Breaking barriers: Display by neurodiverse artists at Salar Jung Museum in Hyderabad

Experience diverse art by neurodiverse artists at Diverse Voices: Art Beyond Boundaries exhibition in Hyderabad's Salar Jung Museum. The exhibition is organised by The Art Sanctuary

Canvases touch the heart and speak through strokes and colours at Diverse Voices: Art Beyond Boundaries, an exhibition at Salar Jung Museum. Òrganised in Hyderabad for the first time by Bengaluru-based The Art Sanctuary, the show, curated by Atiya Amjad, celebrates diversity and inclusion through paintings, drawings, mixed media works, digital art and sculptures in ceramics and plastic photographs.

At first glance, some of the 99 abstract and figurative works appear straightforward and simple; take a closer look to observe the work’s symmetry and artistic expression, and experience the artist’s thoughts and emotions. The show is unique in that all the artists are neurodiverse (ND) individuals. Some of the artists are intellectually-challenged, while some have Down syndrome; there are artists on the autism spectrum, those with attention deficit hyper disorder (ADHD), Asperger’s syndrome and Fragile X syndrome. All of them have defied stereotypes and broken barriers through creative art.

Shalini Gupta, a special parent and founder of The Art Sanctuary, saw her daughter Gayatri Gupta with Down syndrome create art. “When I saw the Kochi Biennale (2019-2020), I understood art is not what you see as a final product on the walls. It’s the experience that a viewer goes through with the creator,” she says. It set Shalini thinking about her daughter (a photographer) and others like her who didn’t have a platform to showcase their art. Eventually, she set up a Trust dedicated to ND young adults (16 and above), enabling them to showcase their creativity. The Art Sanctuary provides space for different kinds of visual arts encompassing photography, digital art pottery, collages, drawings and paintings.

When the Art Sanctuary was showcasing works at the National Museum in Delhi in April this year, the museum’s additional director general Ashish Goyal, also the director of Salar Jung Museum, invited the team to host their annual exhibition eCAPA in Hyderabad this year.

Atiya believes she has been selected as a curator for the show due to ‘divinity.’ “A simple, straightforward message on a neurodiverse sticker reads: ‘Don’t try to fix me, I am not broken’. I would recommend the line as a guide for the neurotypical spectators to view the exhibition,” says Atiya in her curatorial note.

Calling the exhibition an éye-opener’ she says, the works bust the impression one has about ND artists . “They are so adept with forms and strokes; this exhibition is proof of the kind of work they are capable of. We need to see the exhibits to be amazed by their creativity and dexterity.”

The Art Sanctuary has presented around 10 shows across the country and follows a standard procedure to select the works. Digital images of artworks are sent to chief selector Bose Krishnamachari (founder, and president of the Kochi Biennale), along with eminent artist Preeti Vadakkath, who look at the works blind (artists’ names are not given). “Once the selection is done, we inform parents, who, in turn, send us the actual art piece. We then coordinate with a local curator for a show and, later, courier back the art piece to the artist.”