Gathering Delights: Weaving Art and Politics into Textile by N S Harsha
CHAT, The Mills, Tsuen Wan 
Why We Recommend it
Contemporary Indian artist N S Harsha’s (b. 1969, Mysuru) 20 works, spanning over 20 years of his career, showcase his expansive artistic practice of paintings and sculptures that explore how nature stimulates creative thinking and artistic forms.
Description
Following CHAT’s grand opening in March 2019, Harsha’s largest solo exhibition comes as part of CHAT’s dynamic 2019 Summer Programme. Apart from his expansive art works, Gathering Delights presents his community programmes in collaboration with Krac-A-Dawna Organic Farm one of India’s first organic farms, offering a fresh cognitive lens through which he explores how nature inspires art and creativity.
As one of India’s forefront artists of his generation, Harsha’s home city Mysuru in southern India continuously inspires him with its traditional beauty and cultural dynamism. He often deploys textiles and sewing machines in his works as materials as well as key motifs, depicting personal memories and collective gestures that weave human acts with the state of the world and the universe.
Blending Indian painting traditions, popular arts and the Western canon, Harsha quietly creates philosophical and luminous works that reflect on geopolitical order and our increasingly technologically-mediated relationship with the world. A highlight is “In Nations” (2007-2019), a monumental installation where pieces of cloth adorned with the flags of the United Nations’ member states are draped on 193 foot-operated sewing machines, denoting industrialisation and labour as a key driver for developing nations.
Image: Nations, 2007-2017. Installation view: “N. S. Harsha: Charming Journey”, Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, 2017. Photo: Shiigi Shizune. Photo courtesy: Mori Art Museum, Tokyo. © N S Harsha.
Details
When: 28 Jul 2019 - 3 Nov 2019 Where: CHAT, The Mills – 45 Pak Tin Par Street – Tsuen Wan
