For In Touch edition 3, Chemould Prescott Road showcases a solo of Samira Rathod

Over the past few months, consequent to the ongoing pandemic, galleries in India and Dubai have joined forces and created the In Touch collaborative platform to engage art enthusiasts and aficionados virtually. The presenting galleries include Chatterjee & Lal, Chemould Prescott Road, Experimenter, Galerie Mirchandani + Steinruecke, Gallery Espace, Gallery Isabelle van den Eynde, Galleryske, Green Art Gallery, Grey Noise, Nature Morte, Photoink, Sakshi Gallery, Shrine Empire, Tradition and Beyond, and Vadehra Art Gallery. 

The ongoing third edition of In Touch includes a solo presentation of Mumbai based Samira Rathod Design Atelier by Chemould Prescott Road, Mumbai. It has been christened In the presence of absence as it presents the Mumbai based architect’s endeavours to coalesce art and architecture. 

Rathod’s works feature a quiet town of Bhadran, located on the outskirts of Vadodara. The argument is the need to preserve this antiquated and enervated town—not simply as a physical entity yet in a manner that dignified its culture, people and poetry. To do so, the creative uses objects found in the homes of Bhadran, treating them as relics and reinterpreting them to convey a contemporary narrative through mix media collage drawings. These objects include cups, quills, tobacco, nibs combined with wax, wood, thread, paints and more.

Shireen Gandhy, Director, Chemould Prescott Road, says about the ongoing virtual exhibit, “The line between artists and architects is often blurred… Rathod’s [works] seek inspiration from the small dying town of Bhadran in Gujarat. By reenacting, recreating loss through seemingly unrelated objects and drawings, the exhibition In the presence of absence became ground zero for a visual experiment.”

Scroll to see more images of Rathod’s works…