How far to stretch it and where do we draw the line?: Manish Harijan
18 - 23 May
Free & open to all
The exhibition is a curatorial exploration by Manish Harijan who is MFA final year at Sheffield Hallam University in collaboration with Sheffield based photographer Chris Saunders. The work on display presents archival newsprint relating to one of his previous exhibitions from 2012 in Nepal that caused a degree of controversy. The exhibition brings forth conversations around censorship, freedom of speech and social issues through a variety of artistic means.
Sheffield is a multicultural society and it has many cultural, political and social histories.
How far to stretch it and where to draw the line? aims to bring together people from different migrant communities within the city who share similar social and political stories and experiences and how people think about the controversy and censorship surrounding cultural, political, and social issues.
The exhibition also presents the artist’s biographical story, speaking of his social upbringing and the consequences of speaking out to the social, political and cultural issues that exist in contemporary society.
The works on presentation here gather materials from daily life and include references that reveal a greater understanding of other cultures as well as relationship with Nepalese culture in particular. Cardboard boxes, cast human body parts, stamps taken from letters, printed words, readymade objects, sand and mirrors help to explore the sensitivity of materials along with ideas of changing narratives of culture, geography, politics and war. The works also aim to open up conversations around colonialism and the sensitive relationship between Nepal and Britain. The materials used within the works speak of fragility, mystery, bravery, sensitivity, migration, slavery and the geographical politics in the contemporary time whilst playing with themes of visibility and invisibility. It questions who builds the narrative and who controls the system?
Manish Harijan lives and works in Sheffield and is in his final year of an MFA at Sheffield Hallam University. Recent exhibitions include Nepal Art Now, Welt Museum, Vienna, 2019, Nepal Art Now, Kathmandu, Nepal, 2019, Walthamstow Village Window Gallery, London, 2019 and See, Hear Do, Sheffield, 2018.
He has been artist in residence at CKU, Copenhagen, Denmark, 2013, Artist in Residency at Kathmandu Contemporary Art Centre, 2012 and Kashmir artist in residence, 2016.