Delhi Art Residency – Sanskriti Foundation

It was an early start this morning, 7am!

We went to visit the Prajapat Colony in Uttam Nagar, a ceramic community just on the outskirts of Delhi. Even with our guide and experienced taxi driver we had considerable difficulty negotiating the back streets and winding roads (when I say roads they are more like dirt tracks!)

Cows, pigs, dogs and the odd goat are just a few of the traffic hazards for the experienced driver here in India! Getting from one place to another is never a dull experience!

I went with a lady based in Delhi called Minhazz, a contact from an American lady here on a Fulbright scholarship here at the Kendra.

Minhazz supports Indian artists, particularly those who have no formal arts training, she is very much an advocate for Outsider Artists. She spends much of her time supporting local artists and creating connections between Indian artists and artists from other countries, to enrich all artists experience through cross cultural engagement.

She first took us to meet a potter who has a studio on the outskirts of the ceramic colony.

His name is Giri Raj Prasad , originally from Ragisthan he migrated to Delhi in search of work, he has slowly built up a studio and now makes the most beautiful crafted, highly skilled ceramic work.

Working in traditional terracotta he uses an electric wheel rather than the traditional kick wheel often seen here, I am surrounded by original vessels of varying scales and form.

Huge 10ft pieces line the back walls. This is both his studio and his home.

His passion for his work is tangible, and whilst many potters here in India struggle to make a living from their work he seems to be doing relatively well with the support and help of people like Minhazz.

Up some stairs we make our way to his roof. A tall brick kiln emerges from his flat roof, there are also large neat piles of cow dung, used as fuel to fire his kiln.

The kiln is a huge chimney structure, firings are done on average once every three months when there is enough work to fill it.

Most of his work is burnished to produce a shiny surface before firing, the pots emerge from the kiln part blackened by sawdust, a beautiful sheen on the surface, each piece is different and unique due to the firing, touched by the flames and the kiln differently.

Just before we leave we exchange business cards!

He looks intrigued and slightly bemused by the image of my ceramic installation work on the front of my card! I explain a little about my work and as we stand there and chat with the help of Minhazz, he suddenly asks us to stay a little longer to watch him work.

We are delighted, as is he!

He clearly enjoys visitors to his studio and I feel very lucky to be there to watch him.

So we stay a little longer and watch him work …

Today I started to explore the museums here at Sanskriti, I am particularly interested in the Museum of Everyday Art and Museum of Indian Terracotta.

The South Indian (Tamil Nadu) terracotta horses make for an impressive spectacle lining the walkways and grounds here at the Kendra, some of them standing over 4 metres high. They remind me of the images I have seen of the terracotta armies in China. Throughout the grounds there lie terracotta animals, figures, and Hindu iconography.

Ceramics has a long tradition here, in fact it has more people working in clay here than anywhere else in the world, apparently over a million people! Traditional ceramic techniques pass down from generation to generation within family groups and small communities, however their skills and work is often not given the status it deserves within India itself, largely due to their low caste in Indian society.

I also went to look at the Museum of Everyday Art, it houses a range of everyday objects including regional icons, shrines, ritual accessories, lamps, womens toiletries, betel boxes, scales and measures, and kitchen accessories to just name but a few.
I am particularly interested in some of the ornate locks and womens combs housed in the museum.

Tomorrow I am going to a ceramic community just on the outskirts of Delhi, a place called Uttam Nagar.

Have been to visit some exhibitions in Delhi, went to see work by a painter called Semma Kohli at the Habitat centre here in Delhi as well as an exhibition at the British Council, the exhibition was created by artists selected for a three month international residency programme, the initiative is called The HAT project (Here And There) and is aimed at designer/makers.

I am hoping to set up some more contacts with artists here in Delhi in the coming week as well as visit some artist studios, I also plan to do some more research in the three museums on site, the Museum of Indian Textiles, Museum of Indian Terracotta and also the Museum of Everyday Art over the coming weeks.

I went to Agra today , a five hour journey, but well worth it and must do for first time visitors to Delhi. I went to visit some of the famous Moghul monuments, saw the Taj Mahal for the first time, stunning. Also visited Fatehpur Sikri, 25 miles west of Agra. Took lots of photos certainly not going to be short of inspiration.

Well finally here and online!

Arrived in Delhi very early Monday morning! Flight was good and the transition to the Sanskriti Kendra relatively smooth from Delhi airport, only a 30 min journey.

Slowly getting to grips with the workings of the Kendra. Temperature at this time of year is pretty hot, from April it can get up into the 40 + by midday!

Spent the first week sorting out various practical things such as showers, internet connections, fans and bottled water. Power seems to be a constant challenge, electricity cuts out at least five times a day! And whilst the centre does have internet connection it manages to be workable for only very short periods of time. So doing a blog might become an interesting challenge here!

Other International residents have been really helpful in getting me started. They are a mixed bunch of visual artists and writers across a number of disciplines and from a number of countries including the States, Japan, England, Oman and Australia. Artists have been funded through various means, from private sources to funding through Unesco, Fulbright and Arts Council.

I have a studio/living space, there are eight individual studio/workspaces designated for artists and writers as well as three museums on site, a ceramic studio and a library and additional work and communal living spaces for bigger groups.

Sanskriti is set in some beautiful grounds, it really gives the place a serene and tranquil quality, an ideal place to reflect on my practise and research new ideas.