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Apocalyptic Urbanscapes: Gigi Scaria's Multimedia Visions of Displacement, Ecological Devastation and Reimagined Habitats

 Gigi Scaria is an acclaimed Indian artist whose multidisciplinary practice has spanned a diverse range of mediums including painting, photography, sculpture, installation and video art over the past two decades. While his early career began with representational painting, Scaria quickly gravitated towards an experimental approach that allowed him to transcend the boundaries of individual artistic disciplines. At the core of Scaria's artistic explorations are profound inquiries into the phenomena of urbanisation, migration, displacement and more recently, the environmental crisis. Drawing inspiration from his own experiences of moving from a small village in Kerala to the bustling metropolis of Delhi, Scaria's works interrogate the intended and unintended consequences of rapid urban development. His oeuvre provides searing artistic commentary on the alienation, chaos and rigid social hierarchies that arise from unchecked expansion of Indian cities driven by policies prioritisin...
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The Disruptive Mirror: Reclaiming Female Desire in "The Mirror"

In the male-gazed world of Indian cinema, female desire has long been a radical disruption -  acknowledged yet swiftly punished, fetishized yet contained. Konkona Sen Sharma's “The Mirror '' from the Lust Stories 2 anthology subverts this trope, unflinchingly holding up a mirror to the complexities of female sexuality. Through masterful visuals and searing performances by Amruta Subhash and Tillotama Shome, the short film demands that we not just glance but stare - at the raw yearning, the unabashed kink, the unapologetic claiming of pleasure. Right from the opening frames, "The Mirror" establishes the centrality of the female gaze. The first erotic encounter is staged not as a salacious reveal but an awkward stumbling - one woman catching another in a profound moment of intimacy neither are able to articulate. One woman keeping a secret the other doesn’t know. The fact that Ishita continues to watch Seema and her husband without their knowledge after catching the...
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Pantheons: A Memoir / Teenage Hero, YA Trauma

Our story begins in the desert. A girl lives there with her father. In a trapezoid tent, broad at the base, converging at the top like a pyramid without the pyramidion, the girl and her father live here. Their beds, their cooking and warming hearth is the heart of this fluttering home subject to the winds. Around their home is the farm where they cultivate the only plant that’ll grow in the sands. They have created their own little oasis with the plants as the roots keep the sands at bay. Their private paradise. This is a plant that seems a hybrid, unearthly - with the prominent leaf at the top resembling a lotus leaf, a bulging, round fruit nestles on it, the leaf curling around the fruit. The fruit seems to glow and pulse a soft sunset gold, and enriches the land. This is no ordinary plant. It is magic, created with a craft that the girl’s mother knew, which the girl tries hard to replicate. Words of power, runes, the alphabets of archons and titans tattoo her arms already - spreadin...
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How do newly constituted National Museum(s) in postcolonial nation states weave the narrative of national pasts as cultural heritage of the nation and its citizens?

National museums play a crucial role in shaping the narrative of a nation's past and cultural heritage. In postcolonial nation-states like India and Pakistan, newly constituted national museums have become key institutions in constructing and representing the collective memory and identity of the nation and its citizens. This essay aims to explore how national museums in India and Pakistan weave narratives of national pasts as cultural heritage. By examining the historical context, curatorial practices, and exhibition strategies employed by these museums, we can gain insights into the complex processes of constructing and presenting national narratives. 1. Historical Background: The establishment of national museums in India and Pakistan was deeply rooted in the historical context of these nations' postcolonial journey, driven by their aspirations to assert cultural identity, promote national unity, and preserve their rich heritage. The process of decolonization, nation-buildin...
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