Manisha Gawade is a Dubai-based artist from India and has worked extensively with textiles, glass and acrylics. Her work forms part of serious art collections in New Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Paris and Dubai.
As an expat shuttling between cities, do you see any cross-cultural pollination at all?
Growing up in India, yes. It is something that has always been with me. India definitely has its influence on my work, but apart from that, different countries have changed my perspective and made it more global. I would say a lot of Europe, Paris, and even Croatia.
Indian art is really picking up around the world now, but how about UAE art? Do see yourself as a UAE or an Indian artist?
It's very difficult to draw a line where India ends and the UAE starts in my mind. So yes, I would say it's a combination of both. The UAE art market has picked up in the last two years. But yes, maybe eight years ago when I came here it wasn't the same story. It was very different and there wasn't so much exposure to art in this part of the world then.
What do you think has prompted the change? The influx of new people moving in, or increased backing from the authorities?
Again, I think it's both. Without the government's help, it really wouldn't be possible. They have done a lot lately, like the Sharjah Biennial and the Gulf Art Fair. These are very good signs that the UAE's art market is growing. And yes, it's an upcoming thing and it's going to go further; it's going to go places. With the Guggenheim and Louvre coming up in Abu Dhabi, things are definitely going to change for the better. Yet as an artist, there's a lot more that can be done.
There still don't seem to be that many galleries here, compared to India for example.
India has a huge history of art going back thousands of years, with so many different dynasties and civilisations. From the Maurya civilisation, to the Ashoka, into the Mughals, up to the British. And that has grown over the centuries; it is not like one day they decided ‘OK, there's no art, let's inject some art into it'. India has grown in its art over generations and centuries. So obviously, the kind of depth that the art has is completely different to what we might find in a newer place, where art is still coming up and people are discovering it.
So while Indian art has had the chance to develop and grow organically over centuries, things are naturally rather different here. Do you think that there's a danger that the art scene's integrity could be compromised by overhasty growth?
It wouldn't actually be dangerous, but I would say that it is different. In India art is a part of people's daily lifestyles, from the folk artists to the rural handcrafters - it's been there forever. While here, it's more contemporary in nature. So it's very interesting, and the whole growth gives a new perspective to it.
One of your pieces depicts a woman with a bisected face. Can you tell us a little more about that?
If you notice, there's a zipper on that canvas. And the whole meaning of that work is to say, ‘If God was a weaver, when he was weaving the thread and the cloth of the woman, even he wouldn't know all of what she goes through and faces until he zips her open and splits her into half.'
Right...
You'll see that the woman has red paint in her parting, which is supposed to traditionally signify that the woman is married in India. So it basically talks about the woman and what she goes through in her marriage, which she does not share with anybody, even her partner. She goes through worries and problems and responsibilities alone. So in fact, this is a question that is put back to the society: isn't that something that needs to be changed? And most of my work, in that sense, questions society.
What was the inspiration behind the upcoming exhibition, Mindscapes Of Mindspaces?
This particular exhibition is quite interesting in the sense that it talks about relationships. And relationships are interdependent on so many different things. There's also a level of suffocation, of alienation, of pain, of loneliness, because of not being able to share your emotions even with the closest of your partners.
Mindscapes Of Mindspaces will be on display from the August 29 until September 4, in Al Nakheel lounge, Grand Hyatt Dubai.
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