The thinking hand

To this end, she supplies the viewer with alternative ways of interpreting each work, one which takes 10 seconds, another more than 40. For example, a tapestry-like collection of cows is explained, in 10 seconds, as “What you see here is a co(w) congregation … If you stumble upon a congregation of cows amid the clamour of cyclists, bikers, pedestrians and other sentient beings, you’ve arrived in Auroville”. And, in more than 40 seconds, “co(w) congregations can often be mistaken for a group of enlightened lamas seated around one another in companionable silence”.

What is striking about the exhibition, apart from the technical virtuosity and its sense of fun, is the extraordinary diversity of styles. It is as if each painting, each poem, represents a new departure, a new moment of discovery for the artist as much as the viewer. And here the key concept for Nandita is zuihitsui, a Japanese term that implies ‘following the brush’, allowing it to lead rather than dictating its direction. The sense of spontaneity, of joy in creation, which invests almost everything in the exhibition is a reminder that so much of what gives life its flavour is that which is uncontrolled, unexpected.