At India Art Fair, a reminder of Kashmir floods

The audience at the upcoming India Art Fair will visit a traditional Kashmiri house with wooden panes and intricate design and walk through

it. The difference would be that this instillation of a "fallen house" would be a reminder of the destruction in last year's floods in the Valley.

The handiwork of Kashmiri artist Veer Munshi, the 20-foot-long "Serenity of Desolation" work is aimed at reminding the people the havoc last year's flood caused to the flora and fauna and how the tragedy was easily forgotten in the wake of assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir and other incidents that resonated with the local and global audience.

"We have forgotten how the floods destroyed and damaged many homes; how people were easily forgotten and so were their problems and issues. Many of my artist

friends lost their homes in the deluge," Munshi told IANS in an interview.

Inside the house, a five-minute video would show different aspects of nature's wrath.

Along with this, the Delhi-based artist has also mounted over 100 paintings of faces of the people he had met during the floods.

The money generated from the sales will be donated toward the rehabilitation of artists, poets and writers whose houses were washed away in the floods.

"This work would not only draw attention to the plight of the people, but would also provide some material help at a micro-level to the affected artists," he said.

The India Art Fair will run Jan 29-Feb 1.