Heart by Mistake: An Anglo-Indian Conversation Opening: 2 Oct 2017, 18:00 - 20:00

'Heart by Mistake' is an installation crammed with sepia prints, sketched ideas, crude diagrams, writing and paintings that brings to life the ongoing Instagram conversations between artists Roshan Chhabria and Stephanie Douet. Exhibited in the time-warped bar of the India Club
 

'HEART BY MISTAKE: An Anglo-Indian Conversation at the India Club

Stephanie in the fields of Norfolk, birdsong, the occasional tractor, church bells. Roshan in the racket of Baroda, sleeping late, avoiding an arranged marriage. Stephanie’s studio looks over a field one side, a scrapyard the other. Roshan’s is full of people at all hours of day and night. Stephanie likes history and Roshan likes modern life. A hundred years ago, in what circumstance they have met? 

‘Heart by Mistake’ conveys the Instagram chats of the two artists, exchanging ideas, photos, jokes and drawings over a period of months. Stephanie began the conversation wanting to find out about modern Indians feel about their past and current relationship with Britain, but now knows more about party life in Baroda. Roshan has had to watch Stephanie’s father making a catapult, and look at pictures of her failed cakes. As artists they share a love of drawing people at their daily doings, a fascination with the colour black, and a mutual curiosity about each others’ cultures which is expressed in this compact installation

The installation ‘Heart by Mistake’ ( a recurring typo) charts some of these visual perambulations with paintings, sketches, diagrams and altered archive photos of the British Raj. 

‘The India Club was originally established by Krishna Menon, India’s first High Commissioner to the UK, and founding members including Nehru and Lady Mountbatten; the building was a hub for political activity. It was here that meetings about the newly independent India took place, and was also a home away from home/an oasis for Indian expatriates and diplomats from the nearby High Commission. With its rich history and faded colonial atmosphere, 143 Strand has become something of an institution.’ (Taken from its website)