Prabir Mehta Archives

Gallery 5 brings back Mother India, its celebration of the art and culture of India, for a third year at its historic Jackson Ward location.

Gallery5 Board Chair Prabir Mehta spotlights his Indian roots and curates this year’s Mother India art show. “I love India, it’s where I’m from, but due to the pandemic last year and this year I am especially missing the ability to be with family and seeing the sights and sounds of the most magical and beautiful place on Earth.”

Gallery5’s mission is to engage communities through the arts. That’s exactly what Board Chairman Prabir Mehta has been busy doing for several years now, but this September he’s looking at a specific community: Richmond’s Indian population. India’s influence on art, food, music, and science are undeniable and this show is created to spotlight many Indian artists ranging from right here in Richmond to Mehta’s hometown of Ahmedabad, Gujarat. Illustrations, ceramics, photos, music, food, meditation, yoga, color dying, and fashion are all included in a packed month of programing at Gallery5, located in historic Jackson Ward.

“There’s a little bit of something for everyone this September,” says Mehta. “If you like learning how to make Indian food, there’s an event at the end of the month for that. We’re going to have a Bollywood Night dance party on the opening night, art on our walls sent in from India, special Indian cocktails at the bar, a classical Indian music concert mid-month, and so much more.”

The month’s programming offers many ways for the Richmond arts community to experience Indian cultural offerings. On Friday September 3rd Gallery5 will host its First Friday art opening with live Vedic shlockas and blessings being performed on stage, live music from the Prabir Trio, and a Bollywood Night dance party featuring DJ Carl. This will include many pieces of Indian and India-inspired art on display all over the walls of Gallery5. Mother India’s opening also includes a portrait photo installation where visitors can have their portraits taken surrounded by beautiful colors and patterns from Indian fabrics. On September 11th Gallery5 will present an evening of classical Indian music featuring a Carnatic flute performance by award-winning artists Raman Kalyan. Tickets for this event are available through Gallery5’s website and social media.

Later in the month, on Sept 24th, there will be a cooking workshop to see how simple and healthy Indian foods can be made in your own home. On September 25th Gallery5 will host a meditation and yoga event in the morning and a colorful dye making class using local flowers in the afternoon. The Mother India art will be up on the walls and available for viewing every Friday and Saturday throughout the month of September. Gallery5 encourages everyone to check their schedule for both ticketed events and free to the public gallery hours. There will also be a virtual component to this month, an online-only art show hosted on Gallery5’s website featuring many local artists responding to a call for entries for works celebrating and rooted in vibrant colors. The virtual gallery will be hosted at www.gallery5arts.org/monthlygallery and opens on September 3rd as well.

“My hope is that everyone will come enjoy and appreciate various aspects of our ancient culture,” says Mehta. “We Indians are carrying traditions that date back literally thousands of years while also landing spacecraft on Mars. India’s potential is unlimited and it’s impact on the world is undeniable, yet for some reason we still see very little Indian representation in the arts. I love art and I love India, so Mother India is a great opportunity to allow folks to experience something they may not see normally when they visit art galleries or venues in Richmond.”

Artists involved in the art show: Kavichelvan Srinivasaragavan, Ruchi Gupta, Ankur Zhalawadia, Prabir Mehta, David Kenedy, Dean Whitlock.

Stage will have live blessings called Shlokas performed for the audience at 7pm. Prabir Trio will play songs off the Haanji album at 8pm. Bollywood Night Dance party with DJ Carl Hamm at 9pm

SEPTEMBER MOTHER INDIA PROGRAMMING AT GALLERY5:

Sept 3 – Mother India opening – Indian and India-inspired art show with Vedic shlokas and blessings for the audience, live music by Prabir Trio, and Bollywood Night dance party with DJ Carl. 5pm – 11pm – free event

Sept 11 – Raman Kalyan – Classical Indian music and Carnatic flute concert 8pm – 10pm

Sept 24 – Indian Cooking Workshop 5pm – 8pm

Sept 25 – The Line Within – Meditation/Yoga/Art 10am – 12pm

Sept 25 – Plant Party – Dye making using flowers 3pm – 5pm

For more information regarding Mother India please visit the event’s Facebook page.

With this year’s pandemic edition of Mother India, Gallery 5 brings the art of India to its windows for the perfect socially distanced outdoor exhibition.

Gallery 5’s month-long Mother India exhibit is back for its second year this October — but with a difference.

The gallery, located at 200 W. Marshall St, is hosting the exhibit so that it can be viewed entirely from outside the building, allowing viewers to experience the art while socially distancing outdoors.

This year’s exhibit is made up entirely of photographs. Only some of the photographs featured in the exhibit are up in the gallery windows. The rest are part of a digital collection which will be released Friday, Oct. 23.

Prabir Mehta, a musician and photographer who emigrated from India as a young child, is the curator of the Mother India exhibit.

When Mehta found himself unable to visit his family in the state of Gujarat, India this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he decided to ask photographers who lived there to submit pictures of the places he missed so much to Gallery 5’s exhibit.

“Instead of only being bummed about it, I opted to reach out to folks I know in India,” Mehta said, “and I was able to bring their art to Richmond for this art show.”

The exhibit includes photographs of Indian street scenes, people, and landscapes.

“It’s hard to take a bad photo in India,” Mehta said. “It’s just such a beautiful place. The vibrant layout of the land, the animals, the colors of the clothing, the food, the hustle-bustle of non-stop traffic. You see things that are literally thousands of years old, right next to a brand new Starbucks.”

The 2019 Mother India exhibit was in person and was mainly focused on the Indian community in Richmond. The 2020 exhibit includes Indian artists living both in India and in Richmond. It will run for the rest of October until it is taken down on Nov. 1.

A few of Mehta’s own photos are on display in the exhibit, but he says that the focus of the exhibit this year will be mainly on artists living in India.

*Paintng by Ankar Zalawadia, via Gallery 5*

Ankar Zalawadia, an Indian watercolor artist who illustrates Gujarat street scenes, will have his paintings on display in the exhibit.

The exhibit also includes photos of ceramics by Richmond artist Ruchi Gupta. Last year Gupta’s ceramic plates were hung up on walls, allowing people walking through the gallery to observe them up close, but this year that’s not possible.

The exhibit being visible from the outside, however, does have its benefits.

“It’s nice that it’s up on display for people who maybe weren’t expecting to see it,” Mehta said. “It’s adding a little bit of color, it’s adding a little bit of culture, to what’s been a very slow and quiet neighborhood for the past six months.”

Mehta says that he hopes the exhibit will help people who have family in India to get a taste of the culture they’re missing out on due to travel restrictions.

“There are a lot of Indian people in Richmond who are missing ties to that culture because they can’t travel,” Mehta said, “so that was an opportunity to bring some of that culture safely for them to check out as they stroll past the Gallery 5 windows.”

*Photo by Kalpit Bhachech, via Gallery 5*

The Gallery 5K, sponsored by Gallery 5, is also happening this weekend. Indian architect Amrit Singh curated the route around Richmond, which shows participants interesting points of Richmond architecture. The route can either be run or walked, and is sidewalk-accessible for those in wheelchairs, according to Mehta.

In lieu of the snacks offered at the gallery last year, an Indian cooking demonstration will be featured on Gallery 5’s Patreon. Viewers will learn to make Bhaji Pav, an Indian vegan fast-food dish of vegetable curry with a bread roll. The demonstration will be given by Mehta’s mother– or, as he calls her, ‘the ultimate Mother India.’

Top Photo via Gallery 5

Mother India Art Show Returns to Gallery 5

Mother India at Gallery 5 Gives a Socially Distanced Taste of Indian Culture