KARTHIK PANDIAN | BODIES OF WATER
ART DUBAI, BAWWABA SECTION
CURATED BY MIRJAM VARADINIS
Karthik Pandian presents a new body of work in walnut ink, aquarelle crayon, and metal, drawing the geographies of Turtle Island and Palestine into relation. The works reflect Pandian’s deep and ongoing relationship with Indigenous activists in the Midwest of the United States, who refer to North America as Turtle Island, and his commitment to the linked struggles for liberation there and in Palestine.
Pandian’s drawings, sculptures, and durational works gather political energy, spiritual insight, and sacred arrangements of line and language towards speculative, communal futures. Basketball courts, mandalas, ripples, portals, and eclipses commingle in these works which seek to call “The New People”, a coalition of Native and non-Native communities foretold by the Anishinaabe in their Seven Fires Prophecy. Pandian complements these drawings with a new sculpture featuring a copper pipe from the well of his home, underscoring the significance of water and waterways to international flows of solidarity.
FEDERICA SCHIAVO GALLERY
ARENA HALL 1, BOOTH W3
MADINAT JUMEIRAH, DUBAI
Image: Karthik Pandian, Surrendur 03, 2024, Walnut Ink On Paper, 107 x 92 cm
