8th September - 21st October 2023 | solo exhibition by Seema Kohli
As worlds go, ours is unique. Whether you believe in the big bang theory or the seven days story, one inalienable fact remains. We live in a mysterious, miraculous world. In a universe of stars, this third rock from the sun is the only one we know with ingenuity at its farthest depths and loftiest peaks. Sure, it has laws. And yet we’ve found ways to adapt, concoct and re-imagine our surroundings to make it a space for us to thrive.
It is this space we are now fighting for. In the face of grave environmental and political threats to our hard-won existence, it seems arduous to contemplate a gentler time. And yet this is what Seema Kohli offers us. Birthed over the last few years, when a world wide pandemic forever altered our sense of invincibility, these works offer us an oasis. A space to reflect on life and its purpose, to reestablish our fading connection to our surroundings. A space to exist in all our resplendent multitudes. It is a world we must strive to bring to life. A world where as sure as the sun rises and sets, we assert our right to live free. A world where like the inescapable Rumi and his beloved Shams, Seema entreats us to believe: yes, suns do exist.
If you are seeking,
seek us with joy
For we live in the kingdom of joy.
Do not give your heart
to anything else But to the love
of those who are clear joy,
Do not stray into the neighborhood
of despair. For there are hopes:
they are real, they exist –
Do not go in the direction
of darkness –
I tell you: suns exist.
*Title and poem attributed to Jalal al-Din Rumi, in The Way of Passion: A Celebration of Rumi by Andrew Harvey, Ch. The Journey to Love, Pg 18.
