At first glance the eyes are drawn upwards at the dishevelled mosquito nets, angularly criss-crossed at a measured distance from the ceiling, the lightness and permeability of the material creating an atmosphere of a shelter, fragile and malleable, it spreads outside its presupposed form and hence disrupts the rigidity of the architectonics of each room of the gallery. If taken in its geo-cultural significance, net of this kind connotes a protection against an anticipated and as such a constant threat of an apparent/palpable end. This notion of symptomatic existential vulnerability lies at the very core of Wakilur Rahman’s current exhibition, Self-quest at the time of Corona.
Wakil re-creates the interior of his home which turned into a sanctuary in the time of Corona. Being a global phenomenon, the state-stipulated preventive measures of ‘ quarantine’ , in effect, heralded a tacit herd-mentality while uniting the world populace beyond their (hegemonic) borders in varied states of fear and anxiety as well as equal measures of hope and optimism to tide over to a ‘revertible future’– looking back to look into the future. In essence, Wakil’s current, physical re-iteration of an earlier ‘on-line’ exhibition spanning nearly two and a half months of the lockdown, manifests a celebration of a creative spur resulting in a crop of works quite distinct from his rest. On view is a slew of photographic images and installations created with contrasting materials, all simmering with a sinister undertone that wafts out of a mnemonic brew of a past, whose aftertaste still holds us hostage. The additional manipulations executed upon them are signs of a mind that seek refuge in patterns, shapes, forms, and predominantly in a rather poetic visual engagement with the play of light and shadow. Which goes to suggest that Wakil takes a keen interest in the sensory premises defined by the architecture of a space. At every turn of his visual realization of a perceived objective reality there is an underpinning of conscious deliberation. He picks his subject with the intent of coalescing them into a narrative of one’s intimation of time within an intimate space. Dislodged from the regimentation of civic life, time slowed down allowing room to take in the walled environment of a home where one is to spend or rather serve time for days on end. The physical dimensions of the rooms kept changing with the change in light. Corners standing out in sharp contrast or blurring away into obscurity. He sets out to question the behaviour that regulates the organization of objects in architectonically designated spaces. Hybrid space midway house where the public body reconciles with its private, hence tamed avatar. Convalesce from the horrors of the outside.
(with caution, both literally and metaphorically) faced with the urgency of a consensual change in the way of life that cast a mood less celebratory and more cautionary over a world gone awry. Though, battling the unique health-threat, in some degrees called for a regulated life–practice which meant also to some extent, a suspension of collective agency to a system of (capitalist) central control wagging its peremptory finger (from behind a mask of disproportionate institutional charity); the pursuit of a meaningful purpose became ever more insistent. As new rituals began to take centre-stage– partially based on the ancient wisdom of survival alongside that which is scientifically recommended; a premonition of a faith ( beyond its religious stretch), in something magical enough to transform the existing order, began to surface at the edge of our consciousness. The ecology of existence felt more expansive and vibrant, spreading itself across our known/unknown sense of affinity with the world around while in reality this very world continued to squeeze itself with much unease to fit within the four walls of our home. Amidst an experiential landscape which projects both our phycho-physical and political inadequacy, Wakil, as a highly motivated and ready-witted individual, who wears multiple quills to his cap as artist-curator-gallerist-academician-researcher began to explore the field of installation artwork using household objects ready at hand . His years of experience in curating exhibits came in handy, not to mention the luxury of time that felt more personal than ever, to tweak with the otherwise neglected ‘ready-mades’ to explore the workings of his sensorial experience of an object in space with an intention of transposing it outside its utilitarian valence.