Creation and Criticism

Narendra Singh and Others. “Stop War and Save Humanity”. Solo Art Exhibition: Department of Drawing and Painting, Maharaja Harishchandra P.G. College, Moradabad, March 02-04, 2022.

Reviewed by

Dharmendra Kumar Singh

Akhilesh Kumar

Sudhir K. Arora

Abnish Singh Chauhan

We, the reviewers are neutral in our attitude neither in favour of Ukraine nor of Russia but we strongly criticize the havoc destruction, caused as a consequence of the power tussle between the two mentioned nations.

Dr Narendra Singh, the Associate Professor in the Department of Drawing and Painting with his team has demonstrated the tragic consequences of the power tussle between Ukraine and Russia through the installation art, which is a unique “artistic genre of three-dimensional works.” The title of this installation art is “Stop War and Save Humanity” which, as the title indicates, very emphatically gives the message of saving human beings from the dangers of war for which they are not responsible but have become the victims who are being victimized by the victimizers for victory out of the heinous power game.

This installation displays a chair with red cover and two flags—the flag of Ukraine and the flag of Russia on each side and the missile with USA symbol in between revealing the game of power politics.

The active missiles are targeting the big buildings which are falling down revealing the fire and the black smoke. People are lying on the ground. Some of them are crying for help. Some are dead. Some are headless. Continuous bombing has created destruction all around resulting in the piles of dead bodies on which the monster destruction is making the naked dance with havoc steps. The monstrous bulls are opening their mouths and swallowing the innocent people. Drops of blood are spilled here and there. Open books which are on the ground reveal that this monster has not spared even the students. This monster is thirsty after the blood of the innocent human beings. Shoes, chappals, sandals, chopped heads, broken legs etc. are lying here and there creating a chaotic atmosphere all around.

The chair seems to smile at this destruction. The missile, though the USA is not written, reveals symbolically that it belongs to the USA. The smiling face of the power reveals some secret conspiracy for gaining the tag of the most powerful player.

Over all, the installation demonstrates that war is always destructive from every angle. Though it reveals the destruction, it somehow makes everyone think over the present scenario that reveals the humanity in danger. The first and foremost thing is to save humanity. Peace is necessary otherwise no one will be alive to see the world if the chemical and lethal weapons are operated for the crazy and maddening game of power politics.

What strikes most in this installation is the lantern which is on the ground. Somehow this symbolizes the message of the remaining hope. The need is to place this lantern on its usual place that is chair so that there may be light enough to remove the darkness which is created by the monster destruction out of the power play of politics. “Stop War and Save Humanity” is really worth appreciating as it makes everyone think and ponder over the basic question of life. Life is to be lived, not to be destroyed. We conclude the review with the lines of Stephen Gill from his poetry collection Songs before Shrine published by Authorspress, New Delhi in 2007:

If the nuclear bombs drop

Will God save anyone?

Who will cry, who’ll console?

Will not all be lost? (9)

Hence, the equation that “the most powerful nation is he who has the most powerful weapons” should be changed into “the most powerful nation is he who has the most powerful humanitarian resources.” Humanity can be saved only by having the human values, not by having the powerful destructive mechanism. Kudos to Dr Narendra Singh and his team for giving the powerful and relevant message to the world through this installation.

About the Reviewers:

Dr Dharmendra Kumar Singh, Akhilesh Kumar and Dr Sudhir K. Arora teach English at Maharaja Harishchandra P.G. College (affiliated to Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Rohilkhand University, Bareilly), Moradabad, U.P., India; whereas Dr Abnish Singh Chauhan works at BIU College of Humanities & Journalism, Bareilly International University, Bareilly, U.P. India