Infinite possibilities

The third Auroville Art Camp took place on March 12-19 and the subsequent week-long exhibition in the Tibetan Pavilion allowed the community to witness some of the fruits of the artists’ immersion in the theme ‘Every finite is an infinite’. This year twenty participants, eleven artists selected from all over India and nine artists from Auroville, including two art students, spent a week creating and working alongside each other exploring this theme.

This year was different from the previous two camps in that mixed media artists and a sculptor participated: previously it had only been painters. Consequently, there were sculptures, mixed media collages and three dimensional pieces alongside the paintings. The organisers also invited a sculptor for the first time, who researched working with clay during the week.

The organisers, Claire and Hervé, observed that “a diversity of practices brought a lot of exchanges, learning and experimentation.” As an example, Nele who had participated previously as a painter but who is also creating art installations and sculptures, added metalwork to her existing plexiglass art due to the inspiration and presence of Ami Patel of Mumbai, who works with metal foils.

One of the purposes of the Art Camp has been to bridge Auroville and India. This year Auroville artists Pujasree, Julie, Charles and Claire took part in the Auroville art camp for the first time, supporting them in this work. The invited Indian artists felt “immediately in connection with the atmosphere and spirit of Auroville, and the artists felt very connected with each other”, noted Claire and Herve, observing that all week they worked alongside one another, in and around the Tibetan Pavilion. Ami Patel, a participating artist from Mumbai, told one of the organisers that “the Auroville art camp team and this place are giving so much, we want to give back”. “Indeed, many of the artists gave their best, working with so much sincerity and dedication, even working at night” noticed Claire.

The Art Camp is a good example of Auroville goodwill and collaboration. Aurovilians contributed in many ways before and during the camp, and Auroville Papers offered a papermaking workshop to all of the participants. At a time of global and local tension, to work on the theme of ‘Every finite is an infinite’ opened artists anew to a sense of possibility.