An Unusual Art exhibition in Bangalore

Wonders never cease! Just when you are getting accustomed to a feeling of jaded age, of becoming crusty, thick skinned, hard, as if nothing can reach your core, or maybe you have lost a core that cares, Wham!! a life's surprise knocks you off your feet , throws you staggering back, penetrates all those protective layers that experience has clothed you in, to restart an inner melt down....

Today, Bangalore hosts an unusual art exhibition by Animisha Nagnur. For about a two kilometer stretch from the Sadashivnagar police station to Ramiah College, on the new BEL road, canopied on both sides and along its entire length by giant, old, trees, are life size figures of humans, cutout on cheap brown paper, hands wide spread, hugging these trees....some in profile, some with their backs to us, these simple images are strong, powerful reminders of our deep, strong connectedness to trees and the natural world - lifelines of our existence. Most of these images also carry messages to inspire us, make us aware, care, shake our apathy, to protect the existence of those, that keep us existing. Its not surprising, the kind of public response these childish cut outs are inspiring; pedestrians, cycles, motorcycles, autos, cars are stopped along the way, people pondering in silence, viewing in wonder-a sight of men hugging trees- thats it - in fact, just a brown paper cutout of men hugging trees. This exhibition is strongly evocative and timely reminder of the famous Chipko movement in northern India when people literally 'stuck' themselves to trees, to prevent large scale destructions of their forests.

Within the current, fast paced and out-of-control growth and development of Bangalore, trees are the first victims, to be replaced by mazes of flyovers, glittery malls, parking lots. While a large fraction of Bangalore's populace welcomes these changes, and ignores the price with which we pay for it, this exhibition certainly provides that pause, in our speeding lives, to wonder "is the price too high?"

Thank you Animisha Nagnur for your stark message, and thank you, Hasiru Usiru, for bringing this powerful work to our attention.