The Art of Pandemics
The COVID-19 pandemic gave rise to a number of artistic enquiries—photographs, zines, digital art, and podcasts were just some of the mediums used to depict these uncertain times. In any crisis, art becomes a vital way through which we might understand and examine humanity’s collective experiences of tragedy and triumph.
This talk by Girish Shahane considered artistic responses to past pandemics caused by diseases such as the bubonic plague, smallpox, influenza, and HIV/AIDS. It also touched upon the lack of epidemic-related archives in India, and the related absence of these calamities in our collective memory.
About the Curator
Girish Shahane is an independent writer and curator based in Bombay. He has degrees in English literature from Elphinstone College, Bombay University, and Oxford University, which he attended as a Rhodes Scholar. He was editor and later consulting editor of Art India magazine. He has been a columnist for Time Out magazine, DNA newspaper, Yahoo India, Mint Lounge and Scroll.in. Shahane was Director of the Skoda Prize for Indian Contemporary Art from 2011 to 2013, Artistic Director of Art Chennai 2014, and Artistic Director of the India Art Fair 2015.
