Ain’t no mountain high enough

A group of disabled artists shows how creativity can overcome barriers

It is said that if nature takes away one sense, it sharpens the others to a highly acute level to make it the most overriding factor of one’s persona. This is exactly what happened when a lively group of physically challenged artists from across India, whose disabilities and handicap are but an aberration of their unique talent, came together for the ongoing art exhibition called The Gifted. The show is an artistic and aesthetic confluence of artworks where the expression is truly by “the gifted”.

It was heartening to see vivid artworks by artists including Sheela Sharma, a double amputee who, despite losing both her arms, uses her feet to create works that have been exhibited in numerous shows across the country. Vyom Aggarwal, also speech and hearing impaired, is a young and fascinating artist with a variety of paintings in oils, pencil and water colours, also on view during the show. Vyom has been seen in many other shows as well and his talent defies his age. On display too are the lifelike paintings of artist Sriharsha Shukla – speech and hearing impaired – who has participated in solo and group exhibitions in India and the US. Naik is another artist whose work found favour with the cognoscenti for its detailed depiction of contemporary reality.

The show is being held under the aegis of Art Spice Gallery at The Metropolitan Hotel & Spa, in conjunction with an NGO, Family Of Disabled, to celebrate World Humanitarian Day on August 19. Supported by the United Nations (UN), the wonderfully special exhibition was inaugurated by Kathak danseuse Shovana Narayan, who has been very supportive of their cause for a long time.

Babita Gupta, director, Art Spice, says, “This exhibition is not about lesser talent. Rather, our aim is to provide an equal opportunity to those with the gift and flair of creation. If I did not tell you that the artists were physically impaired, you would still be wowed by their artwork. This show is a tribute to their talent and their grit in not letting their handicap stand in their way. These artists are mainstream and this is what this show and our collaboration is all about.” She elaborates that the philosophy of Art Spice is to facilitate systematic, long-term support and co-operation between established contemporary artists and international galleries through the medium of such shows that both unify and liberate the visual arts.

Family of Disabled (FOD) is a registered not-for-profit organisation serving persons with disabilities since 1992. It was founded by Rajinder Johar, himself a quadriplegic who has been bedridden for the last 22 years. Their vision is to see every person with a disability leading a dignified, financially secure and productive life. FOD has a number of firsts to its credit including publishing India’s first magazine on disability as well as projects like Apna Rozgaar, Beyond Limits and Gyan Path. They strive to enable disabled people with low socio-economic status earn a livelihood, promote quality education amongst children, encourage artists and artisans with disabilities to showcase their talent and create awareness on issues related to disability.

For me personally, it was heartening and fascinating to see the infectious enthusiasm of the artists, many of whom were speech-impaired, to conduct lively conversations with their hands and share jokes and laughter. The sense of art needs to be developed and nurtured especially in the physically challenged, for, often, they tend to get very impatient and short tempered when what they are trying to create doesn’t happen. It reminded me of my own brush with an artist who had lost both his legs in an accident and went through great emotional angst following it. His work went for a toss aesthetically and in fact his entire colour palette changed for the worse. His impatience was pathetic to watch and as a bystander I felt helpless, for he needed to slay his own demons and move forward. But that was many years ago...

I feel this talented group’s association will take them forward with sure steps if they lend a helping hand to each other and we in turn to them. I have great faith in the ability of these wonderful young artists with their special gift to transcend their limitations to colour a sky of their making and leave footprints on the sands of time and the art world.

Dr Alka Raghuvanshi is an art writer, curator and artist and can be contacted onalkaraghuvanshi@yahoo.com