Aaradhana Jhunjhunwala and the late artist Anjum Singh’s collaborative venture will probably be unveiled on April 13
Aaradhana Jhunjhunwala has blended emotions. While she is worked up to speak about her new assortment being unveiled on-line (a2o2.in) on April 13 to boost funds for CanKids, an NGO working for kids with most cancers, she is dealing with the loss of life of a pricey good friend, artist Anjum Singh who handed away of most cancers in November 2020. Before her loss of life, they’d collaborated for a venture — a restricted set of 40 items of bracelets and brooches in silver, with gold and rhodium plating set with semi-precious stones. These designs are impressed by Anjum’s final present at The Talwar Gallery in Delhi (2019) which had depicted Anjum’s battle in opposition to most cancers.
“The works were powerful and touching,” says Aaradhana. “She translated her illness into drawing, broke the body into parts and had medical reports as part of the artwork. “As D-day approaches, this huge sense of loss is overwhelming; it is difficult to talk in the past tense.”
The present depicting a chronology of Anjum’s previous two years was not about despair however of hope and triumph to her family and friends. Aaradhana recollects one specific art work that featured a zipper. “When I asked her the reason for it, she said, ‘There are so many advancements in science, but doctors still have to put sutures or stitches during surgery. Why can’t we have a zip which can be just pulled up’.”
Working with craft clusters, Aaradhana has been instrumental in reworking these artworks into objets d’artwork that share ‘a common language with independent identities’ and likewise replicate the duo’s thought course of. “There were times when she loved my creations and also times when she said ‘no’. She approved every piece. It is not a direct translation but an interpretation. Since we are raising funds with these pieces, the designs create hope.”
Aaradhana has identified Anjum, who was a household good friend for 32 years, since her Shantiniketan days. They gravitated in the direction of the identical sort of designs.
The concept behind A2O2 (A2, an acronym for his or her names and O2 Oxygen) was ‘not just to translate pain into art, but to use art as an opportunity to heal that pain’.
The sale (costs are ₹60,000 onwards) begins on Baisakhi (April 13). “Anjum’s father is Sikh and her mother, Bengali. The New Year, is an important festival for both communities. The festival heralds hope and we hope these designs bring a renewed sense of hope for children with cancer.”
