Chandan Bez Baruah’s ‘Elsewhere in Northeast India’ evokes nostalgia

— Julian Barnes in ‘The Sense of an Ending’

You get a sense of this sentiment of yearning and nostalgia in the show ‘Elsewhere In Northeast India’ by artist Chandan Bez Baruah. Curated by Waswo X Waswo and presented by Latitude 28 Art Gallery in New Delhi, this show takes viewers into the real jungles of the rugged yet calmly beautiful landscape of northeastern India. But don’t expect just the beauty, the aesthetics and the benign — under the layers lies a tale steeped in history and culture, juxtaposed by the darkness of contemporary conflict. It is not surprising that Chandan has chosen his art as a potent medium of expression to reveal his innermost thoughts and emotions.

Born at Nagaon, Assam, in 1979, Baruah completed his BFA in Printmaking from Government Art College, Guwahati, and MFA in Printmaking from Visva-Bharati University, Santiniketan. He held his first solo show at Srimanta Sankardev Kalakshetra in Guwahati in 2003 and has been a part of many national and international group shows and competitive exhibitions. Some of these include the 1st Print Biennale India organised by Lalit Kala Akademi in 2018; the Akademi’s 56th National Exhibition of Art in 2017; the 9th and 10th Triennial Print Exhibition in France in 2014 and 2016, respectively; the Daejeon International Art Show held in Korea in 2015 and many more.

In ‘Elsewhere in Northeast India’, we can view glimpses of Chandan’s childhood, wherein soldiers and security forces were a common presence among the alluring forests that he grew up in. But, along with this, one can experience the turmoil that is going on within his soul that compels viewers to pause, ponder and delve deeper.

The artist’s technique is so unique and so surreal that it elevates his oeuvre to the sublime. The intricately-crafted woodcuts that are derived from digital photographs are a testimony to his attention to detail and his revelry in the minutiae. As he explains, “I innovate and experiment in the printmaking medium, both traditionally and unconventionally. I use my woodcarving skills to create larger, highly-finished prints related to the landscape where I was born and raised. These ecological and nostalgic connections surface in my works. Urbanisation has made us ignore these landscapes, rendering them known yet unknown to us.”

What adds another layer to these contemplative creations is how human interventions, in the form of transport trucks, chain-link fences, intimidating bulldozers, dilapidated shacks and more, traverse through the narrative and immediately take us away from the surreal beauty to the stark reality. And therein lies the fluidity of interpretation that the artist imparts to his audiences. Just as he creates a re-imagining of his native land and geographical highlights, it brings a sense of evocative thinking that inadvertently occurs while observing these works.

Bhavna Kakkar, director of Latitude 28, points out, “Chandan’s ability to translate the chaotic beauty of Assam’s undergrowth into meticulously detailed woodcuts is truly remarkable. His work not only showcases his extraordinary craftsmanship, but also his deep connection with the land and its history. By presenting these scenes through his eyes, we are given the opportunity to experience the serenity, the conflict, and the rich cultural tapestry of Northeast India in a way that is both immersive and enlightening.”

This work is a refreshing take on how an artist’s eye can juxtapose nature with the changes that humankind imposes upon it, and how this observation can affect an artist to present a narrative of how it has impacted him. He explains: “While carving, I relive my experiences and this process creates a peculiar attachment between each frame and myself. The connection is related to my emotional interpretation and atmospheric transformation on the wooden surface. I am very conscious of the origin and thus this realistic approach, imbuing my imagination and skills along with modern photographic technologies. I relish my involvement with each landscape along with the ongoing spontaneous activities of creation.”