New Delhi:
Delhi is now officially the world's second most populated city, with 38 million people, but that also raises many questions on how the city is seen by its inhabitants.
Delhi based Vadehra Art Gallery's recent exhibition is a collection of photographs by five artists who have tried to narrate an individual's relationship with the city and have tried to use the potential of the image to tell stories which are otherwise untold.
The show is curated by Bhooma Padmanabhan and is rightly titled 'Invisible Cities' as the photographs tell stories of spaces that are invisible or underground, mute spaces hidden under the bustling cover of the city. They are stories of people and their relationships, which the artist is part of.
Atul Bhalla's 'Kaner' on Shahdara Drain is a photographic series that documents the otherwise inconspicuous Kaner plant growing in the middle of the busy roads of Delhi. This beautiful but toxic plant is one of the preferred plants used by the authorities to beautify the city, and these simple shots of the swaying plants warn us about the deception of rapid urbanisation.
Malini Kochupillai's 'Africa via Khirkee' is a series of her interaction with the African community living in the urban village of Khirkee which has seen a recent influx of this community from various countries in Africa. Malini shares the community's attempt to adapt to the city as well as the cultural diversity they have brought to Delhi.
Asim Waqif's videos 'An Experiment on MG Road' and 'Exploring Dereliction' are an attempt to explore the spaces inside dilapidated and uninhabitable structures in the city.
Gauri Gill's 'Hall of Technology' reveals the world of migrant labourers and their surroundings upon which urban high rises are built.
Sunil Gupta's series 'Mr. Malhotra's Party' is a collection of portraits in public places. Mr Gupta says, "Part of the underlying motivation is to show to people, especially in Delhi itself, that gay people are very ordinary looking, and part of just the social scene, part of the family structures that people live in. . . ."