Inner Worlds Of Wonder

The second edition of The Sculpture Park at Nahargarh Fort takes conversations started last year ahead, in stone and soul.

- Suman Tarafdar

Not many Indian fans of sculpture would have perhaps in their most optimistic moments imagined they would see a Richard Long work up close, in their own country. Famed for his ‘land’ works, Long, is the only artist to have been nominated four times for the Turner Prize. His work is usually a response to the environments he has worked, and indeed personally walked in – right from the epochal A Line Made by Walking, in which he created a transient line made by repeatedly walking back and forth in a grassy field!

Long would go on to create multiple ‘map works’ by walking, and his work is unsurprisingly the opening installation of this edition, as well as easily its largest and most striking. Called River of Stones – it is a sinuous river made of red sandstones that covers the entire central courtyard of Madhavendra Palace. Long, 75 now, has once again incorporated local elements, also highlighting the need to conserve water in an arid zone. Open to the elements, and any touchy-feely visitor, the rocks were chopped to size on Long’s instructions in a city yard and then transported by tempo and rickshaw. Completed in a week, the rocks are just a shade too large to be picked up though! Quick tip, it is best viewed from the upper level balconies.

While this arresting work alone would make many satiated enough (the same space last year was occupied by works of six artists), the second edition of The Sculpture Park has much more on offer. A public private partnership between the Rajasthan government and Saat Saath Arts Foundation, it is once again open for eleven-odd months, till November 2019 – though again it is highly recommended that you not go during the peak summer months – most of the exhibits are outdoors, some even on terraces, and the sun in Jaipur can test the hardiest.