Parag Tandel, Vitamin-Sea II, 2022
Parag Tandel is a contemporary artist descending from the Koli (fisherfolk) community that settled amongst the flourishing water bodies and seven islands forming the city of Mumbai. These very water bodies today are polluted and in great danger owing to projects like the Coastal Road project planned along the city’s shoreline. For the Kolis, the ocean is their forest and being in close proximity to it is paramount. Not only does their livelihood depend on these water bodies, but they also support the community's cultural presence in context to the furiously urbanizing city.
The Vitamin-Sea project by Tandel brings together a series of sculptures that probe the ever transient seascapes of Mumbai. Layered in his resin sculptures are the ebbs and flow of the sea against the raging pollution and urbanization of the city. In his most recent work titled The Coastal Road project: Worli Koliwada Shoreline, Tandel uses materials from everyday Koli life such as dirki shells and coconut fiber in conjunction with construction materials like concrete rods and limestone, cast against a glass reinforced matte form. Each material owns its unique visual space and does not shy away from displaying its tactile quality.
Works like Warm Trap (I, II & III) reflect in subtle yet powerful ways the muzzling nature of pollutants around us. Like unnatural algae floating in muddy water, strange discolored liquids dispensed under the surface of a pond or unrecognizable solids trapped in stained water, the Koli people are witnessing these disorienting visuals whilst living in the peripheries of land, water, forest and city. Vitamin-Sea is not only informed by the rich cultural heritage of the Koli community but also boldly incorporates the fear of incessant changes that make the essence of its legend endangered.
Parag is a visual auto-ethnographer who archives what he perceives around him and his relationship with the scenery he inhabits. His visual art and socially engaged art practices are raising issues of loss and identity. He is archiving prevailing circumstances and intervening in the oral narratives regarding the colonial and Imperial history of the Fisherfolks of Mumbai. Tandel earned a Diploma in Creative Sculpture from M. S University, Baroda (2005) after completing a Diploma in sculpture and modeling from Sir J.J School of Art, Mumbai (2003). Tandel’s solo exhibitions include Chronicle at TARQ, Mumbai (2016) and Autopolisphilia curated by Noopur Desai at Sudarshan art gallery, Pune, India (2018) as well as Pregnant Room 1 and Pregnant Room 2, both showcased at Pundole Art Gallery, Mumbai (2008 & 2010). His artist book, Ek bagal mein chand hoga ek bagal mein rotiyan was published earlier this year by TARQ with support from Mumbai Water Narratives at the Living Waters Museum.