'Tautology of Memory is a single channel video shot by artist Rupal Shah at the archaeological site of Ajanta in Western India.* The display is mediated through the multiplicity of voices that define an archaeological site, including the echoes of the tour-guide focusing on the murals and frescoes, constantly alluding to and reifying popular perceptions; the artist partializes this reification by employing her child's exploration of the caves. 
Simultaneously, curatorial interventions first engage with colonial India's foremost architectural historian, James Fergusson's publication Rock-Cut Temples of India, a detailed and systematic documentation of Ajanta containing the photographs by another nineteenth century military-surveyor Robert Gill; and second with a 1927 newspaper report which applauds a decade-long documentation project undertaken by an art school student, Syed Ahmad at Ajanta. 
Evoking ironies, paradoxes and humour which descend on history and its sites, acutely choreographed between text, fragment and aesthetic, juxtapositions made playful with comments on colonial and postcolonial mappings of archaeological heritage, one is compelled to ask, does Ajanta lend itself for official surveys, archaeological scholarship, artistic projects or the heritage-making industry? What remains asserted, what has been reclaimed?' - from museum's website

Access level

Onsite

Location code
MON.SHR3
Language

English

Publication/Creation date

2012

No of pages

31

ISBN / ISSN

9789810722845

No of copies

2

Content type

artist monograph, 

catalogue

Chapter headings

The Art History and Archaeology of Ajanta

- Priya MOHALAY-JARADI

Come to Play

- Shabbir Hussain MUSTAFA

Tautology of Memory: Rupal Shah
Share
Citation
Rights statement

In Copyright

What does this mean?

This item is covered by one or more copyrights. It is available for research only or use within Hong Kong’s fair dealing rules. Please do not copy, re-use or reproduce this item without the permission of the copyright holder.

Tautology of Memory: Rupal Shah