Open Waters: Permeating Territories
MARCH 31 - MAY 19, 2023
South Asia Institute is pleased to host the annual Namaste SAIC (the South Asian Student Association) exhibition from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, opening on March 31st, 2023!
Taking after water’s qualities, people possess the same undaunting characteristic to adapt to the places we are displaced into. From the time ice on mountain tops melts into water and reaches the larger water bodies, it goes through a process of changing, losing, and gaining parts of itself and its identity. Namaste SAIC is beyond excited to take this concept and explore it through the diverse practices of our artists. Like water, we are ever-transforming and adapting to our new home.
Water, the basis of existence, and its free-flowing essence is present within us. Like water, people take shape and adapt to the places they are displaced into. Their undaunting spirit adapts and changes to their surroundings. Oceans and seas are fed by the mountains where the water remains frozen. Once unleashed, it liquefies and spreads, taking over more space, seeing new places, and changing its qualities to adapt to a new vessel. Our exhibition addresses the constant acculturation across continents. Like water, we are constantly traveling to new destinations, learning new information, and gaining knowledge that seeps through and becomes a part of our identity.
Namaste SAIC wants to take this opportunity to explore the South Asian migration to the United States. Our stories are not just constricted to the sub-continent but expand to other cultural experiences. We explore that diversity within our artists who bring an intensely divergent range of mediums, addressing “Open Waters: Permeating Territories” with their unique styles, while also paying homage to their upbringing and the paths that have defined them over time.
The exhibition brings together 22 artists from all over South Asia with a wide range of pieces that show the effects of this interflow, the power, and the weakness it holds. This exhibition is a celebration of interdisciplinary art making; we are showcasing painters, ceramicists, printmakers, fiber artists, performance artists, and mixed media artists.
We strive to provide our viewers with an opportunity to address matters regarding current and past experiences of migration. The exhibition presents a glimpse into the minds of artists who carry the weight of living different lives and different cultures. We are our river’s tributaries, flowing outward from a united source and we hope to share our gathered experience and stories with you at “Open Waters: Permeating Territories.”
LIST OF ARTISTS:
Reevah Agarwaal, Srishti Bahl, Vidhi Sachin Doshi, Anaya Ferzaan Engineer, Shanti Grandhi. Siona Gupta, Sanjana Joshi, Uma Kamat, Malak Kaki, Akshaj Kilewala, Janhavi Khemka, Yaelin Calaguas Kim, Ketaki Kulkarni, Abigail Linatoc Mendoza, Palak Patel, Bhrigu Ranade, Devishi Seth, Ashni Shah, Komal Shankar, Divyangi Shukla, Rhea Singh, Yixiao Yao
