Annexe

Stemming from concerns with the city of his birth, Mumbai, Jitish Kallat's sculpture 'Annexe' depicts a young underprivileged child appearing as a street waif. Embodying the spirit of survival, the child carries a whip which he lashes onto himself in order to earn a living and as Kallat explains, representing the pain that the child silently endures. His feet are shaped like homes, indicating that as a nomad any place he stops becomes home for him. Coated with black lead, touching the sculpture leaves a dark stain on your hand, Kallat here playing on notions of high/low, privileged/unprivileged and touchable/untouchable, all of which exist and come into play in Mumbai society.