Gallery espace
New Delhi – 23rd February to 12th March 2022
The LADN project commenced with its first iteration at Gallery Espace, New Delhi. It was indeed exciting to see the works displayed in an exhibition for the first time. Following the third wave of the pandemic, Espace befittingly opened it’s exhibition season with LADN. Visitors to this very intense exhibition were deeply moved by the works, identifying with the trauma and loss that we had all collectively suffered.
india art fair 2022
New Delhi – 29th April to 1st May 2022
The second iteration of LADN was at the prestigious India Art Fair 2022. Invited to and supported by IAF, we had a small wall and tabletop in the auditorium lobby to display the project. We ran a dynamic display, rotating selected works from the project twice daily to maximise exposure. Being a community project, IAF was the ideal place to engage and interact with visitors, students and fellow artists about their experiences during Covid. It also provided an opportunity to acquaint them with printmaking as an educational tool and a medium for social change.
ARTHSHILA
Santiniketan – 7th June to 10th July 2022
We were excited to showcase this large body of black and white relief prints at the birthplace of modern Indian printmaking, Santiniketan. The exhibition opened at Arthshila Santiniketan. The opening was well attended by faculty members and students from Kala Bhavana,Visva Bharati, as well as other members of the Santiniketan community. People were delighted to see such a large body of prints. Many also commented that the exhibition showcased several works of considerable merit. Some visitors were so moved that they shared their own COVID stories, as at other iterations of the exhibition. Our curator, Dr. Paula Sengupta, also gave a small introductory talk and guided people through the project website.
The exhibition concluded with a weekend of events. This included a guided walkthrough of the exhibition by the curator and the LADN artists from West Bengal; a presentation titled “Reclaiming the Cultural Narrative’ by Leenika Jacob, co-founder of The Kala Chaupal Trust; ; a presentation titled “Mustang”by photographer and Himalayan chronicler Sujoy Das; and a presentation titled “Into Exile”by Paula Sengupta.
Walkthrough and presentation on the 9th and 10th July 2022
ARTHSHILA
Ahmedabad – 20th August to 25th September 2022
A selection of about 80 prints was displayed at Arthshila Ahmedabad. The exhibition opened with a guided walkthrough by Leenika Jacob, Co-founder, Kala Chaupal Trust and Avni Bansal, an artist and Curatorial Assistant to the project. The opening was attended by renowned printmakers of Ahmedabad and by architecture students of CEPT and Nirma University. It was a very enriching and inspiring experience for the architecture students to go through the black and white relief prints. The prints resonated with their pandemic experiences and led them to unfold their thoughts whilst viewing the exhibition.
fine arts faculty
maharaja sayajirao university of baroda
Vadodara, 9th to 12th November 2022
The fifth iteration of Living a Dark Night opens at the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda in collaboration with the historic ‘Chhaap’ Foundation for Printmaking Trust. The exhibition was inaugurated in the presence of teachers and students from the Fine Art Faculty and eminent printmakers Padma Shri Jyoti Bhatt, Bijoy Baggodi, and many others. The exhibition was displayed for 3 days and was well attended by the fine arts students from MSU and other universities.
The exhibition was followed by an artist’s presentation titled “Into Exile” by curator Dr. Paula Sengupta at the faculty auditorium on 11th November 2022. The programme was well attended by the fine arts students and teachers of MSU and Parul University.
KOLKATA CENTRE FOR CREATIVITY
Kolkata, 3rd to 28th December 2022
The sixth iteration of LADN opened at the Kolkata Centre for Creativity on 3rd December 2022 as part of the AMI Arts Festival. We were able to present the entire project for the first time. In the entrance foyer, we displayed illustrated timelines of the global history of black and white relief printmaking, along with workshop outcomes from previous iterations. The exhibition prints were displayed inside the gallery space. The exhibition was inaugurated in the presence of Reena Dewan, Director of the KCC; Rakesh Sahni, Director of Gallery Rasa, Kolkata; and renowned neurosurgeon Dr. Sandip Chatterjee. The exhibition drew a large number of printmakers and artists from Kolkata, as well as students and alumni from Rabindra Bharati University’s Faculty of Visual Arts.
KCC also organised a virtual talk session, ‘Living A Dark Night… In Continuum’ as part of the AMI Arts Festival on 19th December 2022. LADN artists Nandini Chirimar, Kavita Shah, Srikanta Paul, Nilanjan Das, Avni Bansal, and Pathik Sahoo were invited as panellists and shared their experiences of how LADN triggered them to develop a significant body of work and the role of printmaking in the public sphere. The session was moderated by the LADN curator, Dr. Paula Sengupta.
Another virtual talk session, ‘Role of Creators in Society’ was organised as part of the AMI Arts Festival on December 20, 2022, in collaboration with the Kala Chaupal Trust. Panellists Dr. Manu Gupta, Priya Krishnamoorthy, Richa Agarwal, and Leenika Jacob discussed the role of non-profit arts and cultural organisations during the pandemic and how they support artists, alternative art practises, and artisans. The session was moderated by artist and curator Rahul Kumar.
KARNATAKA CHITRAKALA PARISHATH
Bangalore, 22 January to 4 February 2023
The Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath, Bengaluru, invited and supported the seventh iteration of LADN. We were thrilled to present this exhibition at CKP since a large contingent of participants came from Bangalore. The exhibition was displayed across five gallery spaces, and included a pop-up display by students and faculty members from the Bengaluru School of Visual Arts, on the CKP premises. The exhibition was inaugurated on 22nd January 2023 in the presence of the chief guest, eminent writer Amandeep Sandhu, who congratulated the LADN team and the participating artists on having created a visual archive of the Covid-19 pandemic. The show drew a large number of visitors from Bengaluru, including artists, students, and faculty from the College of Fine Arts, the Bengaluru School of Visual Arts, and members of the Museum of Art and Photography.
LIVING A DARK NIGHT 