Nostalgia is the yearning for a past that was. But what about the past that could have been? Does one yearn to go back to a place that they have never been to before?
A recent exhibition called ‘Things Are Vanishing Before Us’ brought glimpses of such a world that wasn’t. Curated by writer and art critic Premjish Achari, the group show breached the invisible fourth wall of modern existence in the digital age where virtual is real and memories are ephemeral, in a bid to establish roots to a past and distinguish memories from imagination.
Featuring works by the veritable ‘who’s who’ of the Indian art world, the survey exhibition that took place in Delhi’s Bikaner House last month brought together 80 distinguished artworks from diverse styles and genres within the canon of object-based sculptural practice. While appearing disparate, Achari managed to string the installations into a live tapestry unfolding in layers to evoke a sense of calculated nostalgia for a past we are fast forgetting.
Carefully sidestepping the “nostalgia” trope, which harkens to a glorious or pleasant past, albeit imagined, ‘Things Are Vanishing Before Us’ isn’t a celebration of the past. Rather, it is about reconstruction on the basis of the past. Achari, who currently teaches art history at Shiv Nadar University, juxtaposes the subjective and objective realities of objects and their functions in an increasingly virtual, post-truth world.
“The show is a contemplation on the Faustian bargain we have made with the digital realm. We are drawn to its convenience and accessibility, but at what cost? Are we forsaking the sensory richness of physical objects by letting go of our deep-seated attachment to them?” Achari asked. “It is a call to critically examine our relationship with technology, recognizing the carefully designed algorithms that govern almost every aspect of our day-to-day lives”. He does so by looking at objects that exist as evidence in the physical realm as an antithetical reminder of history in a world that is becoming increasingly virtual.
A proponent of theoretically and politically informed art curations, Achari is the founder of a platform called Future Collaborations, which aims to highlight curatorial practices, especially in a technologically changing world. The artist’s curatorial vision nevertheless goes beyond digital existentialism and reveals his focus on diversity, making the show a deeper social and political commentary on past and present. Revival of the past has been a key plank of right-wing or majoritarian political narratives across the world that use arguments of civilisation glory and assertions of an imaginary past. Through the show, Achari tries to “break away from the surface-level, imitation-saturated nostalgia that postmodernism is often identified with” in order to allow a deeper and more critical connection with the past. “Especially at a time when imagined pasts are resurfacing to justify the political goals of the politically dominant,” Achari added.
