By Amita Virmani
An artist who uses multimedia to make art available at the click of your mouse.
Afrah wants to know where we can meet and I immediately make a request to meet her in her studio. Her studio is in a loft with a window that looks out at the trees. A centre table occupies most of the room. As I look at the half created mural on the table, I am reminded of Andy Warhol! The similarity strikes a chord in me. I ask Afrah if she is inspired by him and it’s a negative.
Starting off as a documentary filmmaker, the talented Afrah transitioned to multiple platforms and mediums. From creating murals to working with museums to showcase their art collections to creating beautiful pieces of art. An artist who finds a place like the Mapusa market in Goa exciting for the materials she comes across that you and I would probably pass by! Afrah transforms everyday stuff like a grinding stone into a piece of art that I for one would be very happy to possess!
Museums invite Afrah to present their art collection to the world using multimedia. Afrah’s canvas is blank as she dabbles and plays with merging everything she has been exposed to. From the melting pot of folklore, digital media, old art forms, story books, Afrah’s creativity springs forth to present unique compositions that are a visual treat and at least leave me wondering: how did this get created? Afrah loves archives!
Google Afrah to open up a world of art you may not have been exposed to. In 2018 I witnessed her exhibit at the Kochi-Muziris Bien
nale with not the faintest idea that I would be making my way up a flight of laterite steps to her studio in a loft with a window that opens up to trees. Afrah is an original.