Arijit Bhattacharyya. Sea of Forests

About

Sea of Forests imagines a future where humans and nature are intertwined. The artist Arijit Bhattacharyya proposes an alternative narrative about progress and development that does not lead to a total destruction of all resources, but one in which all beings coexist. Bhattacharyya’s idea of the future is shaped with and by the natural world and acknowledges us as an integral part of it. By doing so, the artist actively chooses a future based on close connections instead of mass destruction, while looking into different types of settlements and distribution of land. Furthermore, Bhatacharyya comments on colonialism departing from trees and plants especially related to their use in South Asia’s history. With Sea of Forests the artist is perhaps optimistically asking us: if we evolved from nature, why can’t we develop back to it? Or even: if we claimed nature to us thus far, why can’t it reclaim itself back from us?

Arijit Bhattacharyya’s poetic works range from installation, textile works, drawing and painting, film, performance, workshops as well as cooking. All of these emphasize collective experiences and search for interaction and dialogue. The works are often collaborative projects involving various local communities from the artist’s social environment in Germany and his native India. Through social engagement, design interventions in urban and rural spaces, large murals, lecture performances, and cooking sessions, Arijit Bhattacharyya explores different narratives of resistance and disobedience, socio-political history and marginalization and their impact on our cultural practices.

The exhibition is curated by Nuno de Brito Rocha and was made in collaboration with Binita Limbani, Shibyan Halder, Suvojit Roy, Soumik Ghosh, Swagata Bhattacharyya, Santanu Dey, Sourav Das, Sk Atiar Rahaman, Joydip Bagui, Prosenjit Ghosh, Arijit Achariya, Arup Halder, Subradip Ojha, Sujon Ojha, Sumon Ojha, Somansu Ghosh, Joy Malik, and Mokai Ali Mallick.