INFORMATION
Review of “Kahani” - an Art Exhibition by Deshna Shah By Professor Atul K. Shah
Dr. Atul Shah has a PhD from the London School of Economics and is a Professor at City University, London. He is founder of the Young Jains global movement and the Jain Spirit global magazine and led the first international Jain Youth Exchange between the UK and USA in 1993. He is author of ‘Jainism and Ethical Finance’ published by Routledge and an occasional broadcaster on BBC and has travelled all over the world to give lectures on Ethical Business and Jainism
The famous writer Chimananda Ngozi Adichie said in her viral TED talk – there is no single story, and it is dangerous to think so. Each of us have a unique story of childhood, upbringing, migration, assimilation, and adaptation. However, very rarely is this story reflected in our school textbooks, or University lectures and readings, which often try to generalize and standardize, or only reflect stories from particular cultures and languages. Race is something etched into our skin, and we cannot escape the presumptions and prejudices it creates. Children have been known to want to whiten their skin, or change their parents and food choices, just to fit in and be accepted. We also have our own very personal and intimate set of experiences, memories and music which has made us who we are, warts and all.
Born in Manchester to a practicing Jain family, Deshna experienced the richness of the culture in the foods, the hospitality to visitors, the joint family of living with grandparents, and an open house of art, beauty, and tolerance. She soaked all these experiences, eventually deciding to pursue a most
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unusual career for a young Indian – Fine Art. In spite of the vast ocean of art in the Jain tradition, there are hardly any living young Jain artists, dedicated to continuing it as a full-time profession, and willing to break the boundaries of race, gender and sheer ignorance that surrounds us. Deshna, how do you spell the word Jain? Graduating from Oxford University in 2021 with a First class degree in Fine Art she won the prestigious Emery Prize and was given the rare opportunity to exhibit her art over a two week period at Pembroke College, Oxford. She tackled the most fascinating and personal of subjects, communicating the unspoken between relations using the method of letter writing. Having been dyslexic from childhood, words were strange and a challenge, but in this artwork, she has decided to make words central to her expression, but on her own terms.
Dyslexia Made Deshna Creative with Words and Language For her homework for this exhibition, she asked people to write intimate personal letters to their friends and relatives, expressing that which they wanted to say but could not in person. Lots of emotion and intimacy poured out, allowing people to deal with their conflicts, without bottling it up – a compassionate self-healing, through language and communication. The letters were never sent to the recipient, but they allowed the sender to offload their stress, maybe even anger and frustration. Nelson Mandela said, ‘bitterness is the poison pill you swallow, and expect the other person to die’. Family and friends create bondage, and at times frustration too. We need to deal with it somehow, as without those relationships, there is no joy in life. For the installation, Deshna anonymized the real stories and converted them into art using her designed ‘Twilight Language’. She invited visitors to break the code and access the messages. At the same time, she welcomed visitors to share their own stories over cups of chai & mithai and encouraged
