Fish Out of Water
Greta Von Richthofen and Aashti Miller
In collaboration with Goethe-Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan, New Delhi
The Goethe-Institut has been working with artists from across the globe to create Graphic Travelogues, a digital platform dedicated to comics, focusing on the subject of travel since 2019.
Taking this journey to another dimension, Goethe-Institut and St+art launched an open call to invite one German and one Indian artist to collaboratively work on two murals – one here in Delhi’s Lodhi Art District and the other in Kannagi Art District, Chennai.
The selected artists, Greta Von Richthofen and Aashti Miller, were encouraged to work on thought-provoking ideas about the meaning of ‘travel’ from a broad lens.
During the unprecedented time of the pandemic, when physical travel and any kind of free movement was halted, they found themselves tucked away with their thoughts, and were transported to an ocean of imagination. Thus, the artists explore the idea of ‘traveling in the mind’ through these murals – seen as a journey that anyone can make, regardless of culture, background, or spatial limitations.
The flying and running fish, and birds playfully depict different ways of traveling: over water, in the air and on land. This journey seeks to emphasize the sense of discovery that traveling entails, relaying how crucial it is to cultivate inclusive and diverse perspectives – in order to have an enriching and meaningful experience of life at large. Therefore, from an expansive lens to a site-specific one, the artists include hyper-localised elements that become symbolic of this journey.
Depicting local flora and fauna, traditional and historical elements inspired by Mughal architecture, and fantastical creatures – the work further explores travel to one’s past, through a shared nostalgia. Similarly, in Chennai the artists make references to the city through a localised and engaging vocabulary.
The murals differ in color and motifs, but connect to one another by showcasing the positive power and immense possibilities of imagination and creativity, which enters the mind in Chennai and flows out of the hands in Delhi. This conceptual connection thus ‘travels’ across two diverse cities.
As we all recover and return to the new normal, we might be fish out of water, but Miller and Richthofen believe that their explorations have taught them to embrace this discomfort and translate it into a magical journey.
Ein Kunstwerk zusammen mit der indischen Künstlerin Aashti zu entwickeln, war ein spannender Prozess, durch den ich so viel über Indien gelernt habe. Obwohl wir in verschiedenen Ländern aufgewachsen sind und leben, haben wir etwas gemeinsam: die Freude am Zeichnen – die hoffentlich in unseren Wandbildern durchscheint!"
Greta von Richthofen
Ich habe mich für dieses Projekt bei St+art und Goethe beworben, weil ich das Gefühl hatte, dass dies eine großartige Gelegenheit wäre, den öffentlichen Raum auf sinnvolle Weise zu beeinflussen. Das ist etwas, wovon die meisten jungen Architekten wie ich träumen. Die Zusammenarbeit mit Greta hat sich angefühlt, als würde ich mit meiner besseren Hälfte arbeiten! Wir freuen uns beide sehr darauf, dass unsere Zeichnungen zum Leben erweckt werden."
Aashti Miller