Select Commissions – K R Nariman

K R Nariman

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Trapeze

Trapeze installation is a large-scale sculpture which hangs at Tijara Fort Palace, one of the Neemrana properties. On its installation, I had the honor of having the suite named ‘Nariman Mahal’. The interconnectedness of life lies at the heart of my work. We share our humanity as we share our planet, tied together in bonds of mutual dependence not just between human beings but also with animals, forests, seas and rivers… in an undeniable web of life. The years of the pandemic brought the fact of our shared destiny and the need for mutual care even more sharply into focus. As an artist, I feel impelled to respond to the exigencies of my era; I think of the artist as both the one who records her times and the one who dreams of better times. We have watched people suffer and we have watched heroic and selfless feats of helping others. My vision as well as message of a linked humanity has emerged even stronger from this. Life is a network of relationships and John Donne’s 17th century lines ring truer than ever: “No man is an island”. We are nothing if not together. My sculptural work, which hangs in the Rani Mahal, is called The Trapeze. A trapeze is an act of faith in our fellow human being. We let go of our supporting bars in the faith that the other will catch us. When the faith is justified, our confidence grows and the act of letting go and catching becomes a joyous dance, a flow. We leap and swing and fly!

Freedom

‘Freedom’ is a celebration of the 75th anniversary of our Constitution. It is a tribute to our democracy and its guiding light — the Constitution of India. We, the People of India gave the Constitution to ourselves. It is We, the People, who have to uphold its values in our daily lives as citizens. The hopes, aspirations and ideals of the diverse people of India depend upon the numerous checks and balances contained in our Constitution and the concentration of power being diffused between its many institutions. Citizens of India hold their heads high, thriving in its working, assured of freedom, fairness and equal opportunities. The airborne figure, representing our visionary Constitution makers, expresses these aspirations as written values: justice, liberty and equality to all, and fraternity which holds together a nation as varied as ours. It is not merely the words but the spirit of the Constitution as felt and practiced that is the greatest security of these values.