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A collective vision
Four pairs of artists and architects came together to remodel the Kala Ghoda district

Welcome to the new Kala Ghoda. A stretcher gateway opens up four new perspectives to the art district. Virtual art, one could call it. The ground below the opening arch is a bright yellow - "a kind of ethnic welcome to a locale that stores art and architecture".

In fact, that is the meeting point - of four pairs of artists and architedts who have collaborated to produce four models (installations, maquettes and drawings) to articulate their joint vision of what Kala Ghoda is or could have been. `Art and architecture weren't separate disciplines when everything, including the arts, was ruled by larger forces like religion. So you see the meeting point is not new. At Kala Ghoda, these two disciplines literally co-exist. There are galleries and there are heritage structures. The idea was to make interaction between the artist and the architect leour possible and then allow them to interpret their tr pairs of joint vision," says Czaee Shah, one of the main organisers of the exhibition. 'Kala Ghoda- A Meeting Place', a part of the Kala Ghoda Festival.

The stretcher entrance, created by Sen Kapadia (architect) and Darshana Vora (artist) is a marker for the Kala Ghoda parkinglot. "There is no maker that says this is where Kala Ghoda begins. The stretcher gateway is symbolic. It is an invitation to share art within the area and take away the yellow in and then out, symbolising a richer-by-the-visit experience," says Sen Kapadia. A few yellow footsteps away is the entire space of the exhibition and the people within. The huge minor reflects it all. The second pair - Kaushik Mukhopadhyay (installation artist) and Anirudh Paul (architect) - have their model tucked behind the mirror. Their vision is ensconced in a wooden stand with a mini replica of the Kala Ghoda area perched on top. It is manoeuverable, with two handles on both sides. A magnifying glass over a part of the model allows the viewer to see Kala Ghoda from different angles and in different sizes. "The idea is to question the museumification of the area as a separate entity. Kala (ihoda is in a state of constant flux, with a lot of interests laying claims. This is no to provide any answers, but to reiterate the questions," explain the duo.

The keen viewer is a bundle of questions by the time the yellow reaches the next space. Which is all white and distorted. Shilpa Gupta (artist) and Abha Narain Lambah (architect) are seemingly disturbed by the state of Kala Ghoda. It is an angular white space with a fan on the
left wall and a chair and a table with a picture on it on the opposite wall. One has to literally tilt 90 degrees for a `normal' view. "We just wanted to emphasise on the dismal state of
architecture in the area. There are cracks everywhere. That the attention isn't on the right places. Newer things have captured people's interests. It is a distorted reality".

`The Sylvester Building' next to the distorted reality reaffirms the loss of focus. It houses statues and wall paintings of the patrons of the area - Sir Cowasji Jehangir, David Sassoon. The buildings have shrunk to miniatures on the wall. An exact map of the original Kala Ghoda area, with its then important streets marked, covers one entire wall. Another rusted asbestos wall with little round openings cover small models of other forgotten aspects of the area. This is Atul Dodiya and Rahul Mehrotra's `Memories in Asbestos'. They welcome the visitor to the "real world" - "while the building itself is a facade, it is the insides that tell the true age, the state, inevitability of ruin!"Memory is the key word here. "The people and places that matter have taken a backseat. The significant past has been selectively wiped out of memory. This is to bring them back within the four walls of a gallery," explains Mehrotra.

While the yellow vanishes from under one's feet, only to be stepped upon for the `richer' exit, the collaboration spills over: "More and more people should come to see the exhibition. We want to carry the models out of the gallery. For the public to see and participate and for dialogue to take off from here. Who knows these ideas may take concrete shape one day," hopes Czaee Shah. Memories in asbestos may not be about forgetting after all.

-Sanjukta Sharma, The Indian Express, February 2001

'Kala Ghoda -A Meeting Place'
at Chemould, JehangirArt Gallery, Kala Ghoda. Till Feb14.