Mukhowta: An exhibition of sculpture works

In his latest project, Raj Shahani presents a series of wood works where he makes a forest of antique wooden corbels on bases in a circular formation like a sacred forest.

He repairs and accentuates each object with a metal covering to reflect on our alter egos. Drawing inspiration from the sacred Snake Groves of Northern Malabar he creates a constellation of wood and metal in the Mughal Fountain Rotundas of Bikaner house.

Shahani places pieces of Burma teak behind shining plates of metal – copper, gold , silver , panchadhatu, bronze ,German silver, brass and steel , reminding us of the ethereal presence of materials used in sculpture, but it also hides something valuable behind by a veneer of a shining metal. That shining metal is our alter ego , our ‘Mukhowta’ , the mask that we don hiding our real beautiful selves in wood.

The two fountains in the courtyard don snake sculptures made from a jute rope adorned with an iron hood and tail. Calling them ‘Sarpa Devtas’ they are drawn from the sacred Sarpa Kavus or Snake Groves of Kerala , through which water sprouts towards a blue sky above beckoning our belief in nature. Protecting us.

Masks have had an undeniable existence in the history of visual culture of India. Masks act as a spiritual apparatus to performances that are esoteric and magical, used by shamans as acts of divine presence and the clairvoyance.

In the districts of the Malabar in Northern Kerala – Theyyam is a calling of nature spirits by shamanistic characters who dwell in a sacred cove called the Kavu, where snakes of fortune from the Nagaloka inhabit as protectors of the forest. The Theyyam dancers dance through the wake of night enthralling an audience into ecstasy.

When: 11 am – 7pm, January 27 – February 29

Where: Bikaner House