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Riyas Komu
…and Gandhi said, ‘Death, Death, Death…’
Thus spake Gandhi looking at a Henri
Cartier Bresson photograph of a hearse. Every photograph is a frozen
moment that testifies to life but also carries death, that of the
irretrievable moment. Bresson photographed Gandhi 90 minutes before that
fatal moment when ‘light went out of our lives’. A ‘decisive moment’ in
photography for Bresson was one where timing, framing and the scene
coalesce, and Gandhi’s words adding speech to that. Those words were
both a response to a photograph and a premonition. For Gandhi was no
stranger to death..
5:17 PM was the most decisive post
meridiem moment in Indian history: in liminal space and time: between
inside and outside, rest and prayer, life and death, light and darkness,
here and beyond.
This digital installation flickers
history and memory, giving form to a moment that is congealed in time.
Riyas Komu (b. 1971) is an Indian multimedia artist.
His oeuvre of works is a deep reflection on social
conflicts and pressing issues like migration and displacement, whereas
he draws his inspiration from local and global social and political
movements. Komu’s hyper-realistic oil portraits of people recall
socialist-realist propaganda art. His large-scale sculptural
installations in various mediums articulate social and cultural memories
and symbols. He is currently working on a project on the Indian
Constitution titled Aesthetics of Neighbourhood.
Komu
received his Bachelor of Fine Arts and
Master of Fine Arts degrees in Painting in 1997 and 1999 respectively at
the J.J. School of Arts in Mumbai. Komu was one of two artists from
India selected for the 52nd Venice Biennale by curator Robert Storr. He
was also part of the Iranian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale in 2015,
and the Jogja Biennale, Indonesia, in 2011.
He has
many solo shows to his credit which includes, Salt, The Guild in
collaboration with Dashrath Patel Museum, 2021, Faith Accompli,
Sakshi Salon, 2006, Grass, The Guild, 2007, Mark Him, The
Guild, 2007, Related List, Bodhi Berlin, 2008.
Komu’s works have been exhibited globally
including in South Africa, Brazil, France, Germany, UK, Italy, Korea,
Indonesia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, the USA, China, UAE,
Belgium, The Netherlands and Iran among others.
Komu ideated Kochi-Muziris Biennale and co-founded Kochi Biennale
Foundation (est. 2010). He co-curated the first edition of Kochi-Muziris
Biennale in 2012 and was the Director of Programmes of the Kochi
Biennale Foundation in 2012, 2014, and 2016.
In his capacity as an arts administrator, he initiated the Students’
Biennale, Children’s Biennale (later named as ABC, Art by Children),
Artists Cinema, Music of Muziris, Video Lab, Let’s Talk series & History
Now (Talks and Seminars), Pepper House Residency & Exhibition. As an art
educator, he has been investing his time in art education developing art
infrastructure in India.
He has been the Advisor and Visual Arts
Curator for Serendipity Arts Festival in Goa in 2016 & 2017 and has done
extensive research trips in the sub-continent and conceptualised and
curated the Young Sub-Continent project in 2016, 2017 & 2018 in
Goa. Komu’s curatorial engagement ranges across fields. He also curated
the Kondotty Sufi Fest in 2019. He co-curated the first International
Football Film Festival in India at Goa International Film Festival and
Trivandrum International Film Festival in 2012. In 2016 he started URU
Art Harbour, a cultural hub in Mattancherry, Kochi, Kerala, with Zoya
Riyas, and has curated many shows to promote artists from the region
focusing on Kerala’s history of social action, migration and maritime
history, and culture. |
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