Room 113, School of Arts and Sciences
Central Campus
Ahmedabad University
Throughout my career, my practice has focused on waterscapes encompassing cities (such as Delhi, Hamburg, Shanghai, Patna, Varanasi and Milan), semi-urban areas (particularly the river banks of the Ganges, the Yamuna, the Elbe, and the Yangtze), their mythological presences (I was not waving but drowning 2005; Listener from West Heavens 2010; The wake 2013; You always step into the same river 2014), estuaries and ancient harbors (On the edge of the sea, Chennai, Pullicat 2018 and The waters will remember, Khambhat, Dharmaj, Gujarat 2019).
My talk will engage with of my sustained preoccupation with the water in Delhi by discussing the some of the processes and manifestations of research works at these sites. Currently attempting to engage with climate change through my practice along the latitude 28North Parallel as concept for the World Weather Network and KHOJ, I will bring in the political through the poetical in works where I seek to understand water as a repository of history, meaning and myth: the way I perceive it, feel it, drink it, and swim, sink or drown in it. At the same time, they form the basis of my practice leading to questions of water distribution, regulation, commodification and pollution and that ‘You always step into the same river’
Atul Bhalla is an internationally exhibited artist, Professor and Head of Department of Department of Art Media and Performance at Shiv Nadar Institute of Eminence , NCR, India. Bhalla has explored water’s physical, historical, and political significance in the urban and non-urban environments of several global cities and regions across the world. His artworks incorporate sculpture, painting, installation, video, photography, and performance. Bhalla’s recent engagements include a project Auscultation -‘False Clouds and Real Deluges ‘ a solo show at Vadehra Art Gallery which documents climate change along the 28th N Parallel with World Weather Network and KHOJ 2023. He was virtual Artist in Residence at Cornell University (2020) and Mellon Artist Research Africa Fellow at Witwatersrand University (2018). His work was exhibited at the Harvard Art Museums (2010 & 2018), the FotoFest Biennale Houston (2016 & 2018), the 1st Kuala Lumpur Biennale (2017), Europalia, Liège (2013), the Pompidou Centre (2011) and as solos at Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi. His work is part of the Harvard Art Museums and the Smithsonian collections. More at https://atulbhalla.com/home.php?id=11
