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For the 60th year anniversary exhibition at Chemould Prescott Road, curator Shaleen Wadhwana has conducted in depth archival research to create multiple entry points into six decades of Indian contemporary art. She presents ‘CheMoulding | Framing Future Archives’ which is a two part exhibition previewing on 15th September. “This exhibition keeps archival history at its core as it unpacks artistic responses towards emotion, nurturing, society, and self. By adding the present continuous suffix ‘ing’, it makes Chemould a verb, an act of creating fearless spaces for artistic freedom since 1963. This exhibition contextualises that reality for our present times (where such spaces are threatened). It recognises the art frame moulding company as the genesis of this gallery which is a catalyst in moulding Indian art history and its contemporary present. Over 30+ Chemould contemporaries ranging from Jitish Kallat, Shilpa Gupta, Anju Dodiya to Varunika Saraf, Nilima Sheikh have responded to personalised curatorial prompts from the archive, surrounded by archival memorialisation of veteran artists ranging from Tyeb Mehta, K.H. Ara to Bhupen Khakhar, Rummana Hussain, Jangarh Singh Shyam. The mediums explored are painting, sculpture, textile, film, printmaking, audio, photography, drawing, literature and installation. Reflecting on the gallery’s public institutional role and its internal everyday idiosyncrasies, this exhibition connects the Indian Art Movement and its relationship with Bombay, with India and the rest of the world. We also have Rememberiing,, a special week-long nostalgic revisitation of the former Gallery Chemould space with public programming. All of this is presented to you, the viewer, who is the witness to this history in the making, and takes us into a braver, kinder, more aware future.”

-Shaleen Wadhwana, Curator, CheMoulding