Sahil Naik’s third solo at Experimenter “Specters, Specimens and Ships in Doubt” continues to extract patterns between the histories of colonization and non-alignment, by means of tasks of pure historical past, architectural modernism and the modalities of the Indian Ocean. By means of a variety of objects in circulation throughout time and websites, he challenges majoritarian, state-prescribed data with the chances of tales and tune, rumours and remakes. Staged between 4 occasions—the Portuguese fleet laying eyes on the “flaming forests” of Gulmohars in Madagascar; the Gujarati Gainda travelling from Goa to Europe as a present for the pope; Yuri Gagarin changing into the primary particular person in outer area; and the mysterious fireplace that destroyed the Nationwide Museum of Pure Historical past in New Delhi—the exhibition traverses speculative, mystical and conceptual terrains to reconcile with preservation and loss, fluid identities, the seek for magic, area quest and the mermaid’s tune that led a ship doubtful to stable floor.
—Excerpt from Mario D’Souza’s essay for “Specters, Specimens and Ships in Doubt”

at Experimenter, Kolkata
till January 6, 2024