History Remade

In these works,on display till December 17,salvaged finds such as old pictures,archival prints and videos have been restored with a new look and theme employing new media. “Usually in a loft,one stores old things and treasured items. The gallery’s space is not just created like that,but with this exhibition it becomes a real loft,” says Anupa Mehta,owner of The Loft. Merali agrees. “The exhibition’s intention is to use this unique space to examine how artists use archives in their work,in diverse fashions and media,but all generated in some form of lens-based activity,” he adds.

While curating the show,Merali’s biggest challenge was to select only limited works from the voluminous artist portfolios. “Pablo is such a consistent and dedicated photographer that he clicks pictures everyday. So you can imagine how many prints he has. For the show,I selected images that would fit in the narrative I had created.” The narrative Merali talks about comments on the erosion of values and social upheavals after World War II. It weaves together works in which the past is pitted against the future,raising pertinent questions on the growth of science,economy and modernity.

At the show,two antique study tables,lit up with neon lights,occupy center stage. Coated with pictures—capturing innocent moments from the personal lives of officers of the Third Reich—these tables appear as albums that chronicle human innocence trapped within the diabolical Nazi regime. Pazooki had bought these pictures from a Berlin flea market and daubed the faces with wax and colours,thus turning the bodies into headless caricatures. “These pictures seem like those of ordinary people. There is no malice in them. But since they have a connection to a heinous history,they lose their innocence,” says Merali.

Similar to Pazzoki’s work are Périot’s short films,Even If She Has Been A Criminal and Nijuman No Borei. The videos narrate tales of post-Nazi horror projected on two parallel screens. Between them are stacks of newspapers that Merali has placed to add an archival ambience.

With Delhi-based photographer Bartholomew’s works,such as a picture of a rock concert in the 1970s at Delhi’s St Stephens College,the narrative arrives at a point where modernisation and technology begins to prevail in Indian society. Andújar’s graphic manipulations to old archival pictures,on the other hand,are a satire on racism,consumerism and the raging economy. In one of his prints, he places the picture of the Hiroshima blast mushroom cloud next to a graphically created world map crisscrossed with routes and marked with epicenters of military power. “Andújar’s works are ahead of their time. This is the first time they are exhibited in India,so I have selected only few works to see what the response will be. If well received,we will get more of his works,” says Merali.