Veer Munshi
By Rijit Banerjee
Spanish artist Salvador Dali’s famous ‘Horse Saddled with Time’ found its way into Ahmedabad and was inaugurated as part of a permanent art installation at the Palladium Mall Thursday. The mall also saw the installation of the ‘Golden Deer’ by Veer Munshi.
The 1980 piece by Dali, made with bronze and through the lost-wax process, has been described as “a visual symphony that delves into the eternal dance of time and existence”.
Kashmiri artist Munshi, an alumnus of Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda’s Fine Arts Faculty, has made the deer sculpture by hand-painting in Kashmiri Kari-Kalamdani technique on fibre resin.
Munshi, who was in Ahmedabad for the installation, told The Indian Express, “Once It was commissioned, I thought the deer would be the best. It is also an intervention of craft close to my heart. There is a Kashmiri art called Kari-Kalamdani, normally used in little souvenirs, but I wanted to bring it into the art segment to make it big and to give respect to the craft industry, which is dying otherwise. My role as an artist is to bring it out of those souvenirs and boxes.
The Padma Bhushan Awardee Rajeev Sethi, present at the event, said, “It is his (Dali’s) fantasy that museums and galleries were made into noisy interventions… I think the idea of being in the marketplace is exactly what he wants… cheers for going out of museums and galleries, and I think this is the way where art becomes alive.”
“The deer which has a blossom on the top, (the deer) is rejoicing the environment. It is a wonder because it is an endangered species. Still, here it is wandering, glowing and making the environment feel very friendly,” Munshi said, talking about the art piece on display in Palladium Mall.
He also talked about art in India and how art in India still lacks a support structure. “It becomes very elite in museums and galleries for art showcase, but in the public spaces, there is a large intervention from people of all kinds. We are culturally very young in the country compared to the West, where the museums are great and the whole thing holistically is very good. We still lack a support structure here, so I feel great that this initiative was taken; it will be good for the next generations.”
“People in Gujarat and the country should work on these arts because these are our strengths. If we want to make our presence felt in the world, it will be through this tradition,” Munshi said.“People in Gujarat and the country should work on these arts because these are our strengths. If we want to make our presence felt in the world, it will be through this tradition,” Munshi said.