Bhubaneswar/New Delhi: The solo art exhibition titled Boy Dancer: Convergence and Continuum- A Revisiting by contemporary visual artist Birendra Pani, is presented by School of Arts and Aesthetics, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi from 29th January to 7th February, 2024. This present exhibition is a relooking of the art exhibition “Boy Dancer: Convergence and Continuum” which was held at MS University Gallery, Vadodara and at the Gallery Espace New Delhi in 2007. In an ethnographic and artistic way, the exhibition had not only addressed the distinct aesthetics and cultural identities of the Gotipua dance form and the dancers of Odisha, but also the vulnerable condition of this dance form then. The exhibition had further endeavoured to create a new aesthetic experience at the interactive interface between the visual arts and performing arts.
The present exhibition contains old and new art works of paintings, drawings, photographs, and video based art works. The large paintings of the Gotipua Dancer Series foreground the subjectivities of Gotipua dancer; Gotipua dancers transition and Transformation Series photographs highlight their transformation during the performance and in real life at present; The Proscenium Stories and the Bandha Nrutya Series photographs portray the significant an evocative moment of the dance form; the Handmade Memories: Gotipua Dancers series is the creative reflection of the artist of the dance form; the video based work titled Boy Dancer: Convergence and Continuum- A Revisiting is the reminiscences of the dance form who were once Gotipua dancers but now placed in different domains of life.
All the art works exhibited in the show are the collection of New Bridge India Archive. The exhibition was curated by Dr. Rajashree Biswal, Artistic and Curatorial Director, New Bridge India.
DISCUSSION
The exhibition will be accompanied by a discussion on the Theme of the Exhibition on 5th February, 2024 at 6 pm at the School of Arts and Aesthetics Auditorium, JNU, New Delhi. The discussants will be renowned Odissi Dancer and Fulbright Scholar Sharon Lowen, Prof. Aishika Chakraborty, Head of the Department, Gender Studies, Jadavpur University, Art Historian, Curator and Fulbright Postdoctoral Scholar Dr. Rajashree Biswal, Prof. Urmimala Sarkar Munsi, Dean, SAA, JNU, New Delhi and Artist Birendra Pani. This exhibition and Discussion on the theme of the exhibition intends to ‘resignify’ the aesthetics of the dance, create a new kind of viewers and audience, and a novel discursive space about the dance form in the contemporary times.
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