ABSTRACT
Over the past decade, Gulammohammed Sheikh has experimented simultaneously with new media and old forms of visual storytelling. In a deliberate extension of his career-long exploration of narrative, autobiography and place-making, Sheikh's new works directly cite his earlier paintings and return to an archive of art historical references accumulated by the artist over decades. But they also articulate aspects of his thinking about temporality and cultural history in new, politically provocative ways. The shift in Sheikh's work, or perhaps just the new sharpness with which he enunciates his vision of culture, can be traced to the changes in political discourse and social life in his home state of Gujarat since the devastating riots of 2002.
