'Dandi Yatra' exhibition in Delhi recreates historic march led by Gandhi

The Dandi March, an act of courage etched deeply in Indian history, is recreated here in an ongoing exhibition that seeks to answer how artists contemporary to Mahatma Gandhi imagined and portrayed the figure who led the Salt Satyagraha in 1930. "Dandi Yatra", a multimedia exhibition that presents a slice of the past, is part of the year-long celebrations of the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. It is open at the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA) here.

The show begins with an art installation tracing through a river of salt, the historic 24-day march that began from Sabarmati Ashram to protest against the tax levied on the common household item -- salt. It marks on the journey, all stops Gandhi made before reaching the coastal town of Dandi. Next in the exhibition, is a sculpture of Gandhi made by renowned sculptor Ramkinkar Baij (1906-1980), where his form clad in a single white cloth and holding a 'lathi' stick, is seen walking, determined.

What's interesting about the show is a room full of 40 tonnes of salt brought from Gujarat. As one peeps through windows and doors, what's seen are projections of Gandhi, and his ocean of supporters, picking up salt and breaking British law. As NGMA director general and sculptor Adwaita Gadanayak said, recreating the atmosphere of the mass movement was important to them. "In our artistic imagination of him, we did want to focus on the form of Gandhi -- his short, lean build, his stick, his iconic spectacles -- but also wanted to focus on recreating the entire atmosphere of the Dandi March, and Gandhi, who had the power to mobilise thousands in a single stroke," Gadanayak, who recently completed two years in office, told IANS.

While a battery of journalists, photographers and documentary filmmakers descended in Gujarat to cover the march, a 27-year-old artist Chhaganlal Jadav armed with a drawing book and pencil also joined the 242-mile route to Dandi. Capturing a pictorial documentary of the satyagraha and satyagrahis, even life in the Nashik prison after the arrest, Jadav's drawings were found by historian Rizwan Qadri in a "kabaadi bazaar" (scrap market) 85 years later. A rich historic resource, the visuals contain rare drawings of Gandhi on the move and are exhibited for the first time. Also displayed is a linocut work by Nandlal Bose and another painting by Upendra Maharathi. "Dandi Yatra" is open for public viewing till February 10, Gadanayak said.

(With inputs from agencies.)