Paying Tribute to the Artist Community During Lockdown

Celebrating the resilience and unrestrained creative spirit of the artist community, that are among the groups hardest-hit by the ongoing pandemic, an upcoming online group exhibition will showcase works by thirty artists who stayed locked-down in word, but unlocked in spirit.

The art project titled ‘The Spirit Remains Unlocked’, conceived and curated by The Art Route, Founder, Lubna Sen, launched on March 25, 2020, the first day of the initial three-week lockdown. It had the featuring artists creating in multiple mediums – painting, drawing, illustration, photography, sculpture, ceramic, mosaic, digital art and video art, in equally varied locations – Singapore, Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Gorakhpur, Dimapur, Varanasi, Prayagraj, Pune and Baroda.

The finished 100+ works, each showcasing an artist’s solitary journey and thought after a common point of start, were ready by May, and will now be showcased on theartroute.com from July 5 – August 15, 2020.

“We, at The Art Route, continue with our mission to connect artists and art lovers and find new ways to carry on the conversation on art using online communication channels, technology and innovative programming. ‘The Spirit Remains Unlocked’ is our step into this new recalibrated world. 

“From this remotely-organised online art residency project emerged a visual documentation of a historic event. This snapshot of history was captured by this eclectic group of artists who reacted and responded to the unfolding events, and eventually evolved personally from the experience,” said art curator and consultant Lubna Sen.

Mirroring a diverse range of experiences the world had, and continues having, during the lockdown, the on-view works encapsulate in art both personal and political. While Niloy Sen’s ‘Deadly Game’ captures the enormity of this global crisis, Ritu Aggarwal’ ‘Silent Spaces’ exemplifies the void that took over our cities. 

Reflecting mother nature healing with little human activity, Harsh Inder Loomba’s ‘Nueva Vida’ shows flowers blooming out of the cracks of a wooden log. Shuchi Khanna’s ‘My Safe Abode’ depicts homes becoming our refuge and objects of affection.

In the spirit of giving back to society, The Art Route is collaborating with Save the Children Foundation and will donate 25% of the proceeds of sale of artworks from the exhibition to it.

Added to this, read some of the web series reviews.