Quite often we give for granted the objects we engage the most with in our daily lives and we forget about the symbolism that may be hiding behind them.
Think about shoes, for example: travel around the world, ask people of different religions, and you will discover proverbs, common expressions and symbolisms linked with shoes.
While protecting the wearer's own journey, shoes are conceived by some as symbols of authority, power and domination, and they can hint at wealth (remember the perilously high French chopines and Venetian calcagnini?), vanity and arrogance (think about Hans Christian Andersen's story "The Red Shoes").
Yet, they can also represent humility, obedience and servitude and our contact with Earth, that's why in some religions wearers remove their shoes when approaching a holy place.
Shoes are the main materials behind G.R. Iranna (Iranna Rukumpur)'s installation "Naavu" (We Together) at the 58th International Art Exhibition, in Venice (until 24th November).
The installation – part of the India Pavilion that features an extensive collective exhibition with 8 artists presenting works celebrating the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi – consists indeed in a sea of padukas or wooden slippers.
New Delhi-based G.R. Iranna is a mixed media artist, working mainly with painting, videos and sculptures. He likes to explore a variety of issues including freedom and space boundaries and often displays in his work a strong link with and deep empathy for the working class and farmers.
For this installation he was inspired by the fact that Gandhi used to walk every day for around 18 kilometers, and walked 79,000 km during his movement for India's independence.
G.R. Iranna's padukas represent thousands of footprints (the word "paduka" can also refer to the footprints of divine figures such as Vishnu and Shiva and other religious icons), feet and therefore people embarking on a physical and spiritual non-violent walk with Gandhi.
This link with Gandhi is also represented by the fact that padukas, India's oldest footwear, are designed to ensure that the principle of non-violence is not violated by accidental trampling on insects and vegetation.
Contemplated from a distance, the swarm of padukas inside the exhibition space looks like a uniform and dynamic wave, moving forward; on closer inspection, though, you realise that each shoe is elaborately decorated in a different way.
The elements and objects decorating or mounted on the padukas – bells, miniature musical instruments, cameras, scissors, paint brushes, keys, small paintings depicting chairs, clocks or drums – transform the humble sandals into works of art, metaphorically hinting at individuality and ultimately symbolising people from all social classes and professions joining Gandhi in his walk.
