74-75 / 96
74 Earth and Elsewhere | Contemporary Works from the Collection
Earth and Elsewhere | Contemporary Works from the Collection 75
NN Rimzon
/ India b.1957 /
House of heavens
(installation view) 1995 / Resin, fibreglass, aluminium and marble dust / 150 x 220 x 90cm (irreg., installed) / Acc. 1996.222a–c /
Purchased 1996. Queensland Art Gallery Foundation
NN R imzon
House of heavens
1995
In 1992, the Barbri mosque in the northern Indian city of
Ayodhya was destroyed by religious extremists. This sparked a
wave of violence around the country, which left approximately
2000 people dead. A sharp disruption to the harmony people
had worked towards since independence in 1947, the conflict
signalled that the struggle for communal peace was far from
over. NN Rimzon has made a number of works that focus on the
human dimension of this upheaval. In
House of heavens
, he uses
a personal set of motifs to comment on contemporary life in
India, including the egg — a symbol of fertility and the continuity
of life; the house — signifying personal and sacred protection;
and the sword — representing the intrusion of violence into
many aspects of life. The use of narrative composition has a
long tradition in Indian art. However, rather than telling a story,
Rimzon skilfully uses metaphor to comment on important social
and political issues.