Art is born from the lived moment: Arpana Caur

“For me, an image comes in a flash from seen and observed moments in life,” says artist Arpana Caur, describing how her creative process is born out of fleeting emotions and lived experience.

This spontaneous act of observation turning into art captures the essence of ‘Weaving Water: Feminine Countercultures in Paint and Print’, an exhibition that brings together women’s voices through both word and image, held at the India International Centre here.

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Curated by Jyoti A Kathpalia, the exhibition unites the evocative writings of Padma Shri Ajeet Cour with the works of 15 eminent women artists, each responding to Cour’s powerful literary narratives through their own visual languages. The exhibition opened on October 30 at the Kamla Devi Complex and will remain on view until November 9.

The show was inaugurated in the presence of Prof. Ashis Nandy, Political Psychologist and Social Theorist; K. N. Shrivastava, IAS (Retd.), Director, IIC; and Ajeet Cour herself. The evening set the tone for what Kathpalia calls “a space of shared creative resistance, a weaving of voices that question silence.”

At its heart, Weaving Water explores gender, memory, and social inequality through personal and political expressions. Featuring works by Anupam Sud, Arpana Caur, Jayasri Burman, Gogi Saroj Pal, Vasudha Thozhur, and others, the exhibition bridges generations of women who have used art to challenge patriarchal histories and reclaim their agency.

The experience extends beyond the visual. A 10-minute performance by Manmeet Devgun, inspired by Water Weaver, a 30-minute Sahitya Akademi film on Ajeet Cour, transformed the gallery into an immersive dialogue between voice and image.

The works span mediums from oil, acrylic, and etching to silkscreen prints, sculpture, and installation, each piece functioning as an intimate response to Cour’s literary universe.

Among them, Arpana Caur’s contributions stand out for their meditative stillness and layered symbolism. Known for combining the social and the spiritual, Caur reflects, “It is important to leave some things unsaid. Mystery in art is very necessary.” Her canvases, often exploring the cyclic nature of time and the resilience of women, invite quiet introspection rather than spectacle.

Caur’s oeuvre is far from confined to questions of gender alone. “My themes are not only women but environment, violence, Time, my Day and Night series, and spirituality, as in my Buddha, Nanak, and Kabir series,” she says. Drawing inspiration from India’s folk and miniature traditions, she adapts these visual idioms into contemporary contexts. “There are many folk art and miniature influences in my work which have contemporary subjects,” she adds.

Her belief in art’s integrity is unwavering. “I have done noncommercial murals in Delhi, Bangalore, Kathmandu, and Hamburg. This show is noncommercial, and the artists in it are also noncommercial,” she notes. For younger artists, her advice is simple but striking: “Paint for yourself, not the market. If your work is good, the market will come to you.”

Curator Jyoti A. Kathpalia sees Weaving Water as both artistic and social commentary. “Behind the apparent perfection of families and society lies silence, hysteria, and the numbing of countless women’s spirits. This exhibition seeks to reclaim those suppressed voices and envision an alternate, more equal world,” she says.

Ultimately, Weaving Water stands as a luminous tribute to feminine strength, creative defiance, and the enduring bond between art and life. Like ripples in water, each work flows into the next, together forming a collective current of resistance and renewal.