A new exhibition chronicles cross-border art

An untitled exhibition showcases life in the borderlands

An untitled multimedia exhibition by Shilpa Gupta about how imaginary borderlines both construct and subvert nations has reached India.

The exhibition has evolved ever since it started as a project commissioned by Swedish design company Kvadrat in 2011. It was then exhibited at the Dhaka Art Summit in 2014. Next, it was on display in the Berlin Biennale and became part of the collateral events in the Venice Biennale, 2015, as My East is your West.

The exhibition looks at how various sections of society respond to the curious situation of porous and changeable borders. It also shows how life in the borderlands and the flow of people and goods continue regardless, owing to economic necessity, historical and social affinity and actual geographical boundaries. In focusing attention on the issue, Gupta covers different facets, including locals, guards, smugglers, entrepreneurs, lawmakers and even memory. Often, the dark humour and the danger in the situations come through simultaneously.  

It was in 2010 that Gupta became interested in the fence that was being constructed by India around Bangladesh, which, once completed, would be the world’s longest separation barrier. She travelled to the Bengal borderlands, especially enclaves such as Masaldanga, whose inhabitants are cut off from their own country but have been refused education, electricity and postal services by India. Some locals use this as an opportunity to smuggle items, one of which is the Phensedyl cough syrup, which is banned in Bangladesh. Other entrepreneurs talk about how banks flourish on these borders. Still others plan to exploit these enclaves to house labour. The legislation to empty the enclaves and send their inhabitants home, which was proposed in 1974, is still to get fully implemented.

The original exhibition, which is displayed in a specially constructed area outside the gallery, focuses on displaced locals. It uses materials such as the Phensedyl syrup, sliced photographs of boundary pillars that are now in the middle of a lake, remembrance stones and even envelopes that display a letter she posted to Masaldanga with its many forwards and a “no known address” stamp.

The building also houses the two other exhibitions that were conceived in 2013 and 2014. The one inside Gallery I includes a shredded Dhakai Jamdani saree that shows the time and effort required for incognito travel across the border to Kolkata; a strip of uniform depicting the border security forces, who would reportedly harass or kill locals crossing the border in search of bargains; bone china that’s made from cow bones in Bangladesh; and the searchlights and horns that the locals on both sides have to get used to.

Gallery II shows records where the Indian Parliament expunged from its records any discussion of the excesses of border guards. It also includes a short video of a local team playing a match against the security force, asking, “Will it be okay if we win?”

You are even invited to take home an envelope. When I opened mine, it had strips from a letter or a report — possibly written by a local — that was confiscated by the authorities.

Gallery III has an interactive sound installation called The Speaking Wall, which focuses on memories. It resulted from a conversation that Gupta had with Lahori film maker Farzad Nabi about his grandmother, who kept the keys to her house in Kashmir. It shows Gupta’s concerns about how the borders of countries shift almost overnight and the bewilderment it causes.

The evolving exhibition has received international critical acclaim across the world. A book on the exhibition will be released on Saturday at the National Museum in Delhi.

Untitled will be on view at Vadehra Art Gallery in New Delhi till February 22