‘Weaving Water’: Expressions of defiance

“Water does not resist. Water flows. When you plunge your hand into it, all you feel is a caress. Water is not a solid wall, it will not stop you. But water always goes where it wants to go, and nothing in the end can stand against it. Water is patient. Dripping that, my child. Remember you are half water. If you can't go through an obstacle, go around it. Water does.”

— Margaret Atwood, ‘The Penelopiad’

The exhibition ‘Weaving Water: Feminine Countercultures in Paint and Print’ is a reminder of the ability of women to adopt and adapt to the myriad roles of life, be it of a mother, daughter, wife, beloved, sister and more. The show — at the India International Centre in New Delhi — is anchored in Punjabi writer Ajeet Cour’s ‘Weaving Water: An Autobiography’. Published over 40 years ago, it won her the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1985.

Curator Jyoti A Kathpalia presents this multimedia show by juxtaposing works of eminent women artists having a unique voice and distinct oeuvre. As Kathpalia says, “Refusing the life of prescribed femininity and prohibitions, the writer and artists redefine the feminine as desiring, strong and fearless, setting forth a counterculture of feminine for countless other women. The exhibition explores these feminine countercultures articulated by women who dare to speak and act, to imagine and express beyond constraint, and to weave a new expression of freedom and becoming.”

Eminent artist Arpana Caur, Ajeet’s daughter, casts an ethereal gaze towards the quintessential strength of feminine energy in her work ‘Earth and Sky’, while ‘The River of Blood’ depicts the folktale of Sohni-Mahiwal and how socio-cultural biases afflict even the purity of selfless love.

Renowned artist Jayasri Burman’s ‘Jeevan Nadi’ features motifs of water bodies and rivers — swans, mermaids, moons, mythical creatures and more — in a monochromatic palette, with life or jeevan merging in a rhythm with the nadi or river, that is a metaphor for the feminine.

Ajeet’s fiery writing finds resonance in Gogi Saroj Pal’s ‘Nirbhaya’ series and Vasudha Thozhur’s ‘Portrait of Shah Jehan’ — both address rape as an outcome of gender politics. The stark-naked image of defiance in Gogi’s work carries a sickle against the pressures of appropriate dressing and behaviour.

Bula Bhattacharya’s series of hand-painted silk screen prints, ‘Role Playing’, has words inscribed across surfaces, while Shivani Aggarwal’s teakwood, acrylic and epoxy sculptures in ‘Knowing and Unknowing’ pose a question on pseudo-intellectualism. In ‘Weaving Traps, Edition II’, she has woven a crochet piece as a representation of the fragility of unfulfilled dreams of women.

Similarly, Shubhika Lal’s wearable sculpture, ‘Internal Landscape… Spaces Between Holding Memories’, is akin to a handstitched dress that embodies the woman, while Hemavathy Guha conjures women communities so evocatively in ‘Cornered’. Aradhna Tandon shows the gentle demeanour of women in harmony with nature; Kanchan Chander’s ‘Yearning’ and ‘Silence Speaks When Words Can’t’ carry forth this duality of female strengths and vulnerabilities.

Aparna Anand Singh’s ‘Silent Storm’ and Shubhika Lal’s other installation, ‘Breaking Shackles’, symbolise an urge to reassert the power of shattering proverbial shackles.

The life of the resilient Ajeet Cour is reinterpreted by Durga Kainthola’s portraits while Nitasha Jaini’s floor installation is a glimpse into the author’s biography, with renditions from her life story. ‘Khanabadosh I’, a wall installation, is a commentary on the marginalisation of women in a patriarchal world.

Anupam Sud’s ‘The Sunset’ puts the spotlight on the ageing body of women, while ‘Germination II’ tries to peer into the emotions, desires, yearnings and instincts that constrain the women all across the world.

Of special mention is artist Manmeet Devgun’s evocative performance ‘Ghara’, based on female infanticide. As she elucidates, “It was inspired by Ajeetji’s book. The work talks about burrowing, digging and excavating personnel terrains. Some experiences are lived, some gathered. There are stories we all have lived in different decades, yet there are similarities as if these existed in the same timeline. The performance was an attempt to understand these shared terrains.”

What weaves together this melange of artworks — sculptures, paintings, installations, films, words and performances — courtesy such a seminal line-up of women artists, is the bold autobiography ‘Weaving Water’. Ajeet’s personal life journey is an inspiration for women on how despite adverse circumstances, success is about the passion and dedication towards one’s work. The indomitable Ajeet Cour opines: “Self-confidence is the keyword. I was a single parent but defied all adversities… I don’t know where the strength came from.”

The show is on view till November 10.

— The writer is a freelance contributor