Amol K Patil: Whispers of the DustDe Pont MuseumTilburg, the Netherlands
Never-before-displayed sculptures, drawings, poetry, audio recordings, and light effects merge to create a theatrical environment. Patil’s work focuses on the social situation of labourers and the caste system in his homeland. A style of housing known as chawl, characteristic of the tenement buildings that have housed Mumbai factory workers for generations, appears repeatedly in his work. Patil draws inspiration from these spaces, in which people from the lower castes have traditionally lived and from which they are being evicted. The textures of the walls, the old household objects, and work clothing serve as traces left by people who remain unseen and unheard. The artist deftly interweaves these social themes with his own family history. Patil’s father is an avant-garde playwright, and his grandfather is a poet. Their existing works give rise to new dialogues concerning the identity of the labourer class and the hierarchical politics of caste in India.
