Talks
Blurring the Lines: Fact, Fiction & Everything In-between
Munem Wasif, Baptist Coelho, Pallavi Paul, Arnika Ahldag
This panel discussion brings together three artistic practitioners who each work in a variety of mediums, including occasionally moving images. Moderated by MAP’s Associate Curator Arnika Ahldag, this session will explore the thin line between fact and fiction, particularly in this contemporary moment saturated with unverified and endless media, focussing on how these artists may have used the medium of video to challenge traditional representations of documentation and truth while exploring ideas of dream and memory.
Munem Wasif
Photographer, Filmmaker and Curator
Munem Wasif’s work with photography and film investigates conceptions of ‘documents’ and ‘archives’ and their corresponding influence on politically and geographically complex issues. Expressionistic in style and long term in method, Wasif often experiments beyond tradition, testing the possibilities of fiction through a familiar documentary language.
He has exhibited worldwide including at the Center Pompidou, Palais de Tokyo & Visa pour l’image in France; and the Whitechapel Gallery, Kettle’s Yard and the Victoria & Albert Museum in England. He was one of the curators of Chobi Mela International Photography Festival (editions VIII – X) and is currently a fellow at Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin.
Pallavi Paul
Multimedia Artist
Pallavi Paul is a multimedia practitioner whose research is focussed on the enmeshment of truth practices and image making. As a contemporary artist she works primarily with video and the installation form. Her work has been shown at the AV festival in Newcastle, Contour Biennial, The Garage Rotterdam, Edinburgh Art Festival and the Bhau Daji Lad Mumbai City Museum to name a few. Her films have been screened at Experimenta, TENT, Beirut Art Centre, Mumbai Film Festival and 100 years of Experimentation in Film and Video (A festival organized by Films Division, Mumbai).
Baptist Coelho
Interdisciplinary Artist
Baptist Coelho, a Mumbai-based artist, articulates unspoken stories and conjures meaning from psychological and physical disruptions caused by war and conflict. Through a process of archival and ethnographic research, and engagement with military and civilian personnel, he investigates issues surrounding conflict, war (and war museums), conscription, heroism, emotion, fear, the body and gender. The Siachen Glacier conflict between India and Pakistan; and India’s contribution to the two World Wars are at the core of his practice, amongst other geographies.His interdisciplinary projects use diverse media including installation, sculpture, audio/video, photography, collage and performance. Baptist was the recipient of the Sovereign Asian Art Prize, amongst others, and has exhibited in galleries and museums worldwide.
Arnika Ahldag (Moderator)
Associate Curator, MAP
Arnika Ahldag’s work as an art historian investigates the representation of labour in Indian contemporary art. Her curatorial projects include the public programme for IAF 2020 and ‘Mapping Gender: Bodies and Sexualities in the Global South’ at the Jawaharlal Nehru University. As an artist she works in video and performance and her recent projects were shown at the Bhubaneswar Art Trail, the Kiran Nadar Museum of Modern Art and Max Mueller Bhavan, New Delhi. She is a PhD candidate at JNU and holds an MA from University College in London, UK and Albert Ludwigs University in Freiburg, Germany.
