The Library Project
Venue: The Library, Chelsea College of Art & Design Library
Curated by: Manmeet K Walia
Dates: 21st September- 21st October, 23
Public Program: 5th October, 23.
Brief description of exhibition / work in the library
‘When examining the relationship between the society and books, the library as a space symbolises the emotional connection that is frequently disregarded in our quotidian existence. The dependency, the independence, the timelessness- giving home to past in the future, the vacuum, the exchange and the silence in the space speaks for the unspoken. The inherent connection an individual aims to forge with a book within the time spent- either while making the book or reading it, is not defined rather manifests as a profound and visceral experience.
Evoking this emotion through book art, the exhibition will showcase artist practices that have involved books in ways to express their narrative. The entire show will be displayed in the vitrines placed in the main and the old library space of Chelsea College.
Concept: Books, Humans, and Identity: The library project
“(Books) liberate us from the narrowness that tradition and society impose.... This is the power of books? A power that some societies fear and, consequently, they seek to restrain access to books and the ability to read. We are fortunate to live in a society that recognizes and appreciates the value of books and reading."
-Sul H. Lee, introduction to Books That Inspire 11 (Nor man: Univ. of Oklahoma Libraries, 2002): iv-v.
When examining the relationship between the society and books, the library as a space symbolises the emotional connection that is frequently disregarded in our quotidian existence. The dependency, the independence, the timelessness- giving home to past in the future, the vacuum, the exchange, and the silence in the space speaks for the unspoken. The inherent connection an individual aims to forge with a book within the time spent- either while making the book or reading it, is not defined rather manifests as a profound and visceral experience.
There are books that inspire, there are books that offend- either way it heralds the necessity of human interaction within the literary diversity, choice, and personal engagement. This is also impregnated with the cultural knowledge that an individual carries along. The inclination and choices have an inter-relation to the ethnicity and cultural belonging of the reader/writer leading to self-exploration or social enquiry.
Engagement with a book can be seen as a process motivated through personal interests be it as a student, an avid reader, a book lover, a writer, or an explorer. The space within library evokes the idea of necessity of books in society nurturing critical consciousness transforming mutability in responses. This project explores the relationality in the freedom of expression of an individual within the creative space through books and art. The list of artists approach different aspects in their art practice where book becomes a part of their expression taking a form of language narrating stories. Envisioned to be a traveling project, it is an endeavour to make the concept more site-specific, putting impetuous on the space as and how it moves forward.
As a curator, Library(as a space), is evolving as an important part of my practice where different histories, cultures, thinking, philosophies, and actions are housed together. It a place where there is a marriage between the thought and the practice, in this process of becoming.
The Envisioned Artist List includes AlQawi Nanavati, Dayanita Singh, Srabani Ghosh, Monika Drabot, The Offset Projects and Suleman Khilji(Subject to their availability). The four artists have an individualistic approach in interacting with the books.
PUBLIC PROGRAMING
(De)Colonising Materials: An extension to ‘the Library Project’- a group exhibition, wherein this conversation will enforce the (under)represented South Asian research and culture in the western institutions. The in- conversations, planned in a hybrid-format, envisions to have panellists from South Asia. The event is planned on 5th October, 2023 within the premises of old books and Victorian architecture at the Old Library, Chelsea College of Arts’
Order of service - by Monika Drabot & Richard Cook
