Artist defines common ground between Indonesia and India
By Pavan Kapoor
JAKARTA (JP): Is it possible to be in love with two cultures at the same time? Apparently it is, evident by Nirupama S. Karkhanis' painting exhibition at the World Trade Center here.
Karkhanis is from India but has lived for more than a decade in Indonesia, experiencing an affinity for both cultures that is unabashedly unveiled in varied themes of her artwork.
In commemoration of this month's golden jubilee celebrations of India's independence, her debut exhibition in Jakarta opened last Saturday, with Indian ambassador S.T. Devare doing the honors. The paintings and murals seem to have evolved from a vibrant kaleidoscope of thematic similarities between the Indian and Indonesian cultural dialogue.
A graduate of the Sir J.J. School of Art at Mumbai, Karkhanis began her love affair with arts on a professional basis in the animation department of the Indian government. After years of freelance painting and designing, as well as winning a state award, she has taught at the Jakarta International School since 1981.
Staying in constant communication with children from all cultural backgrounds is the chief inspiration for Karkhanis. Recognizing their immense potential often forms the base for an idea to spin off into a theme for her painting.
"Children work with unpreconceived notions, so their art can be considered unadulterated by adult norms, and thus purely creative," she says.
Living in a cultural explosion all the time is perhaps what makes the peoples of Indonesia and India so passionate and dramatic, and expressing it in some art form comes naturally. Constantly drawing parallels between India and Indonesia, Karkhanis' collection is an incorporation of traditional artwork of local flavor, such as herbal medicine sellers in Puncak, West Java, women in traditional clothes weaving intricate ikat textiles and painting surreal batik cloths.
On the Indian front, there are rural women bricklayers and the hooded Gujrati woman traveling on a camel, glorious in their rural rusticity, sporting ethnic garb of vibrant colors that is a delight to any artist's palette.
Another parallel between the two cultures can be seen in the paintings on puppet shows -- the charismatic wayang Indonesian puppet and its famous Indian Katputli counterpart.
"There is art all around us in Jakarta itself, and all one has to do is take a deep breath of this culturally rich atmosphere and feel the inspiration flow," says Karkhanis.
Where usually a collection of a particular theme would be interesting in the diversity of a particular subject, a variety of themes and styles painted over 15 years reflects the various moods and thought channels of the artist.
"Sticking to one particular style, theme or technique is to put chains on your brush. I am as much a patron of abstract art as I am of romanticism or any other theme," she said to guests on the opening night.
Abstract art in one of the exhibited works is transcendental, with subtle tones amid the wild confusion of a scrambling bull race. Another portrays the struggle for freedom depicted in the triranga, the three colors of the Indian flag.
Her romanticism is perhaps best portrayed in the most expensive painting in the show, with the Taj Mahal as a befitting background and two pristine white doves in the foreground perched on the arch of a ruin.
The exhibition is on until Aug. 30.