Exhibition of watercolours and ceramics “MY HEART DRESSES IN BLACK AND DANCES” curated by Aarti Vir will open on
April 13th at Goethe Zentrum Hyderabad on the occasion of Earth Day
Goethe-Zentrum Hyderabad announces the upcoming exhibition celebrating Earth Day – My Heart Dresses in Black (after Mary Oliver) and dance, curated and created by Aarti Vir.
As the climate crises multiply and the damage our species has inflicted upon the Earth becomes ever more acute and obvious, Earth Day is equally a celebration – of the daily wonders of our planet and its natural world, as it is grieving, of all that has been lost and continues to be desecrated. It is a reminder to us all, to nurture the Earth we have, for our very lives depend on her well-being.
It is perhaps a cliche already, to say that the Covid pandemic reminded us of the interconnectedness of all life on this planet. Ancient cultures and Aboriginal societies across the world respected that truth. May we never again, in our hubris, forget it.
“This show is a collection of watercolor paintings and handmade ceramics, that takes inspiration from the world around me. As my heart dresses in black and dances along to the tunes of that muse, I hope to be able to hold with reverence and celebrate all that we still have,” shares Aarti Vir.
Aarti Vir studied painting at MSU Baroda 1990-94 and SN School, Hyderabad 1994-96. She then spent two years as a student at the Golden Bridge Pottery in Pondicherry, and a year as an apprentice to Ray Meeker. In 1999 she returned home to Hyderabad and set up a studio, making salt-glazed ceramics. In 2003 she was awarded the Charles Wallace India Trust scholarship and spent a semester at the Ceramics Department, University of Wales, Cardiff, and four months as an apprentice to Micki Schloessingk. In 2008 she apprenticed with Sandy Lockwood and Gwyn Hanssen Pigott in Australia. Aarti had to give up her studio of twenty years in 2019. She has been renting a studio for the past year and a half and hopes to have a new studio sometime in the future.
The opening of the Exhibition of watercolours and ceramics will be in the presence of Pranay Juvvadi, a wildlife biologist, Amita Desai, Executive Director of Goethe-Zentrum Hyderabad, and Aarti Vir.
