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Hindustan Times
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Hindustan Times
Artist Nikheel Aphale explores mythologies, divinity through Devanagari
New Delhi, A solo exhibition by calligrapher Nikheel Aphale explores themes of divinity, mythological stories, spiritual prayers, and the nuances of humanity - from coexistence and inclusivity to unity and equality - through artwork based in the Devanagari script. Organised by Artisera at Bikaner House, "Aksharscape" is Aphale's landscape of letters, where text has surpassed its linguistic purpose to become a form of self-expression. Letters take unusual forms, evoking memories, emotions, reflections and wishful thinking in Aphale's latest body of work. "'Aksharscape' is a conceptual landscape shaped by the abstract beauty of Devanagari letters. In this body of work, the alphabet transcends its linguistic role, transforming into visual forms that stir memory, emotion, reflection, and imagination. Each letter becomes more than a symbol-it becomes a gesture of self-expression and a bridge between script and sentiment," Aphale said. He added that his current body of work invites viewers to experience language not just as text, but as an art form. "It is an artistic proposition to see letters not just as symbols of sound, but as forms that evoke emotion, memory, and imagination," he said. Aphale's experiments with calligraphy started in 2006 when it dawned upon him that unlike Japanese, Persian, or Chinese calligraphy, which are internationally renowned, Devanagari, despite being used for several languages such as Sanskrit, Hindi, Nepali and Marathi, was never fully developed as a fine art form. The realisation served as an impetus for the artist to explore the script as an art form. Working mostly with ink, watercolours, and acrylic, Aphale also uses unconventional tools such as toothbrushes, sponges, bank cards, feathers, and coconut husk to explore new ways of expressing his artistic voice, and taking calligraphy beyond its conventional definition of 'the art of beautiful handwriting'. While not overtly religious, Aphale's work explores nuances of humanity, visiting themes like coexistence, unity, inclusivity, and equality, by drawing parallels between human society and the unbiased nature of Devanagari letters and their grammar, through features like 'barahkhadi', conjuncts, and the absence of silent letters. "Nikheel's work is fresh and contemporary, while still being strongly rooted in Indian culture, and we believe he is an artist to watch out for in the years to come," Varun Backliwal, founder of Artisera, said in a statement. The exhibition will come to a close on June 1.
The Hindu
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Hindu
Jyoti Bhatt and the art of civic memory
At 91, Jyoti Bhatt still works from his Baroda studio, engrossed in painting, analogue photography and printmaking. The studio is quiet but alive, filled with etched plates, photographic prints, and the gentle persistence of a lifelong practice. For over a month, Through the Line and the Lens, a landmark retrospective curated by contemporary artist and his student Rekha Rodwittiya (first at Bikaner House and now on exhibit at Latitude 28), has offered more than a tribute to the modernist who has a storied history as an artist and a teacher. Featuring decades of work, the exhibition, the largest to date, is a reminder to us that art holds our rituals, resistances, and everyday textures as forms of remembering. And that Bhatt has spent a lifetime recording them. Knowing the artist Bhatt's influence runs deep — in how we see pattern, archive the everyday, and build art education in India. He did this not through grand proclamations, but by treating the ordinary as worthy of artistic inquiry. His photographic documentation of rural Indian culture saved for posterity motifs, mural fragments, and the lives of craftspeople with the same care afforded to fine art. Born in 1934, he came of age with the nation, studied in Baroda, trained in Naples and New York, and returned to shape a distinctly Indian visual grammar. 'I didn't set out to make overt political or social statements, but having grown up in a constantly shifting socio-cultural landscape, those experiences naturally seeped into my visual language,' explains Bhatt over email. As a founding figure of the Baroda School, he wasn't just an artist — he was an institution-builder, whose teaching and practice gave form to how generations would learn, make, and see. This meant designing curricula that integrated Indian aesthetics with global techniques, encouraging interdisciplinary work, and mentoring students to develop their own voices, including Rodwittiya. Discrediting systems of elitism When painting dominated modernist imagination, Bhatt turned to printmaking, then considered minor, and made it affordable, replicable, and subversive. Later, he took to photography with the same care. Hespent years building a visual archive — not just of his own work, but of his peers and the communities he admired — quietly preserving traditions that were at risk of vanishing. 'Printmaking and photography enabled me to bridge aesthetics with accessibility,' he says. Both mediums became ways of remembering. 'Today, with digital technologies, these mediums continue to serve as powerful, democratic tools — challenging hierarchies and expanding the boundaries of contemporary Indian art,' he adds. For Bhatt, art and pedagogy were inseparable. At M.S. University, Baroda, he helped shape not just artists but an entire ecosystem of making, thinking, and documenting. He had a long and formative career as a teacher — building institutions through critical dialogue, collective workshops, and a refusal to isolate art from its social and material contexts. His legacy lives in the questions he posed, the tools he passed on, such as techniques in intaglio printmaking, field-based research, and ways of visually coding memory through symbolic motifs. 'I found myself documenting my friends and family, my travels and daily meetings, fine art fairs, exhibitions. Ultimately, photography turned out to be a tool for me to observe and preserve the vanishing rural artistic traditions in the face of modernity. I believe personal identity creates collective memory, which comes out most vividly in self-reflective forms of conversation.'Jyoti BhattArtist Graphic prints and politics Bhatt's brilliance lies in giving symbolic detail real weight. He doesn't just document folk motifs, he enters into conversation with them. He renders them with humour, sharpness, and sometimes irony. In one print, a goddess stands beside a consumer logo; in another, a parrot speaks with near-human mischief. 'In the graphic prints we see how Bhatt often uses subversive inflections as a means by which he positions his politics, and the critique he has of establishments that he views as retrogressive to the ideals of pluralism and liberal thinking,' says Rodwittiya. She sees this not as polemic, but as quiet dissent — delivered through linework, wit, and deeply embedded references. 'This exhibition marks a significant milestone in both scale and substance. [But] what makes it truly special is the personal investment behind it. I have been collecting Jyoti Bhatt's printmaking works over the years with deep admiration and intent. Aside from a few early pieces loaned from private collections and the artist's own archive of photographs, nearly 75% of the works on view belong to Latitude 28. This makes the exhibition not only a tribute to one of India's most important modern artists, but also a reflection of a long-standing commitment to his legacy.'Bhavna KakarFounder-Director, Latitude 28 Why he matters Through his work and teaching, Bhatt reminds us that institutions matter — as ecosystems of exchange, care, and critique. In a time when the formal study of art is undervalued, and pedagogy reduced to metrics, his life's work is a blueprint for what thoughtful, long-view cultural stewardship can look like. For instance, his collaborative efforts to bring rural and urban practices into the same academic frame helped dismantle narrow hierarchies of knowledge. Bhatt's prints are more than ink on paper — they are maps of how a country might come to know itself. 'Through the Line and the Lens' is on till May 25 at Latitude 28. The essayist and educator writes on design and culture.
India Today
21-05-2025
- General
- India Today
Project Revival: Architects who are giving the past a future
(NOTE: This article was originally published in the India Today Home issue May, 2025)ABHA NARAIN LAMBAH | 'Conservation is not only about monuments. It is about buildings people use every day'From Royal Opera House in Mumbai and Bikaner House in Delhi to the Chamba Lakhang Temple of Maitreya Buddha in Basgo, Ladakh, and the restoration of Shalimar Bagh Kashmir, conservation architect Abha Narain Lambah's (pictured above) unique approach can be found stamped on heritage buildings across the country. Lambah set up Abha Narain Lambah Associates in 1998 and specialises in architectural conservation, building restoration and retrofit, museum design and historic interiors, among other she has been photographed at The David Sassoon Library and Reading Room in Mumbai. 'We restored the original profile of the pitched tiles roof that had been demolished and replaced by a flat RCC slab, restoring the original spatial integrity of the library and restoring its interiors,' says Lambah. But, is there a building she would love to restore? 'The Watson's Hotel,' comes her quick DILAWARI | 'All historic buildings are equally good, but some suffer neglect, others wrong repairs' (Photograph by Mandar Deodhar) advertisementConservation architect Vikas Dilawari has been restoring buildings since 1990. 'I was always interested in history and was fortunate to train under architect Ved Segan, who handled the first conservation project in the country—restoration of Gaiety Theatre in Shimla,' says Dilawari. Since then, there has been no looking back. 'In the last 35 years, we have conserved at least 75 buildings, of which 19 won the UNESCO Asia Pacific Awards,' he adds. His work includes Dr Bhau Daji Lad Museum, Byculla, Mumbai; Aga Khan Palace, Pune; Archiepiscopal Palace, Old Goa; Flora Fountain, Mumbai; and Royal Bombay Yacht Club, visited the CSMS Museum (photographed here) with him. 'I worked on it from 2019 till 2022 (for its centenary), then continued it till 2024,' says Dilawari. His work included restoring the exterior faade of the entire museum building. 'We did complete repairs of the top floor of the main building and the waterproofing of its terraces, along with repairs to the main dome and refurbishment of the key gallery under the dome from within. Also the refurbishing the two Tata galleries on the top floor and the common areas of the museum,' shares Dilawari.'I would love to restore any unloved residential buildings of Mumbai,' says the architect who thoroughly enjoyed restoring Hira Baugh in CP Tank and Lal Chimney Complex in KOHLI | 'In India we are spoilt for riches, with the vast numbers of our old historical buildings' (Photograph by Adil Hasan) Padma Shri in 1992, Sunita Kohli is an interior designer, architectural restorer and furniture manufacturer. She is known for conserving and decorating Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House, the Prime Minister's Office, the bungalows of the Prime Minister's residence, the Indira Gandhi Memorial Museum and Hyderabad House in New Delhi. She has also designed the National Assembly Building in Thimphu, Bhutan, and conserved and decorated Naila Fort, Jaipur. All these, apart from a large number of hotels and hotel boats in Egypt and residences across India.'I was brought in to do the restoration, conservation and decoration of Hyderabad House (photographed here) for the first time in 1982 when Queen Elizabeth II had come to inaugurate the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting,' says Kohli. In 1988-89, she was brought in again, with the government giving her just nine months to complete it. 'The entire House and the gardens were restored. HH has a butterfly plan and is replete with all the idioms of Neoclassical architecture. I wanted to carefully conserve all these elements,' she shares. She not only restored the gardens designed by Lutyens but also designed, in true Lutyenesque style, the two large interior courtyards and an apparently incomplete room, which went on to become the much used Mughal Dining Room. Every room, anteroom and loggia in the House was designed, named and assigned a purpose, barring the obvious Ballroom and Banquet Hall. The Rotunda at the rear, designed to house the Nizam's concubines, was converted by Kohli into the administrative block. As of today, Kohli hopes for an army of architectural conservationists to save buildings in India from being lost owing to time and MILLER | 'I would love to restore any Art Deco building' (Photograph by Mandar Deodhar) Architect Alfaz Miller's success story is linked to the interior architecture and restoration assignment for ANZ Grindlays Fort office in Mumbai (1989). Stepping into his legacy is his daughter, Aahana Miller, now the principal architect at ABM (founded by Alfaz). 'My interest in restoration led me to pursue an undergraduate degree in Interior Architecture at Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). This major is an amalgam of architecture and conservation, involving an innovative approach to transform existing buildings,' says Aahana, who during her course was fascinated by how the Japanese designed modern buildings while retaining their heritage. She joined ABM in 2018, working alongside her father who had extensive experience in restoration and adaptive took us to Blue Sea Worli in Mumbai. 'ABM undertook this transformation with a careful balance—modernising the space while preserving its essence. The banquet previously lacked a defined entryway, so we introduced a striking ACP-clad portal, flanked by two oversized urns, to create a grand first impression,' says Aahana. The building's faade, which had deteriorated over time, was completely revamped, and new outdoor lighting was installed to improve its visual appeal. 'A secondary entrance into the main banquet was designed with a stepped portal, featuring double doors and an airlock for seamless functionality,' adds Aahana, who if given a chance would love to restore New India Assurance Building, a beautiful example of Art Deco in to India Today Magazine
New Indian Express
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- New Indian Express
Choosing Devanagari has been an organic evolution, says Nikheel Aphale on his debut solo exhibition, Aksharscape, in Delhi
Nikheel Aphale's art practice draws on calligraphy with the Devanagari script as his muse. Devanagari is the script of his mother tongue, Marathi, and its sounds and visuals triggered his art practice and study of it. 'Aksharscape' is an artistic conceptual landscape of letters from the same script. Aphale's first solo exhibition in Delhi, at Bikaner House (till June 1) has been hosted by Artisera, an online space dedicated to fine art and artistic luxury. Excerpts from a conversation with the artist: Why and since when have you been drawn to calligraphy? My fascination with alphabets began at a very early age. Blessed with neat handwriting, I was the go-to-student for decorating blackboards or creating charts in school. I inherited this good handwriting from my mother, who writes beautifully. I went on to pursue a BFA in Applied Arts at L.S. Raheja School of Art in Mumbai, where I was introduced to Calligraphy and Typography as part of the curriculum - this was the first time I heard these terms. I was fascinated by how letters alone could express emotions and transform into meaningful visuals. We were also exposed to the works of eminent calligraphers and designers from Mumbai at college. Later, during my post-graduation years at the National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad, I was exposed to the works of international designers and typographers, gaining in-depth knowledge with a global outlook. All these experiences - from my childhood encounters with blackboard to learning from experts as a young adult, subconsciously directed me towards the path of exploring the'art of beautiful handwriting'. Why is Devanagari script in calligraphy the base of his first solo exhibition in Delhi? Is calligraphy so far the art form you have exclusively used to express yourself? To begin with, I learnt both Latin and Devanagari scripts. But as I further explored the world of calligraphy, I realised that most of the world is aware of Middle Eastern and Eastern calligraphy like Arabic, Persian, Japanese, Chinese, etc. The Latin script is the preferred choice for most calligraphy enthusiasts and beginners. In my mind, I started questioning the position of Devanagari and other Indian scripts at the world calligraphy stage. I couldn't find a clear answer. The simple thought of showcasing its potential globally drove me towards further exploring this beautiful script, Devanagari. I am very close to this script in the true sense, as it is the script of my mother tongue, Marathi. Since birth, I have been immersed in its sounds and visual forms, and that has helped me to build a very comforting bond with it. So, choosing Devanagari for my art practice has been an organic evolution and obvious decision. In India, calligraphy is in popular imagination connected to Urdu literature or Mughal court art form or the Quran. What modern day spheres can calligraphy be used? I was introduced to calligraphy through my art education, where I was exposed to a distinctive visual aesthetic in which letters take centrestage - whether in art or design. I was drawn to the idea that, without using any illustrations or photographs, letters alone could become a powerful medium of expression and communication. Today, calligraphy is being used in many commercial domains like branding, logos, book covers, packaging, calendars, wedding invitations, etc.
