D A R P A N

We need art in the time of a crisis – these words have been splattered across think-pieces in the past few months, finding their way into the fleeting corners of our digital life. At Kari, we do believe this to be true; our truth, and maybe yours too. Creating during a crisis, then, seems to envelop itself deeply into this truth. The aim of our virtual exhibition this year is to capture a glimpse of this truth, somewhere in the middle of its vastness and its inspiring volition.

We asked the contributing artists of our exhibition to give us three words that they associate with creating during the pandemic. Creating, for many, was a cathartic rupture in the mundane, cyclical daily routine and the worrying, unsettling anxiety of the unknown and known. Words like liberating, therapeutic, escape, and soothing, were dominantly found. But, we also found words that reflected the sheer turmoil of creation when it feels like moving against the chaotic, uncertain global rhythm. We saw the reflection of this friction in words like difficult, tiring, confusion, and loss. This exhibition then is a week-long archive celebrating our community’s rise against adversity and our very human longing to propel our creativity all around us. We invite you in celebrating these acts of meditation, resilience, and creation with us.

And before you set out to explore this corner of your digital life, we leave you with Ursula Nordstrom’s words, “That is the creative artist – a penalty of the creative artist – wanting to make order out of chaos.”

Website Credits: Isha Mahajan and Ishika Jain