A MATTER OF MEANINGS

A spotlight on artist Saba Hasan's unique book of sculptures clad in clay, and her particular way of playing with form and material

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SABA Hasan's exhibition, 'jo gayab hai, aur hazir bhi (what is absent and also present)', curated by Neha 'Zooni' Tickoo at the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, Saket, presents Hasan's series of book sculptures created over the past years.

The sculptures featured at the exhibition have been created out of a quite distinctive practice followed by Hasan — of burning, folding, carving, and lathering the books with clay.

"Sometimes I dip a book in clay; sometimes I layer it page by page. I've even wrapped books in gauze, like mummies, after reading about Egyptian embalming. I fill them with spices or sand. The idea is sometimes to preserve knowledge, sometimes to redefine what knowledge, or truth is," remarks Hasan.

This method of covering books with clay, and the concealed text symbolises the denial to accept what is offered in the text. "So, it began with criticism, with questioning the validity of knowledge, which is handed down to us, year after year," Hasan tells TMS. Hence, using her art as a form of expression, she tends to break the conventional idea of receiving knowledge, and restricting it to one medium—books.