Rinse & Repeat

Curated by Alamelu Annamalai and Meghana Gavireddygari

107 High Street, Sugar House Island, Stratford, E15 2RB
PV: Friday, 28 June 2024, 6 – 9PM
Open: 29th June – 3rd August 2024, Thursday – Sunday, 12 – 6PM

‘Rinse and Repeat’ brings together a group of eight Indian women artists living and working in London – Alamelu Annamalai, Meghana Gavireddygari, Shivangi Ladha, Smriti Mehra, Vasundhara Sellamuthu, Divya Sharma, Asha Vaidyanath, and Darshana Vora. Works on view include a diverse range of media including sculpture, print, painting, installation, fibre, video and performance.

Speaking to larger themes of place and belonging, the exhibition space is framed as an active site for collective reflection and reinterpretation. References to repetition and labour echo across works and the public programme, inviting visitors to contemplate on rhythms and cycles in everyday life.

The artists’ practices draw on physical and temporal distances from homeland, examining layered and intersectional aspects of identity. Annamalai reinterprets traditional art forms in a contemporary context. Gavireddygari investigates childhood memory through painting, printmaking, and sculpture. Ladha’s art navigates social, political, and ecological landscapes. Mehra utilises ethnographic research in her video practice, touching on labour and material culture. Sellamuthu explores cross-cultural hierarchies through relief paintings and sign making. As a textile artist, Sharma works with themes related to diaspora and displacement. Vaidyanath’s text and textile work archive the intangible, intrinsic, sometimes contradictory process of repetition. Vora’s conceptual work references the spatial fabric of the city – its rituals, processes and imagery.

‘Rinse and Repeat’ is supported by Hypha Studios and situated in Sugar House Island – a new canal-side neighbourhood in the heart of Stratford, East London.

Artists

Alamelu Annamalai
Meghana Gavireddygari

Shivangi Ladha
Smriti Mehra

Vasundhara Sellamuthu
Divya Sharma

Asha Vaidyanath
Darshana Vora

public programme

As diasporic women artists, the group seeks to create a warm and welcoming atmosphere for the local community with:

Indian Standard Time (IST) – FILM SCREENINGS
Saturdays 30th June, 6th July, 14th July 2-3pm
Darshana Vora has been documenting the daily activities of people in public places as a way to understand time in its uniquely Indian manifestations. Rather than clock-time, these visual-diary captures are a composite of place, memory and stillness – observations in movement of people that echo mental frameworks that make her feel ‘at home’. The films will be screened intermittently throughout the day. Visitors are invited to write/record their observations of the films as a way of relating/ sensing what ‘IST’ means to them.
RSVP VIA EVENTBRITE

Word Music – A Parasitic Reading Public session
Saturdays 30th June, 6th July, 14th July 2-3pm
Join us in SugarHouse Gallery 2 for an informal reading group – Pick up a text, read aloud/over/in- between/with..creating a texture of words and silences – listening to and voicing words by interesting cultural authors that relate to urban culture, places, spaces, the everyday and most of all, you and me. Reading extracts will be provided.
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Tracing Home – Collage workshops
Thursdays 4th and 11th July  12-6pm
Get ready to unleash your artistic side and create stunning collages that will leave everyone in awe.
Participating artists Shivangi and Meghana are the lead for a fun-filled afternoon of creativity at our in-person event! ‘Tracing Home’ is a monoprint workshop designed for children and young adults. It is designed to be a ‘drop in’ session between 12 and 6 pm. This hands-on workshop encourages you to explore your persona;l connection to home and memory through creating unique prints using everyday household objects.
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(Remembering Home) – Live Reading
Fridays 5th, 12th, 19th July 4:45 – 5:30pm
Live reading from her memoir in progress – “With Papa In Smriti”
With these writings, Smriti embarks upon remembrance, which is also the meaning of her name. She ventures into this territory in an attempt to not leave unnoticed the deep imprints of those closest to her. She acknowledges that her memories are fraught with biases, gaps, fictions and fact but what she attempts to stay true to is the emotion paired with the fragments of memory and a newer understanding of her relationships.
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Chai n Chat
Saturday 6th July 4 – 5pm
Join them for a unique in-person event at SugarHouse Gallery 2 for ‘Chai n Chat’ where they will delve into discussions about home, journeys and belonging. This engaging discussion will feature a walk-through of the show. Enjoy a cup of Chai as you immerse yourself in these enriching conversations and explore the art on display.
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Ephemeral Kolam
Sunday 14th July 4 – 6pm
Join us for a unique performance and workshop event led by artists Alamelu and Vasu, where you will discover the ancient folk art of ‘Kolam’ originating from South India. Kolam is a traditional decorative art form, involving intricate geometric patterns drawn with rice flour on a grid of dots.
RSVP VIA EVENTBRITE

Artist Panel Interview and Finissage
Saturday 3rd August
This final event hosted by Mary George is planned to be an insightful artist panel interview featuring the participating artists. This session will provide a deep dive into their inspirations, creative processes, and personal journeys. Following the panel, enjoy the Finissage, a closing celebration of the show, providing a final opportunity to engage with the artists and their works.

contact information

Email: [email protected]
Socials: @shivangiladhastudio @alamelu24 @meghana.art @vasusell @asha.vaidyanath @smriti_mehra

Portfolio

Featured Artworks

Meghana Gavireddygari

Hide & Seek, 2024, Stoneware, Dimensions variable

Meghana Gavireddygari

Maybe Someday, 2024, Stoneware, Dimensions variable

Shivangi Ladha

Traversing, 2022, 75 x109 cm, Etching on paper

Shivangi Ladha

Pause & Reflect, 2024 41 x 144 cm each,Metal, Gold, Etching on Japanese Paper

Vasundhara Sellamuthu

London\Kolkata, 2021, Vinyl print on shaped aluminium

Vasundhara Sellamuthu

Varkala Zip, 2021, Wall paint and MDF

Divya Sharma

You never enter the same river twice, 2024, Tufting and mixed media on hemp, 200x 200 cms

Divya Sharma

Jambudweepa, 2023, Tufting on hemp, 120 x 250 cms cms

Shivangi Ladha

Birma’s Mood Today, 2023, 109 x 150cm, Screenprint on Paper

DarshanaVora

Z.I.P., 2023, site specific sculpture

Smriti Mehra

All That is Solid Melts into Air (still from video 1), 2006, video, 42min10sec

Darshana Vora

Urban Pilgrimage, 2022, unbound photo book in a box.

Darshana Vora

Observation for Projection 1, 2008, moving image installation, still.

Asha Vaidyanath

Fragments

Alamelu Annamalai

Tic-Tac-Toe-Tile, 2024

Alamelu Annamalai

This Too Shall Pass, 2022, still from film

Alamelu Annamalai

Moving Pieces, 2022-24

Alamelu Annamalai

Moving Pieces, 2022-24