The legacy of loss: a contemporary take on the Bengal partition of 1947 through the lens of art

Abstract

ABSTRACT Sample this: a hypothetical menu book of fish recipes from both sides of the Bengal border; a barbed wire running through the Ichhamati, showing the river’s indifference to political borders; a sandstone and fabric pillar standing as a metaphoric monument of unity between religions, commemorating Gandhi’s peace march in Noakhali in 1946; an accordion book opening out, unfolding narratives immortalised in Ritwik Ghatak’s films. These are some of the artworks that were showcased at The Legacy of Loss: Perspectives on the Partition of Bengal, an Art Exhibition that the Kolkata Partition Museum Trust (KPMT) organised in collaboration with the Kolkata Centre for Creativity (KCC), to commemorate the 74th anniversary of India’s Partition. The Exhibition ran from 17 to 29 August 2021 at KCC, and was supported by Tata Steel and the Emami Foundation. Conceptualised and conceived by the late art historian, Dr. Rajasri Mukhopadhyay, and curated by KCC, this was an unique Exhibition on the Bengal Partition by five contemporary artists – Paula Sengupta, Vinayak Bhattacharya, Debasish Mukherjee, Amritah Sen and Dilip Mitra – each with a distinct style and perspective on the theme. As Rajasri Mukhopadhyay put it, Partition provided ‘the psychological topography for this Exhibition. The pictorial narratives … [found here] are embedded in the geographical sites of ancestry, the physical border, the trajectories of nostalgia in refugee colonies, and stories of inherited memories.’ This paper will delve into the uniqueness of this Exhibition and argue for the importance of the Arts in preserving cultural memory, something that KPMT strongly believes in.