Reena Saini Kallat imagines cross border hybrids for upcoming solo

It is not hard to get lost in the rustic charm and winding alleys of Chimbai village in Bandra To guide those who wander Reena Saini Kallat appears like an immaculate vision in mintgreen and white Her studio less than 10 feet from the beach holds within it white shelves that sag under the weight of hardbound art catalogues and coffee table books Works from previous collections occupy the heart of the twolevel studio with maximum space taken up by Light Leaks 20082010 an imposing red gate reminiscent of the Wagah border It looks familiar but strange theyrsquore actually neighbouring nations that were once part of a whole Do gates let you in or do they keep you outArtist Reena Saini Kallat at her studio in Chimbai Bandra PicRane AshishKallat explores these metaphors on a larger scale in Hyphenated Lives her first solo in seven years at Gallery Chemould Fort Like a peaceloving genetics engineer Kallat has morphed flora and fauna under her artistic lens Some of these works are scattered through the studio some still under tight Bubble Wrapping Shamrocks from Ireland blossom with English roses a Palestinian sunbird appears on an Israeli stamp Pakistanrsquos national reptile mdash the crocodile mdash morphs into a cobra its Indian counterpart The names are also hyphenated like in the case of Cargle a new species thatrsquos a mix of national birds of USA and Mexico ldquoNational symbols are meant to unite but these become points of contestation Hyphenated Lives is a proposition for a future species mdash hybrids of halves from two placesrdquo explains KallatThe show will also see some of her previous pieces on display including a set of 15 works in various media There are some faux fossils as well all of which together function like a natural history museum Her idea is to draw on countries with border conflicts pointing to the fact that nature does not care for artificial boundariesThe fantasy mutations draw on politics too both serious and trivial In June Indian authorities ldquoarrestedrdquo a pigeon from the village of Manwal for being a Pakistani spy The Pakistani government in turn shot down an allegedly nosy drone scouring their skies Kallat makes a tongueincheek statement with a fossil of a dronersquos limbs alongside important politically charged birdsReturning to themes of conflict loss and disappearance which she has previously explored in Synonym 2009 and Falling Fables 201011 Hyphenated Lives makes significant use of electric cables as a connecting thread literally across the works Kallat had made substantial use of wires in her installation titled Woven Chronicles exhibited in Vancouver this year Here she used cables to trace the route of migrants sometimes turning into barbed fencesldquoWires can be transmitters of energy and deeprooted connections But they can also prove a hinderance Hyphenated Lives is really about the fine line and fragile connections not just between countries in conflict but also neighbours across the compound Prejudices trickle into our interpersonal relationships too donrsquot theyrdquo Kallat asks as she goes on to muse about the bias at play when cosmopolitan Bandra mdash the suburb where she lives with her artist husband Jitish Kallat and son mdash refuses to rent a home to people from a certain community Kallat whose father moved before the Partition to India from Lahore doesnrsquot like to attribute her interest in conflict just to the Partition Further events such as the rsquo92 riots in Mumbai and Godhra in 2002 have impacted her But she is shy of calling her art political ldquoI consider myself more a catalyst and works poetic than politicalrdquo If there is one thing she wishes for however is that art would have the same impact films do ldquoPeople come out of theatres and go lsquoWhoarsquo Irsquod like to see the same happen with the visual arts and galleriesrdquoWhen 11 AM ndash 7 PM Sept 12 ndash Oct 10 Closed on SundaysWhere Chemould Prescott Road Queens Mansion FortCall 220002112