Relics of nostalgia

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Her indefatigable hunger to collect antiquarian books and maps from 1800’s and 1900’s, postcards, wooden letterpress drawers, vintage radios and compasses among others are the source of inspiration for New York-based artist Samanta Batra Mehta’s first solo show in India.
Drawing inspiration from “Cabinets of Curiosities”, an encyclopedic collection of objects in Renaissance Europe, Samanta’s work at the exhibition “The Other Side of Time” comprises of photographs, prints, drawings and installations.
Samanta has delved into her personal collections to depict themes that incorporate personal identity, gender constructs, social order and colonial history.
“In this body of work, I have tried to delve into the themes revolving around the experiences in family history, childhood nostalgia and parenthood, thereby moving beyond the realm of the personal, towards themes of gender constructs, socio-cultural order and post-colonial theory,” shares the artist.
Allusions to issues of identity, dislocation and migration also form an essential part of the exhibition.
Talking about one of her favourite installations Samanta shares, “The work titled the same as the name of the show ‘The Other Side of Time’ is one of my personal favourites. In this cabinet filled with antiquarian maps, collaged texts from rare books, vintage medicinal and laboratory glass, I recall the journey my grandparents made when they left their homes and belongings in Pakistan to start a new life as refugees in independent India. The cabinet stands as a remembrance and a memento mori of those who made this tumultuous crossing.”
Another interesting installation on display is titled the ‘Anthem’. Samanta shares, “I found these vintage postcards dating back to 1945-1950, sent during the time of the end of British rule in India and Partition. On these postcards, I collaged imagery of the human nervous system culled from antiquarian medical journals.”

At Shrine Empire, 7, Friends Colony (West), till May 18, 11 am to 7 pm.