5 art shows in July that urge you to introspect

Arshia DharPublished on Jul 14, 2023

From retrospectives of icons to lesser-known artists awaiting their due, this month brings a selection of thought-provoking art

A bunch of exhibitions on view in July across the country will make you pause and think about places and histories, and how artists have, time and again, urged us to challenge our beliefs and perceptions as the only way of evolving as a species.

Lalit Mohan Sen: An Enduring Legacy In a retrospective-scale exhibition of one of the most significant modern masters, Lalit Mohan Sen (1898-1954), the show features archival material and artworks from different phases of the artist’s brief but prolific career. The exhibition is an homage to his extraordinary oeuvre, celebrating the diversity and modernist spirit that Lalit Mohan Sen’s works embodied.Where: Emami Art, Ground Floor, KolkataWhen: 14 July to 30 September — **Lalit Mohan Sen: An Enduring Legacy**
In a retrospective-scale exhibition of one of the most significant modern masters, Lalit Mohan Sen (1898-1954), the show features archival material and artworks from different phases of the artist’s brief but prolific career. The exhibition is an homage to his extraordinary oeuvre, celebrating the diversity and modernist spirit that Lalit Mohan Sen’s works embodied.
**Where:** Emami Art, Ground Floor, Kolkata
**When:** 14 July to 30 September

Prabhakar Barwe: Between Object and SpacePrabhakar Barwe (1936-1995) may just have ended up becoming a theoretician whose book, Kora Canvas (Blank Canvas), was a manifesto that established the multi-dimensional relationship between an artist, the object on which they create art, and their subjects. That he was not just an intellectual but also an artist whose work proves his theories, is evident from his oeuvre, in which Barwe dissects how we comprehend and perceive the world.This exhibition covers the gamut of Barwe’s interests across multiple decades of his career, and includes his paintings on canvas as well as paper and textile, making for an intimate retrospective of a key artist of the 20th century.Where: DAG One, The Taj Mahal Palace, Colaba, MumbaiWhen: 22 July to 26 August — **Prabhakar Barwe: Between Object and Space**
Prabhakar Barwe (1936-1995) may just have ended up becoming a theoretician whose book, *Kora Canvas* (Blank Canvas), was a manifesto that established the multi-dimensional relationship between an artist, the object on which they create art, and their subjects. That he was not just an intellectual but also an artist whose work proves his theories, is evident from his oeuvre, in which Barwe dissects how we comprehend and perceive the world.
This exhibition covers the gamut of Barwe’s interests across multiple decades of his career, and includes his paintings on canvas as well as paper and textile, making for an intimate retrospective of a key artist of the 20th century.
**Where:** DAG One, The Taj Mahal Palace, Colaba, Mumbai
**When:** 22 July to 26 August

Traces of Place (Group Show)Traces of Place explores themes of ‘psychogeography’—a hybrid of psychology and geography—to study the links between earth, mind and foot. Today, the term largely refers to the uncovering of underlying forces that shape our experiences of a place, including social structures, power dynamics, historical layers, and personal associations. The works of Atul Dodiya, N.S. Harsha, Naresh Kumar, Rashid Rana and Reena Saini Kallat are a part of this group exhibition that questions how a place can impact our behaviour and perceptions of not just the world, but also of ourselves.Where: Chemould Prescott Road, Fort, MumbaiWhen: 13 July to 19 August — **Traces of Place** **(Group Show)**
*Traces of Place* explores themes of ‘psychogeography’—a hybrid of psychology and geography—to study the links between earth, mind and foot. Today, the term largely refers to the uncovering of underlying forces that shape our experiences of a place, including social structures, power dynamics, historical layers, and personal associations. The works of Atul Dodiya, N.S. Harsha, Naresh Kumar, Rashid Rana and Reena Saini Kallat are a part of this group exhibition that questions how a place can impact our behaviour and perceptions of not just the world, but also of ourselves.
**Where:** Chemould Prescott Road, Fort, Mumbai
**When:** 13 July to 19 August

Shadow Circus: A Personal Archive of Tibetan Resistance (1957 – 1974)The exhibition is an attempt to shed light on what anthropologist and historian Carole McGranahan calls the “arrested histories of the Tibetan resistance army”. In the early 1990s, filmmakers Ritu Sarin and Tenzing Sonam began researching this story for a documentary film. They were inspired by Sonam’s father, the late Lhamo Tsering, one of the leaders of the Tibetan exile movement and the most important liaison between the Tibetans and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). As an archivist and mapmaker, Tsering recognised from the beginning the significance of maintaining a record of this moment in history in order to keep it from fading in cultural memory. Along with the guerrilla fighters whose activities he oversaw, Tsering recorded the struggle as an everyday reality in the volatile geography of Mustang in Nepal, photographing every mundane event.The show revisits Tsering’s personal archives on the subject, juxtaposed with the audio-visual material that Sarin and Sonam have collected over the years. It also includes a re-edited version of their 1998 documentary, The Shadow Circus, to create a more complete and complex mosaic of this still largely untold story.Where: Experimenter, Colaba, MumbaiWhen: 27 July to 26 August — **Shadow Circus: A Personal Archive of Tibetan Resistance (1957 – 1974)**
The exhibition is an attempt to shed light on what anthropologist and historian Carole McGranahan calls the “arrested histories of the Tibetan resistance army”. In the early 1990s, filmmakers Ritu Sarin and Tenzing Sonam began researching this story for a documentary film. They were inspired by Sonam’s father, the late Lhamo Tsering, one of the leaders of the Tibetan exile movement and the most important liaison between the Tibetans and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). As an archivist and mapmaker, Tsering recognised from the beginning the significance of maintaining a record of this moment in history in order to keep it from fading in cultural memory. Along with the guerrilla fighters whose activities he oversaw, Tsering recorded the struggle as an everyday reality in the volatile geography of Mustang in Nepal, photographing every mundane event.
The show revisits Tsering’s personal archives on the subject, juxtaposed with the audio-visual material that Sarin and Sonam have collected over the years. It also includes a re-edited version of their 1998 documentary, *The Shadow Circus*, to create a more complete and complex mosaic of this still largely untold story.
**Where:** Experimenter, Colaba, Mumbai
**When:** 27 July to 26 August

The Dream of an Idiot: Sibaprasad KarchaudhuriThe Dream of an Idiot is a survey show platforming the works of Sibaprasad Karchaudhuri, an abstract artist from Bengal. Focusing on his paintings, tapestries and drawings from a wide-spanning career of 40 years, the exhibition aims to take his work places to help spread awareness on this not-so-well-known creative force.Where: Emami Art, Ground Floor, KolkataWhen: 14 July to 30 September — **The Dream of an Idiot: Sibaprasad Karchaudhuri**
*The Dream of an Idiot* is a survey show platforming the works of Sibaprasad Karchaudhuri, an abstract artist from Bengal. Focusing on his paintings, tapestries and drawings from a wide-spanning career of 40 years, the exhibition aims to take his work places to help spread awareness on this not-so-well-known creative force.
**Where:** Emami Art, Ground Floor, Kolkata
**When:** 14 July to 30 September

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5 art shows in July that urge you to introspect

From retrospectives of icons to lesser-known artists awaiting their due, this month brings a selection of thought-provoking art

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