i am your neighbour, i am your lover, i am

Born in Mumbai and trained initially in political science, London based Rewati Shahani’s artistic practice emerges from a sustained engagement with questions of identity and collective action. After studying at the Slade School of Fine Art and Central St. Martins, Shahani has developed an expansive multidisciplinary practice that includes drawing, painting, printmaking, photography, sculpture and performative gestures. Across these varied media, her work is distinguished by an acute sensitivity to the relationship between the body and politics, being present and performing resistance.

This exhibition presents a new body of work that responds to the resurgence of right-wing politics in the United Kingdom and beyond. While rooted in specific contemporary realities, Shahani’s concerns resonate globally, addressing the increasingly precarious position of dissenting voices and the urgent need for solidarity in the face of exclusionary ideologies and resulting violence. The works are acts of protest, yet they avoid direct didacticism. Instead, they explore the emotional and physical dimensions of resistance, asking what it means to gather, to speak out and to remain visible.

Central to the exhibition are sculptural heads contorted in anguish, clustered together. These works evoke the energy and urgency of public demonstrations while simultaneously reflecting on their limitations. Their collective cry points to the apparent fruitlessness that can accompany repeated acts of protest but also to the enduring strength found in the conviction of shared purpose. As they accumulate, the sculptures form a powerful image of collective presence.
Equally significant are Shahani’s body prints, which register the trace of the artist’s physical presence. While they inevitably invite comparison with earlier experiments involving the body as mark-making tool by artists such as Yves Klein and Chila Kumari Burman, they operate in a distinct register. Less concerned with provocation than with assertion, these works are born from the vulnerable position of inviting attention at a time when that can be particularly dangerous. They transform the body into evidence: a record of persistence and agency. The forms captured on paper gesture towards a presence that cannot be erased or ignored, whether in political discourse or social life.

Together, the works in this exhibition articulate a feminist position that draws personal strength from collective consciousness. They insist upon visibility, solidarity and the ongoing urgent necessity of resistance, offering a compelling reflection on the role of art in moments of political uncertainty.

Deeksha Nath