Mark on the Wall

15 APRIL TO 31 JULY

GALERIE MIRCHANDANI AND STEINRUECKE, MUMBAI

A collaboration between the photographer Gauri Gill and the artist Rajesh Vangad, Mark on the Wall combines photography with Warli, a style of traditional painting from Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh. In 2013, Gill was invited to an Adivasi village in Maharashtra’s Dahanu district to document drawings made by primary school students. Vangad, a resident of the village, invited her to stay at his place, and took her to various locations that were significant in local folklore. Gill decided to photograph these places, situating Vangad as the protagonist in her images. Vangad then drew monochromatic Warli figures over the pictures. In the photographs, Vangad never looks into the camera, which helps imbue them with a sense of loss, alienation and nostalgia. Through this amalgamation of media, the work documents the changing ways of life in an Adivasi village.

~ Stuti Kakar