Kaee — an idiomatic word for algae — denotes an enlivening presence within an ecology. Not only does it fulfil a nourishing and filtering function, but its metabolisms and composition can also be further studied to determine the health of the ecosystem. Founded by Ambica Beri in 2022, Kaee Contemporary lodges itself as a dedicated contemporary art space that curates emerging and experimental practices and places them in an intergenerational dialogue with established practitioners. With a range of residencies between Kolkata and Maihar illuminating its core, the programming at Kaee catalyses an interplay of urban and rural perspectives. In doing so, Kaee hopes to bring two distinct social ecologies into a fruitful field of pollination. Kaee recently played host to its first show, When the Other Stares Back — curated by Adwait Singh, that recently concluded.
The exhibition brought together the works of four female artists from the city — Jayashree Chakravarty, Radhika Agarwala, Sonia Mehra Chawla and Suhasini Kejriwal. Their composite and layered works essay an inter-generational conversation about synthesised contaminants that impel us, governing our lifestyles. Each artist stages an encounter with non-human actants — plankton, animals, plants — that are caught up in a helpless becoming at the hand of man. Ranging from melancholic to monstrous, these become an update us against landscapes to come, transformed beyond recognition and grown allergic to our existence as a species. Speculative or documentary, the works are rooted within urban environments that the artists came to inhabit, exposing these seemingly civilised spaces as nested sites of multi-species cohabitation and conflict. Seduced into the inhospitable territory, the viewer is fixed and surveyed by a gaze that is utterly alien. It is a gaze that is as impenetrable as it is unforgiving; a gaze that asks for accountability and pronounces judgment.
Pictures: Courtesy of gallery