Scars of History

Over the last sixty years, the figure and the face have indexed political traumas and emotional crises in Jogen Chowdhury’s works, states Geeti Sen.

- Geeti Sen

The 20th century has possibly witnessed the largest number of migrations across the world. There have been numerous incidents of exodus and exile. People have fled their countries because they have been persecuted. With the formation of new countries has arisen the delineation of borders that has prevented their return. These mass migrations have included the upheaval of vast populations; the series of displacements, relocations and resettlements have called forth new histories.

In the context of Indian art, several artists were affected by the horrors unleashed by the Partition. Notable among them were Somnath Hore, Satish Gujral, S. H. Raza, and Zarina. Raza and Zarina’s families left India for Pakistan. Zarina moved with her husband from Japan to Germany and later to several other addresses before finally settling in the United States. Through her works, she has asked the pertinent question, “Where is home?” Her entire corpus of work focuses on mapping this journey from her first home in Aligarh to Sarajevo, Baghdad and San Diego, where there is “No Place to Land”.