06 December,2020 07:57 AM IST | Mumbai | Jane Borges
A police officer guides migrant workers in queue for free food distribution by an NGO in Worli
What is the role of an artist in a pandemic? The question is at the heart of the COVID-inspired artwork created by Priyal Thakkar during the lockdown. Known for her photography-based art-a technique she describes as paintograph-Thakkar used it to tell the story of frontline workers, who became the critical force to help the country fight the rising Coronavirus infections.
Students of King Edward Memorial Hospital and Seth Gordhandas Sunderdas Medical College prepare face shields for doctors
It's her way of expressing her gratitude, says the St Xavier's College graduate. The result is a new series, COVID-19 Warriors, recently showcased at the Art Saves Humanity, a digital exhibition organised by the international art platform, SeeMe. Thakkar has digitally reimagined photos from the field, and she doesn't discriminate in her choice of subject.
A person carries a gas cylinder, distributed by the authorities, in Parel
One image has a paramedic conducting a rapid antigen test, superimposed with an image of a knitted sweater. Then there is a photograph of local residents waiting outside their colony to control people entering their area at Darukhana, which has a gritty texture to it. Another image shows a civic worker in Dongri collecting garbage without safety gear-the effects on it making it dripping wet, as if it were raining.
A team from KEM Hospital at Seven Hills Hospital. Thirteen months after the BMC shut down the hospital over non-payment of dues, it reopened as Mumbai's biggest quarantine facility. Pic Courtesy/Priyal Thakkar, SL Shanth Kumar
Under normal circumstances, Thakkar, who is a professional photographer, would have taken her own pictures, before digitally working on them. "But since I was cooped up at home, I realised it had to be a collaborative project. So, I reached out to [press photographer] SL Shanth Kumar, and Anna University in Chennai that has the drone research facility," says Thakkar, who has previously exhibited her work at The Metropolitan Pavilion, New York. Kumar's photographs, which she says, captured the grim ramifications of the lockdown, lent themselves well to her vision. "His subjects gave character to the picture."
Priyal Thakkar
The pandemic, she says, also helped her evolve as an artist. "It made me seek inspiration from within." Thakkar is currently working on a new series related to Coronavirus, which she has titled Covenant Art. "With this one, I hope to capture individual journeys. It's going to be about anyone and everyone who has lived through this time, and has had an experience, which they would like to share."
What: COVID-19 Warriors
Where: https://priyalsart.com/paintographs-photographs/
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