The Ganges Art Gallery in Kolkata has an unassuming appearance. It’s easy to overlook it as just an ordinary home at apara (neighbourhood). However, at present, the gallery is hosting a unique art exhibition that sets it apart.
Inscribed Imaging, a multimedia exhibition by Anirban Ghosh and curated by Soma Bhowmik, breaks away from Kolkata’s typically conventional art shows. Instead of being mere spectators, visitors become active participants in the artistic experience.
This participatory act is made possible by guiding attendees through the entire creative process behind the displayed works—art pieces inspired by the artist’s everyday encounters. More remarkably, viewers are given the opportunity to reconstruct the artworks at any stage of their formation, making the experience both immersive and dynamic.
Photo: Salil Bera
“There is a stand of magazines with titles reflecting the most-used words of today such as ‘Viral’, ‘Artifical’, etc. On a table next to it, same magazines have been kept with empty sheets inside where viewers can draw or write or do anything say what they by the title of the magazine,” says Ghosh, a Delhi-based multimedia artist.
He has spent over 18 years working in editorial design in the advertising industry. He explained that the inspiration for this exhibition was to explore what happens when he steps away from the strict rules and guidelines that define his daily work.
Photo: Salil Bera
Also, more than just showcasing the results, he wanted to invite people into the creative process, allowing them to experience the journey alongside him. Instead of just viewing the art, visitors engage with it, reconstructing the experiences embedded within the works.
At the same time, the artist subtly critiques the political realities of today. “We are constantly told that we live in ‘Digital India’. But I’m not sure if that’s the reality of the majority of Indians,” Ghosh says.
As part of this reflection, he placed six QR codes at the heart of his exhibition. When scanned in sequence, they depict the evolution of human life—but in reverse. “The idea was to show that we may be going backwards due to excessive penetration of technology in our lives,” he explains.
For curator Soma Bhowmik,Inscribed Imaging, is an important exhibition which Kolkata needed. In a big note which she has left at the exhibition for the viewers to see, Bhowmik says Ghosh has not just diverged from conventional modernism but also offers alternative approach to artistic expressions.
“He creates a dynamic landscape of creative expressions mapping the diverse points of intersections and thus allowing the mediums as much as the image-text contents to reconstrue the significance of the multiple voices,” the curator noted.
