Art Edition: Day 4 – Sayan Chatterjee
Based in Kolkata, Sayan Chatterjee is a researcher at the University of North Bengal. While his photographs explore life in its familiar strangeness, his paintings often depict the binary between permanence and transition. Here are a few glimpses of his work:
Nostalgia
“A tram ride might not be a first choice for many in this age of uber-cool transportation. Tram rides in Kolkata have always fascinated me because of their movement. This might be an unpopular opinion, but the slowness of this mode of transport is what fascinated me the most. Kundera had linked movement and memory in his novel Slowness; he tied slowness to the act of remembering and speed to forgetting. Tram rides on tram number 8 from Baghbazar to Esplanade (even though this route does not exist anymore) had often helped me to slow down and savour moments which otherwise would not have been possible in these fast-paced times. Even though we have a few AC trams nowadays, the double coached old version with its wooden seats, yellow glass panes, tinkling bells, DC fans, 40W filament bulbs and rustling of the metal wheels on the tracks is what I would like to fondly remember while thinking of such rides for the rest of my life.”
Cracked Mirror
“This picture was taken around October, 2019. It perhaps, in the best possible way, captures the human condition in these trying times. The cracks on the surface of the body are a reflection of how vaguely humans have perceived their surroundings, ignoring the symbiotic relation between human and nature, and its impact on their existence itself.”
Leisure
“I was always fond of sitting beside the Ganges and taking ferry rides across the river. The river, with its mellifluous waves always led to a purgation of emotions. However, this ride was a special one on a little motor boat from Kuntighat to Belur. The waves splattered across the deck of this fragile boat (compared to the structurally sound ferry). A single man steered this boat with an umbrella on his head to beat the scorching heat of the sun. It reminded me of how fragile our existence is, like that of the boat. The splashing waves were mere reminders, we try to be structurally sound yet perhaps we like to be fragile at the same time.”
Today’s Gossip
“A – Did you know, Mrs. Biswas is preparing mutton curry today for his foreign-return son and daughter-in-law? Ah! You can smell the spices brewing even from the farthest of alleys!”
B – What are you saying! Foreign! He is an English teacher in Bangladesh. Anyway, is she using gorom moshla from Kanai’s shop?”
Queen Moon
“And haply the Queen-Moon is on her throne,
Cluster’d around by all her starry Fays;
But here there is no light,
Save what from heaven is with the breezes blown
Through verdurous glooms and winding mossy ways.”
“Ode to the Nightingale”, John Keats
“বাঁকানো সিঁড়ির পথে সেখানে নেমে আসে চাঁদের আলো
কাওকে চেনো না তুমি তোমাকে চেনে না কেউ সেই তো ভালো।”
“আকাশে ছড়ানো মেঘের কাছাকাছি”, মহীনের ঘোড়াগুলি
The moon, as a subject, rarely fails to fascinate.
To know more about Sayan and his work, visit his accounts on Facebook and Instagram.
We welcome your articles, stories, poems (in বাংলা or English) and artwork at timesofcorona@gmail.com
