We entered the basement of The Hosteller, New Friends Colony, on Saturday afternoon with a pink rose in one hand, ‘The Phosphene’ stamped on our inner wrist, and a name badge with our pronouns. As mellow tunes played in the background, a number of people were seen browsing through items—crafted by Delhi-NCR-based artists—such as digital prints, trinkets, stickers, etc., that were stacked neatly on tables in stalls. Visitors—there were many individuals from the queer and DBA community—congregated at this pop-up exhibition organised by the team of The Phosphene, a city-based literary magazine. People got together to shop, connect, and attend a series of performances.
Later in the afternoon, we witnessed similar excitement at Janpath’s Informal By Imperfecto, where MozArt, a newly-established art platform, organised a pop-up event. Here, a group of emerging artists from the city assembled to showcase their creations so as to reach a larger audience. “I am looking forward to interacting with a lot of people and making friends,” commented Tvisha Garg (20), a digital artist from Faridabad.
Barring the no-event phase due to the COVID-induced lockdown, pop-up events have gradually become popular post the pandemic. One might notice how every event is carefully curated, thus making the experience one-of-a-kind for the audience.
Nurturing budding creators
Hriday (they/them) from Punjabi Bagh exhibited their digital artworks for the first time at The Phosphene. “Art is very personal and conveys a lot of messages. As a trans-person, enabling that [through pop-up events] is beautiful,” they (19) shared. East Delhi-resident Tanshi Agrwal, who was at MozArt, echoed Hriday’s thoughts. “If this goes well, I think I will be more confident of my work and of pop-up [events] as a medium to showcase art,” said the 19 year old.
For a long time now, art has been perceived as an elitist sphere, often promoting ideas and techniques that exclude the public. In fact, art spaces such as galleries too have been criticised time and again for being an exclusionary zone and limiting. Such art pop-ups, in a way, help break such restrictions, and provide a space to artists without their work being judged or criticised.
A safe sanctuary
Another purpose of such pop-up events is that they help foster a space that promotes free expression. Pratyn Chakraborty (18), a poet from Shaheen Bagh, pens down his experiences as a queer person. Chakraborty mentioned he has been at spaces that have barred him from performing his poetry. However, he said that The Phosphene allowed him the space to be uncensored. “I did not feel judged here,” he concluded.