Astha Butail’s solo show ‘In the Absence of Writing’ is a culmination of the artist’s year long journey in researching memory and living traditions that are passed on through teachings and oral poetry, with a focus on Zoroastrian Avesta, the Jewish Oral Torah and Indian Vedic philosophy. As a multidisciplinary artist, Butail trained in textile design and has studied Sanskrit. She uses geometry, cultural systems and oral traditions as metaphors to respond to her research.

Drawing parallels between traditions, she presents her journey through abstracted hymns from the Rig Veda and varied mediums; video, sound, sculpture and experiential installations invite the viewer to an interactive exploration of cultural values, lived spaces and notions of time. Butail received BMW’s Art Journey award for her research in 2017-2018.The upcoming show is curated by Reha Sodhi and will include new works, as interventions in the space at 24, Jor Bagh, commissioned by The Gujral Foundation.

Born in 1977 in Amritsar, India, Butail’s recent solo exhibitions include Locus of Being (2017) and Manifested Ratios (2014) at GallerySKE, Bangalore, India. Group exhibitions include Unearth: Matter,Time, Process (2017) at Exhibit320, New Delhi, India; Raster: Emerging from the Grid (2016) at Experimenter, Kolkata, India; Codes of Culture (2015) at GallerySKE, New Delhi, India; Make/Do (2014) at GallerySKE, New Delhi, India; Fracture: Indian Textiles, New Conversations (2015) and Sarai 09: The Exhibition (2013) at Devi Art Foundation, Gurgaon, India. The artist lives and works in Gurgaon, India.