Resilience means to bounce back! When faced by adversity, tragedy or any trauma, it is the ability to recover and move ahead. It is part of human nature or one could call it survival instinct. However, this ability to bounce back varies in individuals. Artists are lucky and gifted owing to the creative energy that they possess. They have a way to not only distract themselves from negativity but also have a means to channelise the pain into creating something positive through art. In fact, I feel that the trauma acts as an emotional stimulus, breathing fresh life and energy into any creation. Here I am using the quote in a different context but as they say, ‘no pain no gain’. It is no surprise that this past year of confinement, isolation and loss has therefore not deterred artists from creating.
Sensitivity is central to an artist’s personality; in any circumstance they find themselves observing, feeling and reflecting deeply. It is their nature of delving deeply into things which leads to birth of ideas and creativity. Be it natural disasters, pandemic or socio-political events, artists have a unique way to deal with situations and represent happenings in their own unique way. Their creative expression has the power not only to stir minds of viewers but also to heal and soothe the suffering society. Art also expresses rebellion and at times, it sensitises the common man to issues of socio-political concern. It is the ability of art to say things that words cannot express. Art also has an innate capacity to reach places, crossing all barriers which language is unable to. It goes without saying that art is therefore able to evoke a response which is greater in terms of both magnitude and reach.
During these unprecedented times, artists have found their way of going around the situation to make the most of it by converting confinement into their comfort zone for creation.
Unfazed by negativity, recent art auctions, exhibitions and shows are testimony to art as a field flourishing despite chaos and calamity. There has been so much happening on the art scene in terms of virtual exhibitions, art talks, workshops and webinars during this time.
Another unique way in which artists responded and connected with each other across borders was through mail art.
“Perpetua 2020- Improntas of Yesterday and Today’ was one such recent call for mail art of which I was proudly a part of, from India. The idea was to recycle unused agenda, calendars and diaries of 2020.
The agenda, calendar or almanac are tools in which we write down important things, tasks to be carried out daily or weekly, but it is also the personal diary of notes, ideas and memories that accompanies us on a train trip, while we wait,
having a coffee or midnight to capture a drawing. Orlando Javier Pelichotti (Argentina) & Maya López Muro Art Studio Il Graffiacielo (Italy) invited artists from across the globe to participate in this call to give life to those pages of agendas, notepads, calendars and almanacs that have been left empty during this atypical year and transform them into the ideal medium to generate new works. The idea is to make an image using the support material as a recycling object. The artists were expected to choose a page, one day is or symbolic, intervene with free technique, take the photograph or digitize and send it by email. The works were published digitally on the Pages and Blog of the Il Graffiacielo Art Studio / “Perpetua 2020” Event. The works will be exhibited in 2021 in the Province of Mendoza, Argentina, place to be designated and in eventual traveling exhibitions, respecting the Covid-19 regulations.
‘Tribute to Dante’ was another mail art project dedicated to Dante on the occasion of the seventh centenary since death. Dante Alighieri, the great Italian poet, writer and philosopher who inspired art and literature not only in Italy but also in the larger body of Western Art. The project was organised and curated by Generoso Vella, from Italy.
127 artists from different parts of the world contributed their artworks and I am glad to have represented my country in the project.
On March 25, 2021, National Dante Day, the virtual exhibition opened on the occasion of Dante’s National Day with the publication of all the works on virtual platforms.
Italy.
At the end of the pandemic, an exhibition is planned in presence in the municipalities and venues that intend to host the event in
My work, ‘Ode to Dante’ depicts in an abstract way the ‘Mountain of Purgatory’ of his poem, Divine Comedy, where journey through multiple terraces leads to earthly paradise. The Divine Comedy (Italian: Divina Commedia is a long Italian narrative poem by Dante Alighieri, begun in 1308 and completed in 1320, a year before his death in 1321.
It is the beauty and pleasure of creating both ideas and artwork that helped artists to tide over this difficult time in history, and their creative contribution to this period of pandemic shall always be remembered.
Dr. Neerja Chandna Peters
Duendethestudio.com