In a world that races towards the new, memory becomes both a support and a compass. It roots us in what was, even as it reshapes what could be next.
What Must Endure, an exhibition at Art Explore, New Delhi, brings together two artists, Throngkiuba Yimchungru and Kiyomi Talolikar, who treat memory as a living material.
The two explore what it means to carry the past while remaining open to change. Yimchungru works with wood and construction debris, elements that are already imprinted with use and time. In contrast, Tlaulikar works through layers of color and texture, allowing memory to surface and fade like a breath.
Their practices converge in an unspoken dialogue about endurance, change, and the fine line between holding on and letting go.
weight of material
For Nagaland-based artist Yimchungru, creating is not about imposing meaning, but about uncovering it. “For me, memory is collective,” he says. “It sits in the land, the forests, the rituals, the tools we use. The materials I work with, whether it’s wood or debris, already hold stories of labor and transformation.
He calls his process a type of listening. Each groove or notch is a conversation with material and time. He adds, “Carving is a ritual in itself. It is slow, rhythmic and meditative.” “It demands respect for the material. The repetition of cutting, shaping and smoothing becomes a kind of ceremony.”
Seven of his works are on display, including Pulling Oil Pipe Log Drum, which shows a striking connection between the ritual of pulling the Naga log drum (once a symbol of community and strength) and the industrial work of oil drilling. “The former was rooted in unity,” he says, “the latter, oil extraction, represents a modern act of exploitation.” I wanted to bring these opposite energies into dialogue.
In Dream of Pulling a Log Drum Fulfilled 2, Yimchungru finds an echo in an image from a local newspaper. It shows villagers pulling a car stuck in the monsoon mud of Nagaland. The root of the problem lies in the haphazard construction of roads without consultation with scientists, geologists and other experts. “But unlike the past, the collective energy seen in traditional practices like the log drum pulling ritual no longer translates into protest or collective resistance. That absence speaks volumes,” he shares.
fluidity of memory
Where Yimchungru creates from the tangible, Talolikar works through the ephemeral. His paintings oscillate between abstraction and recognition – a door, a leaf, or a chair that is almost there. “We don’t look at the past as the whole picture,” she says; We feel it in pieces.” “When something is partially visible, it allows the imagination to enter.”
Tlaulikar’s process is intuitive, created through layering and erasure. “For me, endurance comes from honesty,” she explains. “A work endures only when there is something true in it, no matter how fragile. I keep adding and removing layers until the scene feels alive to me. Some aspects remain, some fade. What endures continues to speak quietly, even when I stop painting.”
Her 14 works in the exhibition explore the emotional texture of memory. In The Journey Home, Talolikar reflects on the fleeting nature of belonging while Holding Together explores hope and possibility. Thrive, a small mixed-media work, celebrates resilience amid uncertainty.
She says, “Memory is fluid. It runs through everything we experience. It lives in traces like a shadow on a wall, a color on a torn cloth, or a sparkle on a drop of water.” “My work is less about remembering specific events and more about understanding what’s going on.”
between the collective and the individual
Placed together, Yimchungru and Talulikar offer two distinct but interconnected vocabularies of remembrance. One works through physical load, the other through sensory aversion.
Both artists turn the past into motion, and remind us that memory is never static. “I treat the past as movement, not memory,” says Yimchungru. “By using ancestral methods to speak about what is happening today, I keep it alive, not as a museum piece, but as a living force.” Talolikar echoes this sentiment: “The past comes alive when I allow it to move and breathe naturally.”
The exhibition will run till October 20, Monday to Saturday, 11am to 6pm, at Art Explore, E 55, Lower Ground, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi.
published – October 16, 2025 05:33 PM IST