India

1997

Artist in Residency in India – Winter Snow Blizzard in Baker Lake to Warm Sunny Bhopal and Chennai (Madras)

From January to February in 1997, I taught printmaking to 13 Inuit artists in Baker Lake, Nunavut, Northern Canada. Most days there was stormy weather with blowing ice crystals. After six weeks of giving instruction, I managed to fly out of Baker Lake just before a blizzard and go to Chennai (Madras) India, via Vancouver and Kuala Lumpur.

Baker Lake is a small Inuit community of 1300 inhabitants. A little boy riding a bicycle on the frozen surface of the Lake. People dig two-meter holes for ice fishing during the winter.

Artists working in the print studio, which was converted from a swimming pool.

It is rare to see a beautiful sunset in the town without the disturbance of storms. The sun slowly crawls along the horizon during the daytime.

Apartment building in Baker Lake. The tenants were mostly teachers, nurses and their families.

Igloo-shaped Christian Fellowship Hall in Baker Lake (1997)

In Chennai (Madras), India, Sarala’s art centre director Bishwajit Bannerjee gave me a letter to a Bhopal-based painter who then introduced me to Bharat Bhavan Art Complex in Bhopal. When I arrived there, they were putting up the exhibition of the 4th Bharat Bhavan International Biennial of Prints. Fortunately, one of my prints was included in the show and I could attend the inauguration.

On March 1st, I moved into the residence of Bharat Bhavan (with new bedsheets and a mosquito net), where three young artists were living. The next day, all of a sudden, I got an eye ache and dizziness, then abdominal pain, and headache a couple of days later.

Bharat Bhavan Art Complex in Bhopal by the Upper Lake (1997). It consists of various art studios, galleries, theatres and a chai cafe.

Despite having initial health problems, I was able to start to create works with some help; a senior member of the graphic studio Dinu Bhai brought me interesting fabric dyes from Chowk Bazar market (an old local market).

There were quite a few birds flying about in the studio and dropping their nest materials on my painted plexiglass plates during the night. Insects were also traveling on the plates leaving their footsteps. I collected little flowers, petals and twigs in the yard to compose monotype works (in a way, working with those birds and insects). Then I printed on good-quality handmade Pondicherry paper.

The ceramic studio by the lake (left) and the outdoor acid room for printmaking (right).

After working in the Graphic studio for three weeks, I left Bhopal for Chennai (Madras) by train, Tamil Nadu Express, with twenty complete works. Bishwajit Bannerjee said, “let’s have a solo show!”. So, his Sarala’s Art Centre held my solo exhibition at ABN-Amro Bank Gallery in Chennai (Madras). At the opening ceremony on April 7th, what surprised me was they served French table wine ( it may sound no surprise but was quite unusual at that time in the place of chai!). I performed a live SUMI-E (ink drawing) demo using a natural fibre broom found in a local market as a substitute for a Japanese brush. The curious local audience made it a much more engaging event.

The live demo in ABN-Amro Bank Gallery (left) and Sarala’s art centre in a historical building (1997) (middle and right).

PROJECT

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(1) Yu (2) Iru (3) Ai (4) Sou (5) Naliya (6) En (7) Nara, 1997, dye monotype, (1-3) 22 1/2″ 31 7/8″ (4-7) 21 3/4″ x 29 7/8″

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TRAVEL

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Route: Baker Lake > Vancouver > Kuala Lumpur > Chennai (Madras) > Bhopal > Chennai (Madras) > Andaman Island > Kolkata > Sikkim > Kolkata > Chennai (Madras)

Banana seller in the morning market in Chennai (Madras). A morning walk in a market was the best thing to do in hot summer months. The temperature was still below 30 degrees and it had fresh air. I had Idli with curry every morning at my favourite Idli factory and Cafe. When it got 40 degrees celsius, I had to escape to sleep in my dark room or to an air-conditioned cafe.

Men, cows and a milk seller in front of a corner store in Chennai (Madras)

Men, cows and a milk seller in front of a mini corner store in the cooler morning in Chennai (Madras).

My fondest memory of this trip was a two-night ferry trip to Andaman Island and camping on a hammock on Smith Island, which was just opened for foreign tourists.