Rashmimala trans.plant 23rd March, 2018 - 8th April, 2018 Tuesday to Sunday, 4-8 PM Mondays closed trans.plant /tra:ns/ prefix /pla:nt/ noun 1. on or to the far side of something, across a living thing that has leaves and roots and grows 2. between two things or groups in earth, especially one that is smaller than a tree 3. shows a change verb to put plants or seeds in the ground to grow - Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English - Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English Rashmimala’s current suite of works engage the Moving across a collection of plant life drawn question of /trans/ in complex and startling ways. from a minor key, these works represent aspects of Steadfastly holding on the thematic of the organic, plants that are integral to the everyday, in the spices she marks the movement of plants through history, and seeds we use for tempering, the fruits we eat, signalling a lost garden of colonial times, the trans- the food we cook, the weeds we barely glance at. migration of plant species across the world, the re- Reframing these in the idiom of illustration com- location of insignificant vegetation, weeds, from the mon to colonial botany, Rashmimala nevertheless rural countryside to cracks and crevices of build- unsettles their stark atemporal quality with meta- ings, edges of pavements, unused parking lots in phors of migration, stencilled trees from other oeu- urban spaces, the cultivation of specific species in vres moving silently through the strictness of the viable plantations. More, she tracks such shifts from demands of scientific realism. plants to their images, gestures at, and traverses the genres of representations, from the scientific to the Deeptha Achar romantic, from paper to sculpture. I would like to acknowledge and sincerely thank the following people: Alok Bal, Arvind Bhai Chandu Bhai Deeptha Achar Durga Kale Dinesh Kumar Meena (Fine Arts Frame) Dr. Dharmendra G. Shah (Department of Botany, MSU) Dr. Shashikant Acharya (Department of Bio-Chemistry, MSU) Kapila Ben Kathyayini Dash Krupa Gagwani Lina Vincent Neha Goswami Nilima Sheikh Prasad Kulkarni Rajesh P.S. Reji K.P. Santhosh Dash Santhosh S. Sharmi Chowdhury Subhash Chalil Sneha Ragavan T. V. Santhosh Varsha Navin Veda Thozhur Kolleri & a special thanks to the Late Nagji Bhai Patel ‒ Rashmimala, March 2018 PANELS Plantation Drawings (Panel 1 / A) Pen and Ink |121.92 cm x 24.13 cm | 2017 Plantation Drawings (Panel 1 / B) Pen and Ink |121.92 cm x 24.13 cm | 2017 Plantation Drawings (Panel 2 / A) Pen and Ink |121.92 cm x 24.13 cm | 2017 Plantation Drawings (Panel 2 / B) Pen and Ink |121.92 cm x 24.13 cm | 2017 Plantation Drawings (Panel 3 / A) Pen and Ink |121.92 cm x 24.13 cm | 2017 Plantation Drawings (Panel 3 / B) Pen and Ink |121.92 cm x 24.13 cm | 2017 Plantation Drawings (Panel 4 / A) Pen and Ink |121.92 cm x 24.13 cm | 2017 Plantation Drawings (Panel 4 / B) Pen and Ink |121.92 cm x 24.13 cm | 2017 ROOM 1 Common Oleander Casein Tempera on Cyanotype print 31.5 cm x 46 cm | 2017-18 Muringappoovu Casein Tempera on cyanotype print 31.5 cm x 46 cm | 2017-18 Aparajita Casein Tempera on cyanotype print 32 cm x 42 cm | 2017-18 Taro Leaves Casein Tempera on cyanotype print 32 cm x 53 cm | 2017-18 Soil to Paper 2 Herbarium plant embossed on handmade plant based paper 37.5 cm x 31 cm | 2017-18 Reminiscense Casein Tempera, pen and ink on Archival paper 32.8 cm x 24.5 cm | 2017-18 Sick Leaf Casein Tempera on Archival paper 31.5 cm x 46 cm | 2017-18 Guava Leaf Casein Tempera on Archival paper 17 cm x 24.5 cm | 2017-18 Common Garden 2 Casein Tempera on Archival paper 17 cm x 37 cm | 2017-18 Common Garden 1 Casein Tempera on Archival paper 17 cm x 37.5 cm | 2017-18 Garden Casein Tempera, cyanotype print 24.5 x 48 | 2017-18 Five Spices Casein Tempera, cyanotype print 24.5 cm x 22.5 cm | 2017-18 Arecanut (Speaking of Places) Casein Tempera on Archival paper 31 cm x 24 cm | 2017-18 Vad (Speaking of Places) Casein Tempera on Archival paper 31 cm x 24 cm | 2017-18 Papaya (Speaking of Places) Casein Tempera on Archival paper 31 cm x 24 cm | 2017-18 Paddy (Speaking of Places) Casein Tempera on Archival paper 31 cm x 24 cm | 2017-18 Arecanut (Speaking of Places) Casein Tempera on Sanganeri paper 33.5 cm x 23.5 cm | 2017-18 Musa (Speaking of Places) Casein Tempera on Archival paper 26.5 cm x 21 cm | 2017-18 Khajur (Speaking of Places) Casein Tempera on Archival paper 32 cm x 27.5 cm | 2017-18 Morning Walk Casein Tempera, cyanotype print 34 cm x 20 cm | 2017-18 Layered Casein Tempera, cyanotype print 22.5 cm x 31.5 cm | 2017-18 Structural Botany Casein Tempera, cyanotype print 32 cm x 26 cm | 2017-18 Soil to Paper 1 Herbarium plant embossed on handmade plant based paper 28 cm x 28 cm | 2017-18 Amorphophallus titanum (Titan arum, Corpse flower) Indonesian: Bunga bangkai paper mache, Casein based tempara 28 cm x 13 cm | 2018 Datura stramonium (Devil’s snare, Moon flower) Hindi: Dhatura paper mache, Casein based tempara 33 cm x 24 cm | 2018 Papaver somniferum (Opium, Poppy tears) Kannada: Aphimu paper mache, Casein based tempara 31 cm x 13 cm | 2018 Musa acuminata and Musa balbisi- ana (Banana, Plantain) Odiya:Kodoli paper mache, Casein based tempara 22 cm x 12 cm | 2018 Calotropis procera (Apple of Sodom, King’s crown) Assamese: Aakon paper mache, Casein based tempara 31 cm x 15 cm | 2018 Pennisetum glaucum (Pearl millet , Bulrush millet) Gujarati:Bajri paper mache, Casein based tempara 40 cm x 12 cm | 2018 A Flower Paper mache, Casein based Tempera 15 cm x 12 cm | 2018 ROOM 2 oraging through a land in search of a Bombay. Orta stayed back in India, even after and diasporas in nature. Historically, the Por- even grow easily on the concrete pavements of hypothetical garden, around an Ar- De Souza’s return to Portugal, until his death tuguese played the major role as primary and urban dwellings, as they perfectly represents F cheological site resulted in chance dis- in 1570. Though there is no physical evidence secondary carriers in the global dissemination the power to sustain, in any given situation. covering the possible Garden(s) of Garcia Da remained of Orta’s presence in Goa, traces of of cultivated plants. They also represent the urge to live, fighting Orta. The only definite evidence of this Gar- a garden with herbs and medicinal plants can the ignorance of the other who does not even den(s) is the literary source left by Orta him- be found on the pages of his colloquies. As one While trying to re-trace a nearly 500 years notice the existence of them. On several oc- self. In 1563, Garcia da Orta’s “Colloquies on flips through the text, author makes several old garden, the key concern also lies some- casion the colloquy too follows a rather col- Simples and Drugs of India” was published mentions about the garden(s) where he grew where in the present day ecological urgencies; loquial mode, discussing thing that are not of in Portuguese Language from Goa. The au- some of the plants discussed in the book and of the disappearances of important plants due medicinal interest but a local fruity delight. thor, a Portuguese physician, arrived in India often used the phrase, “here in Goa”. Thus my to various reasons. There are threats to certain For example, the tenth colloquy is centered on in around 1534 accompanying Major General search began to trace out these garden(s), re flora which does not appear to be promising, Ber, a local fruit found across India. The elev- M.A. De Souza as his personal physician. His imagined from an archeological site, with ref- without any industrial or economic values at- enth Colloquies similarly mentions a dessert Colloquies, written in the form of dialogues, erence to various types of resources possible tached to them. The urban growth causing prepared with Carambula – a tropical fruit is one of the richest compendiums of botani- along with this text. elimination of not only the plants, but also also known as the star fruit, which I decided cal and pharmacological information. A sort the indigenous knowledge attached to them. to revive following a basic tart recipe using the of Materia Medica of Indian drugs, this work The Colloquy...literally conversations be- Some weeds might appear as unwanted pest fruit. provided the western scholars with their in- tween the author and his imaginary coun- within a cultivation area, but the very exis- troduction to tropical medicine and with their terpart open up discourses around the area tence of them is equally important within the This is a fraction of the ongoing study and basic data on almost all of the major cultivat- of medicine, plants, simples and drugs by re- ecology of the region. engagement with the sixteenth century text ed plants of the region. Within a few years ferring cross cultural historical references. with anticipation to unravel more buried sto- of his arrival, he settled in Goa permanently, The conversations not only carry informative Here the interest lies in tracing the history ries. also acquiring a country estate in the Island of mode, they are also inquisitive, collaborative of the minor plants and weeds.