Kolkata-based artist Jayeti Bhattacharya discusses her series of works

exploring the turmoil of displacement after the 1947 Partition in Bengal¹ and its impact felt across generations into our present time.

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The sense of continuous external disturbance tends to develop the wave of turmoil within us. Being dislocated from a private space and searching for a new land to dwell in and to cope with harsh realities becomes a strenuous task to deal with. I wonder, does the interference stop thereafter?

The conflicts and interference of the historical past of Partition in Bengal in 1947, with the invisible 'Radcliffe Line', play an important part in the families of those who crossed the border during that time.  Still now, the drifting from the original space to a newer space remains fresh in the mind. Being part of one such family, and hearing numerous stories from childhood till now, always makes me think about this issue.

'Disintegration 1' Collected old photograph, watercolor, ink

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Standing in the present time, I find that nothing has changed. Maybe we do not draw any 'Radcliffe Line' now, but the internal conflicts, whether due to religion, caste, land, or home, remain the same.

I started working on this issue and thought of representing it in different ways. One way I tried to represent it was in the visual form of waves. I used the coordinates from all districts of undivided Bengal to represent the interference.

'Upsurge 1'  |  Graphite , watercolor, typed text

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Scientifically, interference is the resultant wave formed by the coinciding of other waves, overlapping in time and space. It is, in a way, the reality of time whether past or present.

The question always remains unanswered. The unwanted interference -- or rather, purposeful interference --already divided us years ago through an invisible line, which is now being converted to continuous unsolicited interference.

¹In 1947, shortly after the independence from British rule, India separated into two independent countries: India and Pakistan. This separation involved in particular the states of Punjab (on the NorthWest of India) and Bengal (on the East), and saw the exodus of the Hindu population to India and of the Muslim population to Pakistan. Millions of people, threatened by this division along religious lines, were forced to move from their homes and lost everything.

See the whole project here:

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Jayeti Bhattacharya, is an artist born in Kolkata, where she lives and works. She earned a Master of Fine Arts degree from Kala Bhavana, Santiniketan in 2014. She is represented by Terrain.art and her first solo show ‘Shifting Coordinates’ was featured on their website this year. She recently published work in the “Friction” edition of Haraka Journal (2020) and participated in CIMA award show (2019). Her work has been included in local and international exhibitions, and has been featured on the Emergent Art Space web platform, including the gallery series “Sky Falling” and ‘Looking Through Their Eyes’ (2019), a reflective piece on teaching art to children and teens.

Many of Jayeti’s artworks include a combination of painting and mixed media. She seeks to reflect life experiences and the world, addressing overarching themes related to time, space, land, history and existential reality. In her recent and ongoing work, like the Interference series, she brings scientific and symbolic perspectives into the mix.