, enclosed within the vacuum (and limitless possibilities) of an empty room, began to see how the constant creation and re-creation of identity through clothing also represented a basic human nature to enquire beyond visible exteriors towards a core. Here, the peeling/shedding of each layer to reveal the next explains the motivations of exploring life as a continuous process of showing us something new. [...]'” - Critic, Mayank Mansingh Kaul on Mithu Sen’s work, ‘Foreplay’, at the Ideas of Fashion residency (2011)

'For(e)play', part of Mithu Sen's work at the Ideas of Fashion Residency, Mithu Sen, 2011, From the collection of: KHOJ International Artists' Association
Show lessRead more
'For(e)play', part of Mithu Sen's work at the Ideas of Fashion Residency, Mithu Sen, 2011, From the collection of: KHOJ International Artists' Association
Show lessRead more

"Mithu, taking the cue to see fashion as a 'verb', undressed the studio walls and play a game of seduction with them. Known for her provocative drawings, she moved into a distinct, complete abstraction; peeled away layers of her studio wall. Revealing the history of the room itself, from past works on the wall, she spoke of feeling the elation of removing layers of previous occupiers' egos and identities, towards a naked vulnerability. This study of the process of dressing down, instead of 'dressing up' was a novel way of looking a the room as a body, and her work as disrobing." - Mayank Singh Kaul, Critic's Note for the Ideas of Fashion residency (2011)

Poster for the 'We Are Ours: Manifestos for the Instant' exhibition (2013)KHOJ International Artists' Association

We Are Ours: Manifestos for The Instant (2013)

In 2013, Mithu Sen participated in ‘We are Ours: A Collection of Manifestos for The Instant’, an exhibition that housed 27 manifestos created by contemporary Indian artists whose practices are founded on a conceptual and philosophical engagement with the ways we live within forms. Sen responded to curator, Himali Singh Soin’s call for work that was a simultaneous symbol of the dawn of industrialisation and its demise in the face of a digital revolution.

'I Am A Poet', a performance and installation by Mithu Sen at WORD.SOUND.POWER. (2014) by Mithu SenKHOJ International Artists' Association

WORD. SOUND. POWER. (2014)

In 2014, Khoj held the landmark exhibition, “WORD.SOUND.POWER.” as part of a curatorial collaboration with Tate Modern, London. As curator, Andi-Asmita Rangari notes,  “WORD.SOUND.POWER. is about the poetics and politics of voice. It is about the formation of an utterance in relation to the norm, and how, in the process, a voice raised can also be understood as an act of poesies, a creative and aesthetic process that incorporates critique. A particular concern that runs through its themes is to interrogate the inherent privilege in being allowed to voice dissent, reflected in cultural echoes—through art, music and poetry”

'I Am A Poet', a performance and installation by Mithu Sen at WORD.SOUND.POWER., Mithu Sen, 2014, From the collection of: KHOJ International Artists' Association
Show lessRead more
'I Am A Poet', by Mithu Sen at WORD.SOUND.POWER., Mithu Sen, 2014, From the collection of: KHOJ International Artists' Association
Show lessRead more
'I Am A Poet', by Mithu Sen at WORD.SOUND.POWER., Mithu Sen, 2014, From the collection of: KHOJ International Artists' Association
Show lessRead more