JEHANGIR NICHOLSON ART FOUNDATION
‘Ancestors’ presents an immersive experience staged as a make-believe crypt of a post-human future. Rahal references folklore, science fiction, literature, urban legends, mythologies and video-games to portray a futuristic ethnographic display of objects. The Museum becomes a site for building stories that describe the world, its inhabitants and its belief systems, through a consideration of the ecological, human and digital imprints that are left behind.
This exhibition is presented on occasion of the CSMVS Museum's centenary.
Sahej was the recipient of the first Sher-Gil Sundaram Arts Foundation (SSAF) Installation Art Grant in 2019. This project was made possible by the support of the SSAF.
Read the full curatorial note:
Short Stories by Sahej Rahal
Sahej Rahal is primarily a storyteller. He weaves together fact and fiction, to create counter-mythologies that interrogate narratives that shape the present. This myth-world takes the shape of sculptures, performances, films, paintings, installations, and AI programs, that he creates by drawing upon sources ranging from local legends to science fiction. By bringing these into dialogue with each other, Rahal creates scenarios where indeterminate beings emerge from the cracks in our civilization. Rahal’s participation in group and solo exhibitions includes the Liverpool Biennial, the Kochi Biennale, the Vancouver Biennale, the MACRO Museum Rome, Kadist SF, ACCA Melbourne, CCA Glasgow. He is the recipient of the Cove Park/Henry Moore Fellowship, Akademie Schloss Solitude Fellowship and most recently the Sher-Gil Sundaram Arts Foundation Installation Art Grant in 2019.
