In Topographies of Tents, Terracotta, and Time three distinct lines of artistic inquiry converge to explore questions of identity and displacement, spawning a narrative exchange of ideas and emotions. In this quasi performative encounter, Swen Kählert (Hamburg, Germany) mimics the workings of nature by allowing time to model acrylic paint into plastic bodies, whether on canvas or as geomorphic accretions. Sudhakar Chippa (Hyderabad) projects the age-old medium of terracotta beyond the boundaries of traditional reliefs, floats ghost ships of criss-crossed geometries to describe sprawling urban matrices. Arnaldo Drés González (originally Venezuela, now Hamburg) assimilates his findings of abandoned debris to chart erratic, fluorescent lines of migration, protecting his fragmented self in green tents of temporary refuge.
Kählert, Chippa and González each bring different life experience to their respective media: their interaction here in Hyderabad leads us to the fascinating question of what it means to make art and challenges preconceived notions of cultural exchange.