STATEMENT

Co-existence of two different cultures results in diversity and conflicts at same time. The mother tongue, the religion, the climate, historical background of the area and the economy- all together shape a particular culture, unique and different from the other groups or the societies of the world. A person once born and brought up in a specific culture would always relate him/herself with the same way of living, in whatever conditions and wherever they spend the rest of their lives. The migrations- natural, economic or political, occurred from time to time, in the history of civilizations, have always brought with them a cultural shock amongst the people of all the races on Earth. At present the migration of the people from the South/East towards the North/ West of the world, most of which are economic rather than any other, taking place as the immigrants’ own choice. Therefore the cultural shock they experience makes the situation more confusing and turns into a dilemma for them. This dilemma is the theme of the series: “The Dilemma” and “The Roots”.

The faces reveal deepest psychology filtered through gender and culture. While the more open nature of women show this more subtly; men’s faces carry the complexity of the stresses placed upon them. The revelation of the human faces is the subject of the collection of works called ‘The Village’ and ‘The Courts of Law’.

A series of paintings – ‘The Window’ deals with the questions of the relationship of human civilisation with Nature where usually a bright-lit window (with the bars) symbolically represents the human side and a branch of a tree symbolises the nature.

How the different religious groups of East Punjab reacted towards the state sponsored media during the extremely intense and tragically dramatic moments when the province was put under indefinite curfews in order to militarily crush the insurgency, is the subject of the series “During the Curfews”

- Kanwal Dhaliwal

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