Nalini Malani

Nalini Malani (born 1946, in Karachi, British India, now Pakistan) is a contemporary Indian artist. In her early career, she primarily worked in the realms of painting and drawing. Since the 1990s her work expanded to other forms of media like video, film and projected animation.[1] Her works are characterised by the expansion of the pictorial surface into surrounding space culminating in a layered visual narrative that takes the form of ephemeral wall drawings, shadow play, installations, multi projection works and theatre.[2] She adheres to the vision of the artist as a social activist. Her artworks are often politically motivated and focus on themes of displacement, conflict, transnational politics, critical examination of gender roles and the ramifications of globalisation and consumerism.[3] Throughout the course of her artistic career, she has strived to give voice to the stories of those marginalised by history with a focus on human and universal aspects of conflict and the relationship between the exploiter and the exploited.[1] Literature has been a recurrent source of inspiration and reference for Malani.[1] Her work has been featured in several international museums including Stedelijk Museum and the MoMA Museum of Modern Art.[4] She lives and works in Mumbai.[2]

Nalini Malani
Nalini Malani, In Search of Vanished Blood, Documenta 13 (2012).
Born1946 (age 73–74)
Karachi, British India
NationalityIndian
EducationSir Jamsetjee Jeejebhoy School of Art Bombay, 1964-69
Known forPaintings, Video art, Installations, Theatre
AwardsFukuoka Arts and Culture Prize, 2013
Websitenalinimalani.com

Early life and education

Born in Karachi in 1946[5], Malani's family sought refuge in India during the Partition of India.[6] They moved to Kolkata, shortly before partition and relocated to Mumbai in 1958.[7] Her family's experience of leaving behind their home and becoming refugees deeply informs Malani's artworks.[8]

Malani studied Fine Arts in Mumbai[9] and obtained a Diploma in Fine Arts from Sir Jamsetjee Jeejebhoy School of Art in 1969.[2] During this period, she had a studio in the Bhulabhai Memorial Institute, Bombay, where artists, musicians, dancers and theater persons worked individually and collectively.[2] It was here that she had the opportunity to meet and collaborate with artists from allied forms of artistic practice like theatre.[8] She received a scholarship from the French Government to study fine arts in Paris from 1970-72. She was also a recipient of the Art Fellowship from the Government of India from 1984-89.

Career

After her graduation, she spent a few years working with photography and film.[10] The themes she explored during this period dealt with the turbulent time that India was experiencing politically and socially, as well the deepening literacy of moving image by its population.[11][10] In the initial part of her career, Malani mostly focussed on paintings - acrylic on canvas & watercolour on paper. She produced a realistic socially based portrayal of Contemporary India.[12] She continued to explore techniques such as the reverse painting method (taught to her in the late-80s by Bhupen Khakhar), which she would recurrently use in her future work. She was disappointed with the lack of acknowledgement that women artists had to face in India and resolved to bring them together for a group show to promote the sense of solidarity.[13] In 1985, she curated the first exhibition of Indian female artists, in Delhi. This led to a series of travelling exhibitions that were taken to public spaces as an attempt to go beyond the elitist atmosphere of the art gallery.[13]

The sectarian violence that hit India in the early 1990s after the demolition of Babri Masjid triggered a sudden shift in her artwork.[12] The renewed religious conflict that had proven to be recurring (bringing back memories of the Partition) pushed her artistic endeavours past the boundaries of the surface and into space.[14] Her earlier foray into performance art and her keen interest in Literature brought new dimensions to her art. She is often counted amongst the earliest to transition from traditional painting to new media work.[9] Multimedia served as the perfect platform for staging her multilayered narratives on conflicts, gender issues and feminism. Her career, which has spanned more than five decades shows a gradual movement towards new media and international collaboration.[2]

In 2013, she became the first Asian woman to receive the Arts & Culture Fukuoka Prize for her "consistent focus on such daring contemporary and universal themes as religious conflict, war, oppression of women and environmental destruction."[14] Malani is represented by Galerie Lelong, Paris and New York. Besides this, she has also served various artist residencies in India, Singapore, the US, Japan and Italy.[2]

Works

As an artist Malani has always sought to provoke dialogue by going beyond legitimised boundaries and exceeding the conventional narratives.[2] For two-dimensional works, she uses both oil paintings and watercolors. Her other inspirations are her visions from the realm of memory, myth and desire. The rapid brush style evokes dreams and fantasies.[15] Malani's video and installation work allowed her to shift from strictly real space to a combination of real space and virtual space, moving away from strictly object-based work. Her video work often references divisions, gender, and cyborgs.[15] Malani roots her identity as female and as Indian, and her work might be understood as a way for her identity to confront the rest of the world.[16] She often references Greek and Hindu mythology in her work. The characters of 'destroyed women' like Medea, Cassandra and Sita feature often in her narrative.[9] Her multifaceted oeuvre can be broadly classified under two categories; Her experiments with visual media and the moving image like Utopia (1969-1976), Mother India (2005), In Search of Vanished Blood (2012); Her ephemeral and in-situ works such as City of Desires (1992), Medea as Mutant (1993/2014), The Tables have turned (2008). Although her work talks of violence and conflict, her main intent is collective catharsis.[17]

Selected art works

City of Desires (1992)

For her 1992 path-breaking installation "City of Desires," at the Chemould Gallery in Mumbai, she drew directly on the walls. The resulting work was ephemeral and site-specific, speaking against Hindu Fundamentalism that was on the rise.[18]

Remembering Toba Tek Singh (1998)

Malani's video installation Remembering Toba Tek Singh is a multi-layered and complex video installation with visual, audio, and interactive components, re-examining the history of India and Pakistan during the Partition of India. The work is based on the short story Toba Tek Singh by Saadat Hasan Manto.[19] includes archival footage of "Little Boy" and "Fat Man", the nuclear bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, equating the Partition of India with destructive violence.

Hamletmachine (2000)

In this video installation (based on a play by Müller), the artist analogically compares India to Hamlet, "never quite knowing which way to go, how to decide, and therefore making wrong decisions." The videos plays consists of four projections - three on walls and the fourth on a bed of salts on the floor. The last projection is a reference to Gandhi's salt march of 1930. The crux of the series of projections was a critique on Hindu Nationalism.[1]

Unity in Diversity (2003)

Malani's 2003 video play, Unity in Diversity, is based on the renowned 19th century Indian painter Raja Ravi Varma's Galaxy of Musicians, with the overt theme of nationalistic unity displayed through the garb of eleven musicians from different parts of India seemingly playing in harmony. Malani makes a statement on this idealised version of unity by incorporating later histories of violence into that image.[20]

Mother India (2005)

The video installation was inspired by an essay by the sociologist Veena Das titled "Language and Body: Transactions in the Construction of Pain".[21] It is a synchronised five screen wall-to-wall projection combines archival footage with poetic and painterly image to tell the story of how Indian Nationalism was built using the bodies of women as metaphors for the nation. The work speaks of women as "mutant, de-gendered and violated beyond imagination."[21] The Partition of India and the Gujarat Riots of 2002 are the central events that are referenced in this installation,[22] as there was a sharp increase in the violation of women in these periods.[23]

In Search of Vanished Blood (2012)

This installation which was first produced for the 13th edition of Documenta consists of five larger rotating Mylar cylinders (metaphorically referring to Buddhist prayer wheels[24])reverse painted with images of soldiers, animals, gods and guns.[23] The shadow play caused by this rotation tells the story of senseless bloodshed especially narrating the story of India since the partition and highlighting the plight of the dispossessed/tribal communities whose lives are drastically affected by developmental decisions made by the government.[13]

Selected Solo exhibitions[25]
Nalini Malani, The Rebellion of the Dead, 2017
  • Nalini Malani: 1969 (2018), Arario Gallery, Shanghai, China
  • The Rebellion of the Dead: Retrospective 1968-2018 Part II (2018), Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France
  • The Rebellion of the Dead: Retrospective 1968-2018 Part I (2017), Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France
  • Transgression (2017), Stedelikj Museum, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
  • Nalini Malani: In Search of Vanished Blood (2016), Institute of Contemporary art, Boston, Massachusetts
  • Nalini Malani: Stories untold (2015), Institute of Contemporary Art Indian Ocean, Port-Louis, Mauritius
  • Engadiner Museum (2014) St. Moritz, Switzerland
  • LIGHTS OUT (2014), co-commissioned by Edinburgh Art Festival and 14-18 Now, WW1 Centenary Art commissions, Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
  • You can't keep Acid in a Paper Bag (2014) Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, New Delhi, India
  • Dr Bhau Daji Lad Museum (2013), Mumbai, India
  • Fukuoka Asian Art Museum (2013), Fukuoka, Japan
  • Beyond Print - Memory, Transference, Montage (2013), Le Centre de la Grauvre et de l'image imprimée, la Louvière, Belgium
  • Nalini Malani: In Search of Vanished Blood (2013), Galerie Lelong, New York, New York
  • Mother India: Videoplays by Nalini Malani (2012): Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
  • Splitting the Other (2010), Musée Cantonal des Beaux-Arts, Lausanne, Switzerland; Chemould Prescott Road Gallery, Mumbai, India; Chatterjee & Lal Gallery, Mumbai, India
  • Nalini Malani (2009) Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, New Plymouth, New Zealand
  • Cassandra (2009), Galerie Lelong, Paris, France
  • Listening to the Shades (2008), Arario Gallery, New York, New York
  • Nalini Malani (2007), Walsh Gallery, Chicago, Illinois
  • Nalini Malani (2007), Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin, Ireland
  • Living in Alicetime (2006), Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai, India; Rabindra Bhavan, New Delhi, India
  • Exposing the Source: The Painting of Nalini Malani (2005), Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, Massachusetts
  • Stories Retold (2004), Bose Pacia, New York
  • Hamletmachine (2002), New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York, New York
  • Nalini Malani (2002), Appejay Media Gallery, New Delhi, India
  • Stories Retold (2002), Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai, India
  • The Sacred & The Profane (2000), Sakchi Gallery, Mumbai, India
  • Remembering the Toba Tek Singh (1999), Mumbai, India
  • The Job (1997), Max Mueller Bhaven, Mumbai, India
  • Medea (1996), Max Mueller Bhaven, Mumbai, India

Selected Group Exhibition
  • Sharjah Biennial 14 (2019), Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
  • A Fiction Close to Reality (2019), Irish Museum of Modern, Dublin, Ireland
  • Rothco at Lapedusa, INHCR (2019), Palazzo Querini, Venice, Italy
  • Homeless Souls (2019), Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humblebaek, Denmark
  • The Collection (2018), Stedlijk Museum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
  • Fearless: Contemporary South Asian Art (2018), Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
  • Delirium/Equilibrium (2018), Kiran Nadar Museum of Art , New Delhi, India
  • Hand Drawn Action Packed (2018), St. Albans Museum + Gallery, St. Albans, England.
  • Wolverhampton Art Gallery, Wolverhamptons, England; The Huntarian Art Gallery, Glasgow, Scotland; Glynn Vivian Art Gallery, Swansea, Wales
  • Awakenings: Art and Society in Asia 1960s-1980s (2018); Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, Japan; MMCA Seoul, Korea; National Gallery Singapore
  • Progress: Art in the Age of Historical Ambivalence (2018), 12th Shanghai Biennale, Power Station of Art, Shanghai, China
  • Journeys with the Waste Land (2017), Turner Contemporary, Margate, England
  • Imaginary Asia (2017), Nam June Paik Art Center, Youngin, South Korea
  • Contemporary Stories: Revisiting Indian Narratives (2016), Princeton University Art Museum, Princeton, New Jersey
  • Refugees (2016), Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre, Sydney, Australia
  • The Journey is the Destination (2016), Jehangir Nicholson Art Foundation, Mumbai, India
  • All Men Become Sisters (2015), Muzeum Szutuki Lodz, Lodz, Poland
  • Scenes for a New Heritage: Contemporary Art from the Collection, Museum of Modern Art, New York, New York.

Awards
  • 2019:Joan Miró Prize, Fundació Joan Miró
  • 2016: Asia Arts Game Changer, Asia Society, Hong Kong Awards
  • 2014: St. Moritz Art Masters Lifetime Achievement Award, St. Moritz, Switzerland[26]
  • 2013: Fukuoka Arts and Culture Prize for Contemporary Art, Fukuoka, Japan [27]
  • 2005, Lucas Art Residencies, Montalvo, California[28]
  • 2005: Leonardo Global Crossings Prize 2005[29]
  • 2003: Civitella Rainieri, Umbertide, Italy[30]
  • 1999/2000 Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, Fukoka, Japan[31]
  • 1999: Lasalle-SIA, Singapore
  • 1989: USIA Fellowship at Fine Arts Work Center, Provincetown, Massachusetts
  • 1988: Kasuli Art Centre, Kusali, India
  • 1984-89: Art Fellowship, Government of India

Literature

Monographs
  • Mieke Bal, Sophie Duplaix, Johan Pijnappel, The Rebellion of Dead, 2017, ISBN 978-3-7757-4290-0
  • Mieke Bal, Doris von Drathen, In Media Res: Inside Nalini Malani's Shadow Plays, 2016, ISBN 978-3-7757-4146-0
  • Splitting the other, Hatje Cantz, 2010, ISBN 978-3-77572-580-4
  • Jean Frémon, Doris von Drathen, Cassandra, Ed. Galerie Lelong, Paris, 2009, ISBN 978-2-86882-088-4
  • Amita Desai, Kamala Kapoor, Medeaprojekt, 1997, ISBN 978-8-1900-5112-5[32]

See also

References
  1. "Nalini Malani". Saffronart. Retrieved 6 April 2019.
  2. "Nalini Malani - Biography". www.nalinimalani.com. Retrieved 6 April 2019.
  3. "Nalini Malani - 73 Artworks, Bio & Shows on Artsy". www.artsy.net. Retrieved 6 April 2019.
  4. "Malani, Nalini | Biography". www.mutualart.com. Retrieved 6 April 2019.
  5. Phaidon Editors (2019). Great women artists. Phaidon Press. p. 257. ISBN 0714878774.
  6. Sharma, Meara; Peck, Henry (7 March 2013). "A Conversation With: Video Artist Nalini Malani". The New York Times.
  7. Juncosa, Enrique; Malani, Nalini; McEvilley, Thomas; Pijnappel, Johan; Sambrani, Chaitanya (2007). Nalini Malani. Dublin: Irish Museum of Modern Art. ISBN 8881586444.
  8. "Social engagement has always been part of my art'". The Indian Express. 7 January 2018. Retrieved 6 April 2019.
  9. Seervai, Shanoor. "A Retrospective of the Works of Nalini Malani Who Paints in Reverse". Wall Street Journal.
  10. Cassandra Naji. "Indian artist Nalini Malani talks myth, metaphor and women – interview | Art Radar". Retrieved 29 April 2017.
  11. Seervai, Shanoor (10 October 2014). "A Retrospective of the Works of Nalini Malani Who Paints in Reverse". WSJ. Retrieved 29 April 2017.
  12. McEvilley, Thomas (4 June 2009). "Nalini Malani: Postmodern Cassandra". The Brooklyn Rail. Retrieved 6 April 2019.
  13. dmovies.net (13 May 2015), Nalini Malani, retrieved 6 April 2019
  14. Mallonee, Laura C. "Nalini Malani on Her Career and Bringing Her Documenta 13 Shadow Play". Observer.
  15. Rajadhyaksha, Ashish (2003). "Spilling Out: Nalini Malani's Recent Video Installations". Third Text. 17 (1). Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  16. McEvilley, Thomas (June 2009). "Nalini Malani: Postmodern Cassandra". Brooklyn Rail.
  17. Vial Kayser, Christine (2015). "Nalini Malani, a Global Storyteller". Retrieved 7 April 2019.
  18. "Nalini Malani - Installations". www.nalinimalani.com. Retrieved 6 April 2019.
  19. Malani, Nalini. "Remembering Toba Tek Singh".
  20. Turner, Webb, Caroline, Jen (2016). Art and Human Rights: Contemporary Asian contexts. England: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780719099571.
  21. "Nalini Malani -Video". www.nalinimalani.com. Retrieved 7 April 2019.
  22. "Disembodied Voices | Nalini Malani: Mother India | Art Gallery of New South Wales | Sydney". www.mutualart.com. Retrieved 7 April 2019.
  23. "Nalini Malani Turns to a Greek Myth to Retell Indian Tragedies". www.mutualart.com. Retrieved 7 April 2019.
  24. "The Oracle and the Artist". The Indian Quarterly – A Literary & Cultural Magazine. Retrieved 7 April 2019.
  25. "Nalini Malani - Artists - Galerie Lelong". www.galerielelong.com. Retrieved 30 April 2019.
  26. name, Site. "Nalini Malani St. Moritz Art Masters Award 2014 / ArtReview". artreview.com. Retrieved 29 April 2017.
  27. "Nalini MALANI｜Laureates". Fukuoka Prize (in Japanese). Retrieved 29 April 2017.
  28. "Montalvo Arts Center | Residencies | Past Fellows". montalvoarts.org. Retrieved 30 April 2019.
  29. "Nalini Malani - Leonardo Global Crossings Prize 2005". leoalmanac.org. Retrieved 29 April 2017.
  30. "Civitellians Featured in 'The Artist Project'". Civitella Ranieri. 2 January 2018. Retrieved 30 April 2019.
  31. "Fukuoka Asian Art Museum". faam.city.fukuoka.lg.jp. Retrieved 30 April 2019.
  32. "Medeaprojekt".
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