View artist Aban Raza's socio-political works in Mumbai this week

Tikri Border, Haryana-Delhi 2021, oil on canvas. Pics courtesy//Aban Raza, Galerie Mirchandani + Steinruecke

We live under a vast blue sky that on most days, feels too small to accommodate dissent. But in New Delhi-based Aban Raza's ongoing exhibition, titled There is something tremendous about the blue sky, at Galerie Mirchandani + Steinruecke, we find portraits of men and women whose very existence is an act of rebellion, as Albert Camus famously said. Farmers protesting at the Tikri border, participants at the MKSS Yatra, Rajasthan, hundreds of women huddled together at Shaheen Bagh, a compartment packed with travellers on a train, Jharkhand - her oil-on-canvas works make us look up at the vast blue sky in awe, despite it all. This Thursday, P Friedhelm Mennekes SJ, who was pastor of the Jesuit Church St Peter's in Köln, Germany, will uncover new layers in Aban's works during a walkthrough at the Ballard Estate gallery.

Shaheen Bagh, Delhi 2022, oil on canvas

Director of the gallery, Ranjana Steinruecke's association with Mennekes traces back to her days in Berlin, where she ran a gallery from 1997 to 2003. Mennekes, the founder of the Centre of Contemporary Art and Modern Music, has a profound relationship with art, she tells us. "He used to host exhibitions with cutting-edge, leading contemporary artists in the church. He had even come to open our show in Berlin. That's how he got involved with contemporary and modern art from India," she recalls.

P Friedhelm Mennekes SJ and Aban Raza. Pic courtesy/Pablo Bartholomew

Currently, Mennekes teaches at leading universities, writes for publications and is also a consultant. The gallerist believes that the president of the Pontificio Consiglio della Cultura, Vatican City, Italy, will cast a different lens on Aban's practice. "He will be walking participants through her paintings, and a conversation will develop between him and Aban. The idea is to bring in a broader view to her works. In India, we see her work in a very specific socio-political context but I'm also interested in looking at it from an aesthetic point of view. So, he will step in from outside our culture and analyse that aspect," she adds.

On: December 8; 6 pm to 7 pm
At: Galerie Mirchandani + Steinruecke, SS Ram Gulam Marg, Ballard Estate
Log on to: @galeriemirchandanisteinruecke