Kintsugi Partition
The generational trauma of India's partition continues to haunt the South Asian and diaspora's consciousness. Chatterjee's family, on his mother's side, came from a town named Jessore, in East Bengal (Bangladesh) and moved to West Bengal shortly prior to partition in 1947, settling in the big city of Calcutta, the capital of colonial British India. As Bengali Hindus, they left behind their ancestral home and belongings in a rush out of concern for their safety and well-being, expecting to return at some point, but never having the opportunity to come back to the lives they left behind…
His father's side came from West Bengal and both sides experienced the trauma, violence and pain of colonialism and Hindu-Muslim violence after independence, turning the streets of Calcutta red with blood and unspeakable loss.
This painting addresses the process of healing in the South Asian subcontinent through creativity, repair across borders and the importance of familial story-telling for future generations, inspired by the Japanese art of kintsugi, the art of repairing broken pottery with lacquer dusted with gold.
This painting was exhibited at Towson University Asian Arts & Culture Center in Baltimore in Creative Confluence: South Asian Community Reflections, Connections, and Dialogue in Fall 2022.
Acrylic on canvas (16x20)
The generational trauma of India's partition continues to haunt the South Asian and diaspora's consciousness. Chatterjee's family, on his mother's side, came from a town named Jessore, in East Bengal (Bangladesh) and moved to West Bengal shortly prior to partition in 1947, settling in the big city of Calcutta, the capital of colonial British India. As Bengali Hindus, they left behind their ancestral home and belongings in a rush out of concern for their safety and well-being, expecting to return at some point, but never having the opportunity to come back to the lives they left behind…
His father's side came from West Bengal and both sides experienced the trauma, violence and pain of colonialism and Hindu-Muslim violence after independence, turning the streets of Calcutta red with blood and unspeakable loss.
This painting addresses the process of healing in the South Asian subcontinent through creativity, repair across borders and the importance of familial story-telling for future generations, inspired by the Japanese art of kintsugi, the art of repairing broken pottery with lacquer dusted with gold.
This painting was exhibited at Towson University Asian Arts & Culture Center in Baltimore in Creative Confluence: South Asian Community Reflections, Connections, and Dialogue in Fall 2022.
Acrylic on canvas (16x20)
The generational trauma of India's partition continues to haunt the South Asian and diaspora's consciousness. Chatterjee's family, on his mother's side, came from a town named Jessore, in East Bengal (Bangladesh) and moved to West Bengal shortly prior to partition in 1947, settling in the big city of Calcutta, the capital of colonial British India. As Bengali Hindus, they left behind their ancestral home and belongings in a rush out of concern for their safety and well-being, expecting to return at some point, but never having the opportunity to come back to the lives they left behind…
His father's side came from West Bengal and both sides experienced the trauma, violence and pain of colonialism and Hindu-Muslim violence after independence, turning the streets of Calcutta red with blood and unspeakable loss.
This painting addresses the process of healing in the South Asian subcontinent through creativity, repair across borders and the importance of familial story-telling for future generations, inspired by the Japanese art of kintsugi, the art of repairing broken pottery with lacquer dusted with gold.
This painting was exhibited at Towson University Asian Arts & Culture Center in Baltimore in Creative Confluence: South Asian Community Reflections, Connections, and Dialogue in Fall 2022.
Acrylic on canvas (16x20)