5 February-26 April, 2020 @ Sunder Nursery, New Delhi
The Gujral Foundation has announced an iconic public art project – commissioning temporary pavilions by selected artists, architects and designers that will respond to different locations in India. For its inaugural edition, the Foundation in association with Outset India, has commissioned a pleated pavilion titled The Song of the Earth and the Sky at the Sunder Nursery, New Delhi. It has been designed by the architect and artist Ankon Mitra. Reha Sodhi is the curatorial advisor on the project. It will be open to the public for viewing from February 5- April 26, 2020. The Gujral Foundation completed its tenth year in 2018 which marked the beginning of the Foundation’s focus into the realm of architecture and design. This began with the presentation of the India pavilion at the London Design Biennale in September 2018 and continues through various initiatives including partnerships, exhibitions, outreach, interventions and forums in both India and internationally. In the rediscovered garden of Sunder Nursery, renewed and revitalised from history and brought into the present; Mitra seeks to create an Ensō diagram, where copper of the Earth and silver of the sky meet and embrace in a meditative bliss. Architecture of the past lies strewn everywhere in the garden, lending us to a gem of geometry – a beautiful pointed arch. In the pavilion, Mitra has multiplied the arch nine times to symbolise the nine realms. The Zen garden represents yin and yang, wind and water – two elements that connect the Earth and the sky. The multitudes of folds in origami create a single pleated song. In that moment of rhapsody, the physical garden dematerialises and like all spiritual energies, becomes the universe. “This is an unprecedented opportunity, hopefully the beginning of an annual pavilion building project in New Delhi, comparable to the prestigious Serpentine Pavilion in London or the MoMA PS1 in New York. I would like to laud the Gujral Foundation for spearheading this initiative and express my gratitude to Feroze for selecting me as the
inaugural architect-artist to create this pavilion.” – Ankon Mitra (Architect and artist) “The Gujral Foundation aims to provide a global platform for experimental projects by leading architects. For the inaugural year, Ankon Mitra has been invited to respond to the gardens of Sunder Nursery. The Song of the Earth and the Sky is a pleated pavilion that takes inspiration from the arcade of the Sunderwala Mahal and responds to it by using origami forms that are intertwined together. The combination of open and covered spaces creates a subtle interplay of light.”
Reha Sodhi
(Curatorial advisor)
