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Delhi’s fine art has never been limited to air-conditioned galleries. One might even argue that the silence-in-a-white-cube arrangement can’t fully capture the essence of creativity in a city as boisterous as ours – full of alternative studios by young, dedicated patrons, and bold conversations.
For a while now, though, it’s seemed that even the city’s galleries have begun to RSVP to something that goes beyond the touch-me-not. We saw it last November with Kiran Nadar Museum of Art’s ‘please touch gently (zines, comics, ephemera)' exhibition. In fact, we’ve been seeing it for years in the India Art Fair’s massive physical installations outside booths that often function as spots to sit down.
Now, we’re well into Delhi’s blistering heat again. And we’re lifetimes into craving community. This June, opening around the same time, we’ve got two distinct exhibitions that, so far, haven’t exactly been relying on marketing big names or historic art movements. The appeal instead draws into something more instantly sense-tickling: somewhere you can rifle through physical art on paper and play with objects around you, and perhaps make a friend or two… for free.
Paper and Play | Gallery XXL, Defence Colony
This show explicitly defines itself as ‘as a response to the seasonal lull of the art calendar’. The ‘conventional exhibition model’ is eschewed, and instead, the Defence Colony gallery chooses the words ‘active’, and perhaps more strikingly, calls it a space to ‘chill’.
Curated by Priyanshi Saxena, it promises to host a trove of books, games, zines, toys, artist/photobooks, bringing the tactile memory of paper in childhood to what it calls an event that’s equal parts exhibition, hangout, and participatory environment.
Gallery XXL itself is known to host some pretty cool workshops, so we’ve got high expectations.
When: Opening June 6. Preview’s at 5-9pm. Tues-Sun, 11.30am-7pm. Closing date TBA.
Where: Gallery XXL, A-277, Defence Colony
Time Out tip: Gallery XXL happens to be part of the famed Defence Colony art district, and near some good spots to eat in the DC market, like Kent’s and Genre.
Pulp Bazaar | Pulp Society, Okhla
Pulp Society returns with the fourth edition of Pulp Bazaar, which they affectionately call their summer exhibition. They describe it as a ‘playful, slightly chaotic, and wholly affectionate ode to paper in all its many moods and forms!’ They frequently solicit zines and hold accessible workshops centred on creating art, so it’s always lovely to see one of the many culminations of this collective’s outlook. There will also be communal reading tables, stocked with publications on South Asian art and culture.
Aside from books, zines, and prints, they’ve got ‘odd little objects’ – which is all the convincing you need if you’re a real trinkets-head. And yes, they too invite you to linger for as long as you want. They’ve also assured that there are a few surprises incoming for those who attend.
When: Opening June 5. Preview’s at 4-8pm. On till July 24: Mon-Sat, 11am-6pm.
Where: Pulp Society, B-247, Pocket B, Okhla Phase I, Okhla Industrial Estate, New Delhi, Delhi 110020