Ahmsterdamabad

Aishwarya Sultania, Nilesh Shidhpura, and Harald Schole met in 2012 during an international village residency in Rajasthan. The isolated location of the village in the desert-like eastern part of India encouraged mutual contact and collaboration with local artisans.

This led to friendship between the artists. They kept in touch and met up in the Netherlands and India. Their ongoing mutual interest in each other's individual careers has now resulted in a joint presentation at ArtSpace.

The concept for the exhibition is based on the question: what has following each other's work from a distance brought? The artists, Sultania and Shidhpura, who have come over from India especially for this, and Schole want to explore this.

Shidhpura's work deals with the balance between contemporary networks and technology and nature. Recently, his work has also reflected his experience as an academic at NIFT (National Institute of Fashion Technology in Gandhinagar), where he works as an associate professor.

In her cyanotypes, Sultania deliberately avoids using traditional photographic negatives or prints of plants. The series started with the idea of making love to the sun, capturing the movement of the body lying naked in the sun... to be caressed and healed.

Thrilling shows by traveling acrobat families in India are the source of inspiration for Schole's "Key Figures." They demonstrate the necessity of cooperation. The design language of "Gefässe" is derived from jugs. Women in Gelawas used to fetch water. The jugs are stacked in a precarious balance,This refers to the precarious balance between humans and nature in the wasteland.