Sheher, Prakriti, Devi — an ensemble exhibition at Ishara Art Foundation

A bustling metropolis shelters in its belly, multiple life forms. Existing in perfect harmony with urban dwellers and skyscrapers are derelict roads, ancient ruins, homing pigeons and lush gardens. The ongoing exhibition Sheher, Prakriti, Devi at Ishara Art Foundation in Dubai, captures the vibrance of cities through a series of photographs and artworks.

Curated by Indian artist and photographer Gauri Gill, the exhibition, which translated into Hindi means city, nature and deity, looks at the close relationship between urban spaces, nature and the sacred. This exhibition is part of Gill’s ongoing documentation of urban and semi urban spaces in India since 2003, in a series titled Rememory. Showcasing the work of 12 artists and collectives, the exhibition runs till June 2024. “Through this gathering of insistent voices we hope to consider the dualistic worlds of the depleted and regenerative, manmade and natural, colonial and Indigenous, young and old, English and non-English, mundane and magical, absent and present,” says Gill.

Visitors will get to see a series of striking black and white cityscapes photographed by Gauri Gill, along with rural artist Ladhki Devi’s Warli art, Emily Avery’s religious iconography and mystical artworks exploring the intersection between humans, nature, spirituality and the unseen world. Vinnie Gill’s sketches of trees, flowers, birds and animals, Chamba Rumal, a narrative artform from the hill state of Himachal Pradesh, comprising of embroidered handkerchiefs made over a 20-month collaboration between miniature artists and embroiders at CHARU, the Delhi Craft Council Center in Chamba and designer Swati Kalsi. Other exhibiting artists include Chiara Camoni, Mariam Suhail, Meera Mukherjee, Mrinalini Mukherjee, Rashmi, Kaleka, Shefalee Jain and Sukanya Ghosh.

Artworks for this exhibition have been loaned from the private collections of Anant Art, Akar Prakar, the Pundole family collection, the Mrinalini Mukherjee Foundation, the Ishara Art Foundation and the Prabakar collection. Founded in 2019 by entrepreneur, art patron and collector Smita Prabhakar, the Ishara Art Foundation is a non-profit organization, based in Dubai, supporting contemporary art of South Asia.